masthead
home course info courrse materials student gallery extras LS home
clear  
Notes & Lessons
  Grading Rubric
  OSX Basics
  Basic Computer Terms
  Connecting to the Staff Server
  Filenames, Assignments and Projects
  A1: Hexnut & Flower Drawing
  A2:
  1. Scene with Layers
  2. Basic Motion Tween
  A3: Motion Tween on a Path (Intro to Symbols)
  A4: Nested Animations
  A5: Mask Layers
  A6: Intro to Buttons
  A7: Animated, Animated Buttons
  Project 1:
  1. Expanded Square
  2. Monochrome Scene
  3. Intro Scene
  4. Navigation Scene
  Project 2: Character Animation
  1. Introduction
  2. Character Design & Symbol Creation
  3. Terms & Definitions
  4. Overview of the Walk Cycle
  5. Getting Started
  6. Frame Nine
  7. Body Bounce
  8. Animating the legs and feet
  9. Refining the Arm Animation
  Motion Tween Quiz Review
  Handout_2
  Preparing a Web Portfolio: pt. 1
  Preparing a Web Portfolio: pt. 2
  Web Portfolio: pt 3
   
printer friendly version  
WALKING ANIMATION
Pt. 5: Getting Started

Flash: Intertactive Web Animation
Teachers: Ken Kimura
email: ken_kimura at lsrhs dot net
telephone: (978)443-9961 Ken Kimura: XT2221

Side View of Walk Cycle
Also see diagram: Position Guide for Legs
Also see: project example: walk cycles

  1. Before you start creating your walk cycle you should at least have created symbols for the following body parts.
    • arm-hand
    • body-head
    • straight leg
    • bent leg
    • straight foot (toes in neutral position)
    • bent foot (toes bent upwards)
    • (Optional) bent foot 2 (toes bent downwards - for characters without shoes)
  2. IMPORTANT:
    Your walk cycle MUST be made INSIDE OF A MOVIE CLIP SYMBOL.

    Make a new movie clip symbol (Insert menu > New Symbol... or Apple F8). Name this symbol "MC_WalkCycle."
  3. Create a new guide layer and name it “guides.” Draw a colored horizontal line that will represent the ground level.
  4. Set up your character in the contact position putting body parts in separate layers.

    NOTE: It is best if your character is in the middle of the frame (the cross hairs indicates the center)

    NOTE: It is VERY important that you name your layers. It can get very confusing. So that you can follow along, I recommend that you use the following naming convention. NOW (when naming and creating layer) is the time that you think in terms of "left leg" and "right leg."
    layers diagram
  5. One are should be forward, and the other should be back. Remember, arms swing opposite from the legs.
  6. Remember, in the contact position, the leading leg should be straight while the trailing leg should be slightly bent. The leading foot should be a straight foot while the trailing foot should have the toes bent
  7. Once you’ve finished creating the contact position, go to the “guides” layer and add a horizontal line marking the location of the top of the head.
    contact position
  8. BEFORE YOU CREATE ANY NEW KEYFRAMES you must reset the center point for each symbol ON THE STAGE. This time use the transform tool to set the center points. Again, when you rotate the symbol, this is the point around which the symbol rotates. If your symbol was a throwing knife you'd put the center point where the blade meets the handle. If your symbol was the hand of a clock, you'd put the center point at the base end of the symbol.
    centerpoints centerpoint
  9. Make a new column of keyframes (for every layer) at frame 17.
    keyframes

    10. NOTE: in the figure above, just below the playhead is the frame number indicator, it reads "14." READ this indicator when selecting frames.
Also see diagram: Position Guide for Legs
Edited 1-9-08