animating a walk cycle

Storyteller

hi, I was trying to make a walk cycle, and I read about some 'helper targets' that keep feet on the floor so you can move the hip. Where can read about how to use these or create them? I tried searching the forum but it didnt come up.

Sonofbelmont

I don't know if it's different for other figures but when using Genesis what I do is select the thigh bone and click on the create IK chain icon on the left hand menu and then I click the foot bone, this creates an IK chain and adds a IK target around the foot region . After this I select the IK target and under the effects tab I tick center on hotspot.
Hope that helps

Storyteller

Im using david3, Im not sure if its me or not, but I tried that but to no avail.

I am quite frustrated at this point, and wish to progress.

Sonofbelmont

Unfortunately I don't have the David 3 figure
However I know that with Aiko 3 for what I described to work I first had to remove any inverse Kinematics or IK terminators on the bones, so you could try selecting the thigh and foot bones and looking in the modifiers tab for any of those modifiers and removing them.

Philemo_Carrara

Storyteller said:

hi, I was trying to make a walk cycle, and I read about some 'helper targets' that keep feet on the floor so you can move the hip. Where can read about how to use these or create them? I tried searching the forum but it didnt come up.

The target is a basic object which icon is ... a target. It can be found in the toolbar next to the bone icon.
A target is basically an object with a hot point and no geometry.

You insert this target wherever you want the bone to stay.

Afterwards, to go to the modifier tab of the bone you want to fix and you set you target as object to track.

3DAGE

Hi Storyteller

You can add a Target helper object,.. or you can use IK helpers,..
You can find information on their use in the Carrara manual.

But before you do that,.. can I ask you to look at the Key-frame Tweener types (the sections between key frames on the sequencer timeline.

It may be that the tweener type is set to bezier or linear,. which is allowing the foot to move,.
You can change the type of motion tweener,. for example: the "Discreet" tweener,. will "hold" one keyframe value,. until it reaches the next keyframe.
you can also add more key-frames to that section of animation, to control how that object behaves.

There may be easier ways to solve your animation problems before you get tied up in IK chains.

You can actually load in a David 3 figure,. and have Carrara create the IK helpers automatically for you.
If you use File / Import,. instead of loading the figure from the browser, then you'll be presented with some import options,, which includes the option to "Add IK targets"

This creates IK target helpers,. but doesn't enable them. ..you can enable IK tracking from the Top right hand menu, Modifiers tab.

If you already have a Scene with a David 3 Figure,.. loaded and animated
then you can add target Helpers,. to that figure, and enable the IK tracking for that figure (see pic).

If you've not used IK before,. I'd suggest creating an new scene and experimenting with it to get a feel for how it works and what you can and can't do while using iK targets.

Hope it helps :)

Storyteller

I ended up just adding helper targets and messing around with them enough I think i have the hang of it. redoing/modifying IK chains seems a bit over doing it. Looks like the biggest problem I will have is correcting the knees and that only takes a second. Thanks for the help, I think Im getting it now!

evilproducer

3DAGE said:

Hi Storyteller

You can add a Target helper object,.. or you can use IK helpers,..
You can find information on their use in the Carrara manual.

But before you do that,.. can I ask you to look at the Key-frame Tweener types (the sections between key frames on the sequencer timeline.

It may be that the tweener type is set to bezier or linear,. which is allowing the foot to move,.
You can change the type of motion tweener,. for example: the "Discreet" tweener,. will "hold" one keyframe value,. until it reaches the next keyframe.
you can also add more key-frames to that section of animation, to control how that object behaves.

There may be easier ways to solve your animation problems before you get tied up in IK chains.

You can actually load in a David 3 figure,. and have Carrara create the IK helpers automatically for you.
If you use File / Import,. instead of loading the figure from the browser, then you'll be presented with some import options,, which includes the option to "Add IK targets"

This creates IK target helpers,. but doesn't enable them. ..you can enable IK tracking from the Top right hand menu, Modifiers tab.

If you already have a Scene with a David 3 Figure,.. loaded and animated
then you can add target Helpers,. to that figure, and enable the IK tracking for that figure (see pic).

If you've not used IK before,. I'd suggest creating an new scene and experimenting with it to get a feel for how it works and what you can and can't do while using iK targets.

