Animate a "Manly Walk" with "Monty"

Cowboy walk with Monty

One thing every animator needs to learn is how to animate a character walk. In our latest tutorial, we show how to take a "plain vanilla" walk using the "Monty" rig (free for download from Creative Crash) and make Monty walk in a masculine way - with just a few clicks.

The video tutorial is recorded in Autodesk Maya, and is aimed at animation beginners. 

About "Monty"

The videos use the marvellous "Monty" rig, free for download, and which you can read about here. 

Start by Animating a Basic Walk with "Monty"

The tutorial takes a basic walk cycle (see this blog post on how to achieve this) and shows how to make very small changes that give the walk character and personality.

Rather than creating a character walk from scratch, a much more efficient approach is to complete a basic walk cycle and then adapt it.  Just a few small changes can make all the difference.   Start your journey by learning how to animate a basic walk cycle. You can find the links below. The password is the same as for all our videos.

Monty Walk Pt 1

Meet "Monty"

https://vimeo.com/830293594

Monty Walk Pt 2

https://vimeo.com/830312251

Monty Walk Pt 3

https://vimeo.com/830337206

Monty Walk Pt 4 

https://vimeo.com/830338058

"Manly Walk" with Monty

To make Monty feel angry, we need to adjust his walk so he takes bigger, wider steps, with more up and down motion. We can also have him roll a bit from side to side (shoulder roll), and give him a cowboy hat, or perhaps a construction helmet. We might also add a saloon bar from a Western set for the full effect. 

Tutorial

You can find the "Manly Walk" Tutorial below:

https://vimeo.com/880610640

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.