Walk Cycle (Part 1)

The walk is the exercise everything else has been building toward, and it is large enough to need splitting. This first part deals with the lower half only, because a walk that works from the waist down will accept an upper body, and one that does not will not be rescued by adding arms.

What the video covers

The basic poses of a walk and how the legs move between them. The arcs the feet travel along, the timing and spacing across the cycle, and the easing into and out of each position. Then the pelvis: how body weight shifts across it, the up and down through the stride, and the rotation that has to accompany both.

Why the lower half comes first

The walk is defined by its contacts. Where the feet are, and when, is the skeleton of the whole cycle. Get those wrong and no amount of upper body work will make the character look like they are walking.

The pelvis is where weight becomes visible. It drops as the leg absorbs the load and rises over the passing position. That vertical travel is the single clearest signal that the character has mass, and its absence is why so many first walks float.

Rotation is not optional. The pelvis rotates around more than one axis through a stride: turning with the stepping leg, tilting as one hip carries the load. A pelvis that only translates reads as a machine.

Spacing carries the character. The same contact poses with different spacing produce a stroll, a march or a trudge. This is where the walk stops being generic.

What to watch for

• Foot slide. The planted foot does not move. Check it frame by frame from the side.
• The down position. Immediately after contact the body drops. Skipping it removes the weight.
• Hips over the support. If the centre of mass sits outside the base of support, the character should be falling.
• Arcs on the feet. The travelling foot follows a curve, not a straight line.

Next: Part 2, which brings in the upper body.