Demo Reel Needs a Quadruped Walk, Trot & Run

Horse gallop by Mark Lawson-Hall

Most student demo reels focus on human characters, but if you are looking to get hired onto animal and creature projects, you will need to show an understanding of quadruped locomotion - one of the core skills we teach at Animation Apprentice. 

A solid walk, trot, and run cycle for a four-legged character shows range, versatility, and an understanding of animal and creature mechanics.  Layer in some acting and personality, and you have a great demo reel. 

Dragon Animation Demo Reel

Above is a selection of the best animation of dragons in motion completed by students at Animation Apprentice. As well as character animation, our students learn the art and craft of animal and creature locomotion, including how to animate quadrupeds, as well as many other creatures - including dragons.  Being able to master the art of a variety of animals and creatures in motion is an important part of the animator's tool kit.  Song: I-85. Artist: Kia. Music by: CreatorMix.com Edit by Miguel Teixeira.

Animating Lipsync for "Underdog"

In the short video above (15 minutes) I describe my experience working on the Disney live action feature film "Underdog", animated at Cinesite (and also Framestore) in London back in 2006.  As part of the development process I did a large number of expression sheets, a few of which I have uploaded below.  The purpose of the expression sheets was to help the modelling department create blend shapes for the character rigs, showing a range of expressions and moods, which could then be captured in the animation.  Underdog was a great project, directed by veteran director Frederic Du Chau, with whom I had worked previously on "Quest for Camelot" and "Racing Stripes". 

Animating Birds

Above is a selection of the best animation of birds in motion completed by students at Animation Apprentice. As well as character animation, our students learn the art and craft of animal and creature locomotion, including how to animate quadrupeds, as well as a number of other creatures - including birds.  Being able to master the art of a variety of animals and creatures in motion is an important part of the animator's tool kit.  "Song: Southbound". Music by: CreatorMix.com. Edit by Miguel Teixeira.

Dinosaur Animation Reel

Student animators at Animation Apprentice learn how to animate a dinosaur in motion. The tutorial uses the free Dino rig by Harry Geoghegan, available for free download at Creative Crash.  Following the tutorial, novice animators can create a believable dinosaur walk cycle and performance. To see some of the best dino animation by our students, watch the short demo reel above. 

Bear Walk Tutorial

Bear walk by Joris Van Laar

All animators need to learn how to animate a quadruped walk cycle.  All quadrupeds walk in more or less the same way, allowing for anatomy (herbivores have less flexible spines than do carnivores). 

To the left is a bear walk cycle animated by Animation Apprentice graduate Joris Van Laar, and below are some useful thumbnails showing how to animate a bear walking.

Dog Run Animation Tutorial

Dog run thumbnails - ASK - simplified 

Every animator needs to learn to animate a quadruped running.  All quadrupeds run in the same way, allowing for anatomy (herbivores have stiffer spines), but it's still helpful to use thumbnails of the actual animal you are animating. 

The dog run thumbnails to the left are taken from the Animator's Survival Kit, the book we recommend all animators buy, but they are simplified to make the basic blocking of the dog run easier and quicker. 

Quadruped Horse Walk Tutorial

Horse walk by Matt Lawson-Hall

We've uploaded a new series of video tutorials on animating quadrupeds, a "Horse Walk Tutorial" using the "Rhett The Clydesdale" Maya Rig, which is free to download.

All animators need to learn how to animate a quadruped walk cycle.  The horse walk tutorial is password-protected but available to all our current students.

Spiders and Scorpions Animation Demo Reel

Above is a compilation of some of the best arachnid animation by our students completed in recent years. Spiders and scorpions might seem hard to animate - but we break down the technique into a series of simple steps, re-using animation curves to get a quick and effective result. Edited by Miguel Teixeira, Song: New Arcade. Music by: CreatorMix.com. 

Crab Scuttle Animation Tutorial

Animate a crab scuttle underwater

In this new animation tutorial we demonstrate how to create a locomotion cycle in Maya with a crab rig, showing how to take a complex motion, break it down - and make it simple.

A crab's sideways scuttle looks complex, but is in fact very easy to animate, by following this basic tutorial.

We start by animating a single animation curve, and then copy it across the crab rig. 

Animals & Creatures Reel 2024

Above is a selection of the best work done on animals and creatures at Animation Apprentice.  The "Animals & Creatures Animation Reel" includes work created by many of our talented students.  Animals and Creatures are tough to animate - the mechanics of the motion need to be accurate and believable, especially so on high end visual effects feature film work.  Congratulations to all our students on their excellent work solving the peculiar problems of animal and creature locomotion and performance.

Scorpion Animation Tutorial

In this Scorpion Animation Tutorial we demonstrate how to animate a scorpion in motion.  Scorpions are fun to animate, and there is a good free rig available online by Kiel Figgins, which can be found here at his official website. 

Watch the video below for a general introduction to the rig, how to find it, and how the rig works. The scorpion tutorial is similar to the spider tutorial, but a little more complex, as we have to deal with eight legs, two big pincers and also a tail.

Animate a Jelly in Motion

Jelly rig swim cycle with caustics

In this beginners' animation tutorial, part of our series on animal and creature animation, we show how to animate a cute "jelly" in motion. The tutorial uses the free "Jelly" rig which you can find here at Animation Buffet - a great source of free rigs for character and creature animation.  

Jelly is a very simple rig - but gives a good range of movement and also facial expressions. 

Animate a Foxy Tail in Motion

In this "Foxy Tail" animation exercise, students learn how to animate a simple ball with a tail, a cute cartoony fox creature that can be used to create some fun cartoony animation, as in the example on the left by Joris Van Laar. 

The exercise uses the free Ultimate Tail Rig, available for download from highend3D.com.

Quadruped Run Tutorial

Horse gallop by Mark Lawson-Hall

In this animation tutorial we show how to animate a quadruped running - in this case a horse.  Every animator needs to understand how to animate quadrupeds in motion; these are the basic "scales" of animal and creature animation.  

The basic gait for all quadrupeds is more or less the same, allowing for anatomy (herbivores generally have less flexible spines than carnivores), so this tutorial can be applied to any four-legged creature, but the easiest way to follow the tutorial is to use the free horse rig - available for download from the Mothman TD website. 

Spider Animation Tutorial

Spider Animation by Mark Lawson-Hall

In this new animation tutorial we show how to create a locomotion cycle with a spider, demonstrating how to take an apparently complex action and, by breaking it down into simple components, we can make the animation much easier.

A spider's walk looks complex, but is in fact very easy to animate, by following this simple tutorial.

Crow in Flight Tutorial

Animate a crow in flight

Our latest animation tutorial shows how to animate a bird in flight - specifically a crow. The tutorial covers how to animate a flap cycle, add refinements, add the animation to a motion path, import a set, and then create an interesting and inventive scene. 

Birds are one of the many kinds of creatures that animators will be expected to know how to animate; this tutorial demonstrates a simplified approach that gets a strong result in a short amount of time. 

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.

Animal Anatomy for Animators

Above is a short video on animal anatomy, a general introduction to how animals are put together, and how and why anatomy matters for animators.  Animal and creature animation can be technically demanding; the use of live action reference is very important as a starting point for how to bring animals and creatures to life.

Bird Animation by Joshua Reynolds

Above is an excellent example of bird animation by Animation Apprentice student Joshua Reynolds, using the "Red Whisker Bird" rig by Truong. Joshua has used live action reference to excellent effect, creating a charming and believable piece of avian animation.  Being able to tackle photo-realistic animal and creature animation is one of an animator's core skills, as studios ramp up production on films with photo-realistic animal animation such as The Jungle Book and The Lion King.