As a continuation of the ALIVE! animation course I've been learning from, I've animated a walk cycle for a human character (the character model and rig were provided by the course).
While this animation follows a similar process to the run cycle, it was more complex due to there being way more emphasis on subtle details and careful timing. Like the run cycle, I used a hybrid approach to animating (in which I animated some bones together for posing, or individual bones/axis to refine movements).
Like the run cycle, I did the following process for animating the walk cycle:
Analysing reference walk cycle to plan out the main 4 poses (Contact, Down, Passing and Up/Pushing); then blocking out the main poses and working on the timing between these poses; and then polishing the animations.
Because the movements of the walk cycle is slower than the run cycle, it means that more careful attention is made to precise movement and how the various body parts interact with each other. Usually I would always start with animating the feet, as these movements will directly impact the rest of the movements of the body (as well as determining the overall pace of the movements). Next, I would animate the torso root bone, as this influences every other bone (the waist, chest, arms, etc).
It was interesting to make the walking look relaxed through making the movements in the torso and arms look fairly loose. It was also interesting utilising "contra posto" (in which the leaning of the shoulders and hips are usually opposite to one another). An interesting difference between the walk and run cycles is how the arms don't lead the walk cycle (the arms lead the run cycle), so their timing for reaching their extreme poses is different.
Despite the similarities to the overall process to the running animation, I still learnt a lot from animating this walk cycle. Following the course, I plan to study more about mastering posing next.
Walk Cycle Angled Render
Walk Cycle Front Render
Walk Cycle Back Render
Walk Cycle 360 Render