Animate a Run Cycle With "Heavy"

Human run by Edward Muybridge

In this tutorial we show how to animate a simple, basic run cycle.  

The tutorial uses the "Heavy" Rig which you can download for free at HighEnd3D.com. 

Animators should be able to master the art and craft of basic locomotion, including walks, runs and jumps.  These are the "scales" of animation, and should be on every animator's demo reel, demonstrating that the student has mastered these basic steps.

Runs

A run is an efficient gait, somewhat similar to a walk, but with the difference that it is faster, and at some point in the cycle both feet are off the ground.  

9 Frame Run Thumbnails

Slowish 9 frame run cycle

The thumbnails above show a simplified slowish "9 Frame Run" on an 18 frame cycle (1 step every 9 frames), easy to break down into sections.  

Start by animating in the Right Foot Contact position at frame 1, then do the same at Frame 19. Then do the mirror image Left Foot Contact at frame 10, and then fill in the down position at frames 4 and 13, and the high points at frame 7 and 16. Once this is done, tidy your curves in the Graph Editor. 

Heavy Rig

"Heavy"

The tutorial videos use the excellent "Heavy" Rig, based on the Team Fortress character, and free for download at HighEnd3D.com.  Heavy is very good for learning the early stages of animation; he is low poly and will gives real-time playback in your Viewport, even on older laptops.  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 we will share the updated rig. 

Heavy Run Cycle

Animate with a treadmill for best results

You can find the Heavy Run cycle Tutorial below

Heavy Run Part 1

https://vimeo.com/849140315

Heavy Run Part 2

https://vimeo.com/849140945

Heavy Run Part 3

https://vimeo.com/849141142

The password is the same as for all our tutorials.

Run Animation by Rich Jeffrey

Run Cycle by Nick Dimitriades

Locomotion Resources

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

• Animate a Run Cycle with Monty
• Animate a "Manly Walk" with Monty
• Animate an "Angry Walk" with Monty
• Animate a "Double Bounce Walk" With Monty
• How to Animate a Basic Walk with "Monty"
• Animate a Basic Walk with "Heavy"
• 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.