Create a simple walk cycle with the Ultimate Walker rig. What I will be looking for is:
- A clean cycle (so there's no jump between the last frame and the first frame)
- That the walk contains all of the poses needed to identify it as a walk (contact and passing positions)
- The character shows balance and weight. This can be done using the body/leg positions, squash and stretch and overlapping action/follow through.
- Any technical problems - popping knees, choppiness in the animation, feet sliding, etc.
- Use of the Graph Editor to smooth out problems in the In-Betweens
- Bonus points if the walk shows character/personality.
The walk cycle will be rendered out in a front, side and 3/4 view, to show the walk at different angles.
Components and Character of a Walk Cycle
This Tumblr post has a man on a treadmill emulating many very different types of walks.
The character of the walk shows in a variety of ways, including the shoulder and hips position and rotation, the timing of the arms and legs, the weight of the character (are they stepping lightly, stomping down, do they favor one side or the other), how broad or subtle the steps are, etc.
When thinking about how your character can walk, visual references - whether they're videos or just people watching in a public space - can be very helpful.
The most important two poses that every walk must have are Contact and Passing.
A walk typically doesn't have any frames where both feet are off the ground at the same time (that's usually a run), but there are some instances where it may happen, such as a skip.
Example:
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