Hope it helps :)

Andy, I never used the discreet tweener. If doing a walk, would you set Carrara preferences to use that as the default tweener. or would you change the just the tweeners for the feet? Would you need to do it for the whole leg?

Storyteller

ok, now here is something I thought I had done before.. is there a way to flip the bone orientations on a figure? D|S had one at one time.

like, take whats on the right leg and copy it to the left leg and vice versa?

D|S had it like, Flip Left to Right or something. I thought I had done it in carrara, do I just need to do it by hand?

3DAGE

HI Evil Producer :)

My default is set to Bezier,. so I'd normally just select and change the tweeners I really needed to,. and I'd normally just add a key-frame in the middle and adjust,. but the discreet tweener can work pretty well to hold the key-frames, depending on what it's holding and what that's connected to.
You'd want to allow the thigh and shin to move normally, and that would naturally effect the foot position,. so maybe discreet isn't the best example tweener change,. probably linear or Bezier and adjust the values to tighten the in/out so there's less movement,. or add another Midway key-frame.

:)

wetcircuit

Storyteller said:

ok, now here is something I thought I had done before.. is there a way to flip the bone orientations on a figure? D|S had one at one time.

like, take whats on the right leg and copy it to the left leg and vice versa?

D|S had it like, Flip Left to Right or something. I thought I had done it in carrara, do I just need to do it by hand?

One of the FENRIC plugins will do this...

3DAGE

Hi Storyteller :)

There isn't a Mirror Pose function in Carrara,. but there is one included in a set of posing plug-ins, developed by Fenric

You can also use DS or Poser (both have that feature) to create your main poses, and mirrored versions,.
Carrara can load PZ2 Poser pose files,.
Daz studio has a Poser format exporter "script"
both of those options can create either Poses,. or Animations, as PZ2 can be single frame or animated range.

There's also an Animate Importer plugin,. which allows you to import Aniblocks into carrara, as keyframes, which can be saved in carrara as NLA clips, or poses.

Looks like the biggest problem I will have is correcting the knees and that only takes a second.

You can add another two target helper objects, place them in front of each knee so that the knee can't ever reach that point,..
Name them (Knee goal Left,. and Knee goal Right) or whatever makes sense to you.
Then select each of the thigh bones,. and go to he modifiers tab and add a "Point at" modifier.
Select one of the (knee goal's) you just made, as the object for the thigh to point at.

This means that as the foot target is moved,. and the knee joint bends,. the thigh is always looking for that "knee goal"

Hope it helps :)

Storyteller

well, I tried going over to d|s, I havent used it really since version 2. having been around since the pre-1.0 Beta, I have to say I am really not liking it at all. Its awkward and hard to use, everything is hidden and uncomfortable. To make matters worse, when I tried to swap left and right, it just copied the values. I do like the cartoon shader in d|s, but its just so hard to get it to work. The animation features are really simplified, and while navigating the huge lists of things in carrara can be a hassle, d|s is a bit too simplified.

Im just doing a very simple walk for david3 to make sprites for a game, I guess I will just copy my values over manually, so I can get the 'perfect mirroring I need for the smooth motion of his walk/jog cycle.

thanks for the heads up on d|s, but its pretty unusable these days, Im glad I bought carrara and moved over to it.

Also, thanks for the heads up on the knees, I may try that. Im doing such a simple sequence at the moment, I dont want to over complicate it it, but if I was doing anything more complex I bet that comes in handy. May well still as I move forward.

Storyteller

got daz|studio to play nice, but their animation tools are pretty strange, lot of weird behavior in altering the timeline, so this isnt as nice as Id like. still, its a start. only the third walk cycle Ive done. it looks a bit choppy to me and too dark, but its not terribad. still, it needs work. working in d|s cut a frame or so out of the animation when I changed the fps. I think I want to redo it in carrara shortly.

I welcome all constructive criticism on this.

pming

Hiya.

Not bad. Tips:

(1) Hips and Shoulders. They should be 'rotating'. When the right foot, for example, is extended out front, the right hip should be ever so slightly forward of the COG (Center of Gravity; generally the middle-centre of the hips for a human walking) ...at the same time, the shoulders should be counter to that; so the right shoulder is extended ever so slightly back of the COG.

