Animation fundamentals/ Project 2A

09 /06/25 -  16/  06 /25 ( Week 7 - Week 8)

Kek Kai Wei, 0363513

Animation Fundamentals / Bachelor of Patisserie Arts ( Hons)

Project 2A: Walk Cycle

LECTURES

Week 8: Animation Techniques

Two Main Animation Methods

1. Pose to Pose

• Plan out key poses first, then fill in the in-betweens

• Advantages:

  • Easier to plan and control timing

  • Clear and accurate movement

• Common frame types:

  • Key Pose: main storytelling positions

  • Extreme: furthest or most exaggerated positions

  • Breakdown: transitional pose between extremes

  • In-Between: additional drawings to smooth the motion

• Timing control:

  • Adjust spacing to create slow in / slow out effects

  • Third frame often favors one side to make it more natural

2. Straight Ahead

• Draw each frame one after another from start to finish

• Advantages:

  • More natural, spontaneous, and fluid

  • Good for unpredictable or organic motion

• Disadvantages:

• Harder to control timing and proportions

• Less efficient for planning

• Arcs:
  Movement should follow curved paths to appear more natural and appealing

• Timing:
  Controls the speed, weight, and rhythm of the animation

• Example Applications:

1. Bouncing ball: use pose to pose

2. Ball with tail:

• Ball: pose to pose

• Tail: straight ahead

• Combination method

    PROJECT 2A

Task assigned:

• We are required to complete a vanilla walk cycle animation based on the four key poses from The Animator’s Survival Kit (Contact, Down, Pass, Up – each held for 3 frames). Using Adobe Animate at 24fps and 1280x720 resolution, we must animate our character from Project 1 walking in place from a side view. The process includes creating a rough animation with sketchy strokes and basic forms, followed by a tie down version with cleaner lines. Both animations should be exported as .mp4 or .mov, clearly labeled as “Rough” and “Tie Down”, then compiled into one final video reel. This reel must be uploaded to our e-portfolio and the link submitted on MYTIMES by 16 June 2025 (Week 9).

Rough sketch:

Progressions:

• Before I started drawing, I searched for some videos about walk cycles on YouTube and observed the four main action phases of a character's walk: Contact, Down, Pass, and Up.

Video 1 （12/06/2025）

Video 2 (12/06/2025)

• After watching the video, I opened Adobe Animate to start the rough sketch. I began with the Contact pose and kept adjusting the character's posture to avoid it looking unnatural or awkward.

Figure 1: drawing ground ( 12/ 06/2025)

• I started by drawing a line to represent the ground.

Figure 2: Drawing rough head( 12/06/2025)

• In the lecture, the drawing started from the feet, but I found that a bit challenging. So, after roughly estimating the size of my character, I decided to start with the head instead.

Figure 3: Contact pose ( 12/06/2025)

• At first, my sketch was very messy. I watched the lecture recording while also referring to drawing tutorials on YouTube. After several attempts and adjustments, I finally managed to complete a contact pose that I’m fairly satisfied with.

Figure 4: Down pose (13/06/2025)

• Next up was the down pose. I shaded the right foot in black just to help myself tell the left and right feet apart more easily. This made it way easier later on when I started working on the pass and up poses—I didn’t have to second-guess which foot was stepping forward. It’s a simple trick, but it really helped me keep the walk cycle clear and avoid getting confused with the leg movements.

Figure 5: Pass pose ( 13/06/2025)

• When I got to the pass pose, I started to feel a bit lost because I wasn’t too sure about where the weight should be when the foot moves forward, or if the knee should be slightly bent. I did watch some reference videos, but it still took me a while to figure out the right angles and proportions to make the movement look natural. After rewatching a few examples, I slowly started to get the hang of that “stepping forward” feeling.

Figure 6: Up pose (13/06/2025) 

• The up pose turned out kind of weird because when I drew the front foot lifting up, it looked really stiff—more like the character was dancing than walking. I later realized it was because the angle of the foot and the body’s weight placement were off, which made the whole pose look floaty. So I went back to the references, adjusted the foot to feel lighter, and lifted the body just a bit. That made it look more like a natural walking motion instead of just a random pose.

FINAL OUTCOME:

TIE DOWN:

Progression:

• Next, I moved on to the tie down based on the rough sketch. I tried to keep the original flow while cleaning up the lines and making the structure clearer. It’s a refining step, but it really makes a big difference.

Figure 7: tie down of contact pose (13/06/2025)

Figure 8: tie down of down pose (13/06/2025)

• When I got to the down pose, I refined the lines based on my sketch and adjusted the position by referencing the tie down from the contact pose. To keep the head consistent across frames, I copied the head from the first drawing and then adjusted the ponytails according to the character’s movement. For the twin tails, I referred back to the bouncing ball with tail assessment and applied similar principles to show the bounce and follow-through.

Figure 9: Tie down of pass pose (13/06/2025)

• The later part was relatively easier. The overall process felt smoother, and I just had to keep following the rhythm and structure I had already established to refine each pose.

FINAL OUTCOME:

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 REFLECTION: 

 

• This walk cycle task was a great opportunity for me to practice basic animation principles. At first, I felt a bit confused, especially when working on the pass and up poses, but after some adjustments and references, I started to get a better sense of the rhythm and weight shifts. The tie down stage helped me focus more on structure and consistency. Although there were some challenges, I learned a lot and now have a deeper understanding of how a walk cycle works.