Animation Foundations: The Walk Cycle

Hello Students,
Your newest project is an exercise in creating a cartoon walk cycle animation. A walk cycle is one of the earliest forms of animation character development. The way a character moves is part of their "animation skin". Does a character walk with the head forward or back, do they skip, stroll or have a leggy gait? The character's walk cycle should be a way to convey they characteristics and display their personality, be it serious, goofy, subtle or excited.

Project Resource Links:
Tutorial: Walk cycle animation

Walk Cycle Animation Project Specs:

• Research cartoon character development, research animation principles relating to the walk cycle
• Design and illustrate your character, show the front and side view. You can sketch in your sketchbook and scan or take photo for uploading later
• Walk cycle should consist of 9 frames suitable for a looping animation
• Walk cycle must be sketched in pencil on printer paper, use the light table and use 3-hole punched paper for alignment later on
• Walk cycle frames will be photographed and turned into an animated gif
• Post an animated gif of your walk cycle animation plus character sketches and test poses when complete. 
• Write a short summary of the principles, tips, insights that you learned while researching