"Double Bounce Walk" With "Monty"

Monty Double Bounce Walk

Every animator needs to learn how to animate a character walk.  In this simple tutorial, we show how to take a "plain vanilla" walk using the marvellous "Monty" rig (free for download from Creative Crash) and give it a sunny, upbeat personality with just a few clicks.  

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

Double Bounce Walk

The Double Bounce Walk 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.  A few small changes can make a big difference. 

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"

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

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

"Double Bounce Walk"

Once you have animated the basic walk, the next step is to add the "Double Bounce". This is a pretty simple adaptation of the existing walk cycle, but it gives Monty plenty of personality. To see how to do it, follow the thumbnails to the right. 

Instead of frame 13 and 25 being the high point in the walk cycle, they are now an extra low point - give Monty a "double bounce".

Double Bounce Tutorial

You can find the Double Bounce Tutorial below:

https://vimeo.com/880607386

The password is the same as for all our video tutorials.

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.

"Monty" rig 

• 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.