Animate a Basic Walk with "Heavy"

Animate a Basic Walk with the "Heavy" Rig

One thing every animator needs to learn is how to animate a character walk. In our newest tutorial, we show how to animate a simple walk cycle using the "Heavy" rig. (free for download at Creative Crash). The video tutorial is recorded in Autodesk Maya, and is aimed at animation beginners. 

The tutorial is designed to be easy to follow, and to use simple thumbnails that show all the main poses in the walk, and can be easily broken down and interpolated. 

Heavy Rig

The videos use the excellent "Heavy" Rig, based on the Team Fortress character, and free for download at Creative Crash.  Heavy is very good for learning the early stages of animation; he is low poly and gives real-time playback in your Viewport. Heavy's control curves are simple and easy to use; it is a stable rig which is unlikely to cause Maya to crash. To read more about how to use the Heavy rig, follow this link.

2024 Update - if you need an updated version of the Heavy rig that renders in Arnold - send us an email and I'll share the updated rig. 

Thumbnails For a Basic Walk

Start by Animating a Basic Walk with "Heavy"

How to use the "Heavy" Rig

Start your journey by learning how to animate a basic walk cycle, carefully following the thumbnails above. The timing of the walk is a 32 frame cycle with one step every 16 frames, a leisurely walk.  Start with the right leg "contact" position at frame 1, then set an identical keyframe at frame 33. Now do the mirror image pose at frame 17 (Left Leg Contact). Then do the passing position at frame 9 and 25, and then the other breakdown positions at 5, 13, 29 and 29.  You should now have a functioning walk cycle, ready to add flexibility and follow-through.

"Heavy" Walk Tutorial

Heavy Walk Part 1 - Set the Scene

https://vimeo.com/832647230

Heavy Walk Part 2 - Create your Key Poses

https://vimeo.com/832647405

Heavy Walk Part 3 - Add the Passing Position

https://vimeo.com/832647494

Heavy Walk Part 4 - Add the Breakdowns

https://vimeo.com/832647576

Heavy Walk Part 5 - Tidy it Up

https://vimeo.com/832647650

The password is the same as for all our tutorial videos.

Heavy Walk Example

Below is an inventive walk cycle by one of our graduates, Lee Caller.

Walks and Character Walks

"Journey of Life" by Robin Herrmann

One of the first challenges for junior animators learning their craft is to learn the art of locomotion, specifically how to animate a walk cycle, and later a character or personality walk. What makes a walk happy, or sad? Angry, or fearful? Masculine, or feminine? 

Animators must learn to observe how humans act and move, and be able to replicate that character and personality in their motion. 

Locomotion Resources

There are many free resources on walks (and locomotion generally) at Animation Apprentice. Follow the links below to find out more about walks and character walks.

• How to Animate a Basic Walk with "Monty"
• Character Walks with the Bio Motion Walker
• How to Fix a Floaty Walk Cycle
• How to stop feet sliding in a walk cycle
• Why animators need treadmills for walk cycles 
• Why Walk Cycles Need Sine Waves
• Animating the "ZigZag Walk" on "The Thief & The Cobbler" 
• Two Ways to Animate a Walk Cycle - Which is Best?
• Character Walks by Alexander Savchenko
• Why animators should always take two steps
• Character Walk reference by Houman Sorooshnia
• 100 Ways to Walk by Kevin Parry

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.