Animating Creature Walk Cycles in Maya
Understanding Quadrupeds With Stephen Cunnane
Description
There are basic principles involved in creating a solid walk cycle for production that every animator should learn. This 3-hour workshop by Stephen Cunnane, an animator for the film industry, reveals the subtle yet complex process when it comes to animating a convincing walk cycle for four-legged animals or fantasy creatures. From covering the basics in anatomy and explaining how it plays into building the complex motions needed for detailed animation, to discussing and demonstrating the tools within Maya that can help you to stay organized, Stephen’s workshop enables animators to create fast and efficient workflows.
Throughout this workshop, you’ll learn the importance of importing a rig as a proxy and discover all the benefits of using the Reference Editor to keep your scene well organized. Stephen also covers the topics of baking, motion tracking, and animation layers to add all the other secondary levels of animation. The second portion of the workshop focuses on animating the walk cycle before the final chapter, which explains how to add the wings, neck, and head, for a convincing creature animation.
Stephen also provides breakdowns of feet and body movement and details how to take a final walk cycle and build a new animation for a project — or for production.
The rig used in this workshop was created by Truong CG Artist and is available to download for free here.
Duration: 3h 10m
Format: HD 1920x1080
Stephen Cunnane
Animator at CBS
Stephen Cunnane is a versatile animator and previs artist with a rich portfolio spanning film, television, and independent projects. Since graduating from the Gnomon School in 2016, he has contributed to major productions including Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Hellboy (2019), The Walking Dead, Lost in Space, and Wonka.
Stephen’s expertise covers both visual effects animation and previs, with experience at renowned studios such as Framestore and CBS-VFX. He also pursues personal projects that demonstrate his mastery of Maya and Blender.
In addition to animation, Stephen is an accomplished director of short films, including Drifter (2012) and The Model (2016), the latter of which earned recognition at film festivals.
