Walk Cycle Perspective

Walk Cycle Perspective

I began animating 2D walk cycles from different perspectives/angles, taking influence from the short film titled Walking animated by Ryan Larkin in 1968, experimenting with many different techniques and materials for this short, using line drawings, colour wash, etc. 

The short has a wide range of walk cycles in different styles, proportions and are shot in other angles as if we're viewing from someone else eyes, either from above, below or from a 3/4 view of the front or back. Watching from the side of other people on their daily walk through the streets, the short capture the relaxing routine of a mundane activity with appealing colours and textures, along with still images of pedestrians standing or sitting on the side spectating others that walk pass by.       

Walking - Ryan Larkin - 1968

ScreenShots

 Animated Walk Cycles

Regular Walk

Above Angle Walk 

Front View Walk

The process of making the animation, using the guide tool on Toonboom to display a gride that present point perspective, by adjusting one of the points changing the perspective to how the frame/camera is angled, assisting me to draw characters in these shots.

Though it was time-consuming, going back to correct the errors, lack of references and not much usage of structures of drawing the form of the character. My mind needs to focus more on getting the work done and less on perfection and high quality in this early stage of the project.             

These are a few walk cycles that I've experimented, trying out different perspectives of a walk cycle, starting off with a basic flat side, above angle frame and a front view. Though the second and third animated test didn't come out well, though in the above angle walk video the right arm would seem to move around body however I have gone over the error and now it looks a bit better. Although in the third video the animation looks fine and a bit stiff but rather the main issue is the proportion, where the arms are too long, legs too short along with a huge head. I have begun working on another version to adjust the anatomy to make the animation look more appealing than the previous one. 

However, one of my professors commented saying that it looks like a monkey with its long arms and short legs, which I've become more convinced to accept that this character resembles more like a monkey than a person, making this experiment, not a complete failure and something to try and test out animating deformed or oversizes proportions for abstract visuals, similar to one of the scenes from Ryan Larkin's short film.