3D Walk Cycle Animation Using Autodesk Maya

3D Walk Cycle Animation using Autodesk Maya is an intermediate 3D Animation course that teaches how to animate a human walk cycle.

The aim of the course is to showcase the animation pipeline of creating an organic and well-balanced 3D walk cycle. This workflow is the base for both 3D films and games.

Throughout the course, we’ll build the mechanics of the walk cycle through several and progressive animation passes. You will develop a strong foundation on how to build the animation from blocking the first key contact posses, to cleaning the motion graphs, to adding the final body overlaps.

Understanding the mechanics behind real human locomotion is crucial for a walk animation. Therefore, this course offers an insight into human locomotion concepts in connection to the animation pipeline.

This course it’s an insight on how to bring that spark of life into a human character and once you follow this workflow you’ll be able to animate any human walk, with any type of rig because the secret is the same.

Teaching modules

The course is being divided into several sections covering all the necessary tools with a 100% real-time animation process and explanations. The workflow is a progressive where each animation pass is being saved as a new Maya scene.

The course modules are:

• Introduction Lecture
• Setting the Maya Project
• Animation Pass 1. Heel Contact Postures
• Animation Pass 2. Foot Pass Postures
• Animation Pass 3. Squash Postures
• Animation Pass 4. Stretch Postures
• Animation Pass 5. Cleaning the Motion Graphs
• Animation Pass 6. Arms Overlaps
• Animation Pass 7. Head Overlaps
• Animation Pass 8. Feet Grounding and Orientation
• Animation Pass 9. Final Cycle and Good Bye

What you’ll learn in this course

A human walk cycle is known as a gait cycle where each walking step is being build up from 4 key poses: the heel contact, the squash pose, the passing pose and the stretch pose, after which we walk back into the the second step. This course is approaching all this in great detail.

As animators, we must use real world principles in order to capture the illusion of a believable motion. So the course starts with a short lecture on Animation Resources and Workflows but also a brief into the real science of Bio-mechanics for Human Locomotion.

Then, we gonna approach the animation task with a plan in how to address  all the animation passes. This approach optimizes the process and creates clarity. Therefore, each animation pass or course section starts with a few minutes introduction around what we need to accomplish. And then, then will jump into action.

The working files

• 1 Maya project containing 10 different *.ma files, each file represents an animation pass, from blocking version to final version
• 1 JPG file as a walk cycle animation planning sheet
• 1 Ghosting Script, free resource
• 1 Character Maya rig with texture files, free resource
• 4 playblast Videos of the final Walk Animation (front, back, side, perspective views)

Specific animation tools and frameworks

• Maya Project and File Referencing
• Timeline, Auto-keying, Graph Editor
• Creating a custom shelf with shortcuts and tools
• Installing and using a Maya Ghosting Script

After this course

Remember, the walk cycle animation is an extremely knowledgeable process in learning character animation, with the right rig and the right application of animation principles this course gives you a very solid foundation for bio-mechanics animation.

Once you understand the mechanics and workflows of the generic human locomotion, you’ll get a huge boost of confidence and skills. You’ll be able to create any type of walk cycle animation, any type of personally walk, using any type of human character.