(2) Once you have that going, the hips need to sort of 'swivel'. As the right foot is extended outward (to continue the example), the right hip should raise up slightly. Repeat in mirror for the left when the left foot is extending forward.

(3) Shoulders may or may not do the same as the hips, mirrored, depending on the characters particular walk style. e.g., when the right foot is extending, the right hip is 'up a bit', meaning the right shoulder should be 'down a bit'.

(4a) The Head. This takes time...you will be doing a LOT of tweeking. In general, when the characters right foot (continuing from above) hits the ground so both feet are now firmly planted and the distance between the front/back foot is greatest...in the next frame or two, the head should sort of 'nod' or 'dip' down to indicate the sudden stop of motion. It eases back up into normal "looking forward" position soon after as the character now lifts his back leg to continue walking with his next step. The acceleration of movement may 'tilt' the head back into an upright position (and even a bit back if you want some really exaggerated effect...as I said, a lot of tweeking).

(4b) Continuing with the head, you may want to throw in some 'swagger' to it...swiveling the head to one side then the other ever so slightly. If you were to look at a motion path of the characters chin from front on, it would resemble a sideways "8". This is where you can interject a lot of emotion into your characters walk. Most people will instinctively look at a persons face/head...so that's where your walk cycle really needs to pop and say "THIS is my characters attitude".

Hope that helps. If you want an excellent book for walk cycles, other than the "Top Dog" of animation books (..."The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation", in case you didn't know), I really learned a lot from George Maestri's "Digital Character Animation" book. It's a bit old in terms of softwere used, but the principles outlined really helped me when I was at VFS and CDIS Character Animation school waaaaay back when.

^_^

Paul L. MIng

bigh

Storyteller said:

got daz|studio to play nice, but their animation tools are pretty strange, lot of weird behavior in altering the timeline, so this isnt as nice as Id like. still, its a start. only the third walk cycle Ive done. it looks a bit choppy to me and too dark, but its not terribad. still, it needs work. working in d|s cut a frame or so out of the animation when I changed the fps. I think I want to redo it in carrara shortly.

I welcome all constructive criticism on this.

good one - needs some work
why don't you use BVH files - there are a lots of them out
here's one I did using a bvh file -

http://youtu.be/uoTQj1wGTU8

Storyteller

bvh files are full of little nuances and jitters. in a game, with limited frames of 2d sprites, everything has to be 'pixel perfect', so I need to be very precise and technically symmetrical. its the same loop played thousands of times, the player will notice the slightest discrepancy after only a few walk cycles, so, I need to get this setup right. bvh files need a lot of cleanup to work right, its just better to go this direction. One is also somewhat limited to what is in the mocap data to start with, you can do a lot of splicing and editing, but it would be as much work as starting from scratch. They work great in some places, in other, not so much.

ok, thanks for the feedback and tips, going back in for round 2!

Storyteller

ok, got one step going well, now I want to copy my frames over and flip the pose from left to right. the manual says to hold 'alt' and drag key frames, which are hard to select in general. further, they dont seem to really keep the right information. Surely there must be a better way?

3DAGE

HI Storyteller :)

To copy a range of keyframes,. you would drag an rectangle selection area around the keys to select them ,. they should all highlight in yellow,. then you can hold ALT,. then click drag a keyframe, to compy the selected keyframes to a new position in the timeline.

There should be a little magnifying glass icon at the top of the sequencer,. where you can zoom in/ out of the timeline to see more / less.

There isn't an option in carrara to Mirror a pose with symmetry, or swap left / right like poser and DS have.
Fenric has one included in a posing plugin pack,. and it's cheap. :)

You should also consider the BVH / PZ2 (plugin from Fenric) it allows you to save out a Poser PZ2 (pose) file, which will load into DS or Poser,.
then you could export the poses you've made,. as individual poses for the main frames,. then open those in DS or Poser and mirror left right,. then save those mirror poses (in poser or DS) (DS has a free Poser Format Exporter) script,. which will create Poser PZ2 files from DS poses or animations.

Poser or Daz Studio are very handy additions to carrara.

Another option which may be handy to use, is puppeteer,. (in the Controllers tab) where you can save a bunch of poses,. as "pose dots"
then you can move to any point in the timeline and click the pose dot to apply that pose to the figure at that point in time.

Hope it helps :)