From the course: Learning Character Animation

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Basics of a two-legged walk

Basics of a two-legged walk

From the course: Learning Character Animation

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Basics of a two-legged walk

Let's take a look at walks. A walk is basically controlled falling. The character pushes the body out of balance, falls forward, then sticks out a foot to catch herself and repeats. If the foot doesn't catch the character, then she's not very happy. So, we keep our characters happy and walking. Digging deeper into a walk, there are four main poses. The first is the extended pose. This is where the character's legs are apart and she takes a step. Some animators may also call this the Contact position. Next is the Cushion pose where the planted foot absorbs the weight of the character. This compresses the knee so it bends. Once the weight is solely on the foot, the character lifts up the body as the free leg swings under. This is known as the passing position because the free leg passes the other leg. The planted leg is at its maximum extension in this position. Finally, we have the up position where the free foot is up and ready for the next step. Let's dig even deeper into a walk and…

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