ANIMATION FUNDAMENTALS - PROJECT 1

14/04/21 - 05/05/21 (Week 3 - Week 6)

Animation Fundamentals

Project 1 - Character Walk Cycle

                                                                                                                                                                  

INSTRUCTIONS

Project 1 - Character Walk Cycle

Week 4 (23/04/2021)

For our first project, we are required to animate a character's walk cycle using Adobe Animate. We need to use the character we had used for our previous exercise. The 12 principles of animation that we have learned earlier needs to be applied in this project as well. 

To start off with this project, I referred to a few images regarding walk cycle poses to get a better understanding on how to animate it later on. Here are some of the images I heavily referred to:

Fig 1.1 Reference 1 (Walk cycle)

Fig 1.2 Reference 2 (Walk cycle)

After having a more in-depth understanding of the walk cycle, I proceeded to do sketches of the key poses on Adobe Animate. I have made sure to sketch the walk cycle in a different layer so it'd be easier for me to outline it afterwards. Here are some of my sketches as well as the GIF for my sketch:

Fig 1.3 Sketch 1 (Pose)

Fig 1.4 Sketch 2 (Pose)

Fig 1.5 Sketch 3 (Pose)

Walk cycle sketch version (GIF)

After consulting with Ms Jennifer, she said it looks good to go so I begin drawing my character based on the sketches I did. At first I had a tough time tying to draw my character to fit into the sketches I made as the body proportion of the sketch and my character differs from each other. Ms Jennifer managed to give me some guidance on one of the key poses as I was having a difficult time. Here are images of my work process:

Fig 1.6 Building my character (process 1)

Fig 1.7 Building my character (process 2)

Fig 1.8 Final character built 

After completing my character built, I moved on to focusing entirely on the walk cycle and the overall look of the walk cycle. 

Fig 1.9 Work process 1

Fig 1.10 Work process 2

After consulting with Ms Jennifer regarding the walk cycle before submitting it, she told me to make some minor adjustments on the foot on one of the poses. 

Fig 1.11 Feedback for minor adjustment

From the feedback given, I made the necessary changes and here's my final walk cycle.

Final Walk Cycle - Project 1 (GIF)

Reflection: From this project, I have learned that applying the principles of animation is very crucial as it affects the overall outcome and visual appeal of the animation. As mentioned before in exercises, to apply and be mindful of which principle to apply takes time and tons of practice. I am quite happy with my project 1 although I'd like to improve more on the facial expression.