Quadruped Trot Tutorial

Students at Animation Apprentice master the art of quadruped locomotion, including how to animate a trot. 

A trot is an intermediate gait between a walk and a run, an efficient fast motion that permits speed without using excessive energy. 

Below are three tutorial videos showing how to animate a horse trotting. The password is the same as for all our video tutorials.

The Trot - Student Work at Escape Studios

The Trot

Trot cycle "Animator's Survival Kit"

Unlike a walk or a run, when an animal trots, its shoulders and hind quarters will rise and fall at more or less the same time, rather than opposing one another as would happen in a walk or a gallop. 

Animal Locomotion

To see more about how animals move, including the science behind it, read this blog post by paleontologist Stuart Sumida. 

Horse Rigs

To explore the best rigs to create Horse Animation, check out the Best Free Horse Rigs available online.

Mothman TD Horse Rig

The tutorial uses the free Mothman TD Horse Rig, available online at the Mothman TD website. You can read more about the rig here. 

Thumbnails

Check out the thumbnails on the top right from The Animator's Survival Kit to show the positions of a horse trot. This shows all the key positions, but there is a lot of detail. 

Simplified Thumbnails

We recommend starting with the simplified thumbnails on the right. Start with the "Up" position at Frame 1, then do Frame 17 - these two must be the same. Then do the "mirror image" position at Frame 9. Then do the "down" position at frame 5 and frame 13. Then fill in the gaps at frames 3,7,11 and 15. Finally, smooth your curves. 

Horse Trot Part 1

https://vimeo.com/840512799

Horse Trot Part 2

https://vimeo.com/840512893

Horse Trot Part 3

https://vimeo.com/840512974

Horse Trot Part 4

https://vimeo.com/841798716

Horse Walk-Trot-Run Video with Richard Williams

Make sure to watch the horse locomotion video below by Richard Williams, author of "The Animator's Survival Kit"

Animal and Creature Animation at Animation Apprentice

We have many resources here at Animation Apprentice for students looking to learn how to animate animals and creatures.  To get started, see the blog posts below:

• Leopard Walk Tutorial
• Dragon in Flight Tutorial
• How to Animate Quadruped Transitions
• Horse Animation - Best Free Horse Rigs
• How to Plan Animal & Creature Animation
• How to Animate Dinosaurs - with Jurassic World
• How to Block Out Creature Animation
• How Framestore Use Live Action Reference to Create Great Animation
• Animation Locomotion for Animators - Free eBook from Stuart Sumida
• Leopard Rig by Truong - How to Use It
• The Five Key Rules of Animal Anatomy with Stuart Sumida
• Stuart Sumida Expplores the Principal Animal Gaits
• Spider Animation Tutorial
• Crow in Flight Tutorial
• How to Animate a Dinosaur Walking
• How to Animate Quadrupeds - with Michael Schlingmann
• Butterfly Animation Tutorial
• Dinosaur Walk Tutorial

To find out more about Animation Apprentice, click here for a link to Frequently Asked Questions. To sign up for our next classroom at Animation Apprentice, follow this link.