In Part Two of this Run Cycle Series you’ll see how to take the basic block from the previous page and polish it like a pro using curves and the graph editor. You’ll learn how to breakdown video reference frame by frame observing movement as professional animators do.

By looking closely at each part of the body and the relationships between the parts you’ll see how the reference footage is applied to the cycle. The focus of this page is on the hips/feet relationship. This relationship forms the core of our cycle.

Real movement doesn’t always move in ways you’d expect. So you’ll learn how to look closely and test your assumptions by observing the real footage frame by frame.

You’ll also see how to stylise the cycle. Animation isn’t always about reality and the more stylised the design of your character the more it’ll have to be exaggerated in motion. So in this class you’ll learn how to add bounce and exaggerate areas of the motion too.

In the next class we’ll continue to polish the animation in even more detail, the tweaking and refining stage is often the hardest and most time consuming so be sure to check out that class too.

This page was recorded in Maya 2016. In Maya 2017 The Graph Editor has had a major revamp, but fortunately the changes are mostly visual and it’s also faster.

So almost all the tools and functionality remain the same and can be used in the same way. See the updated Graph Editor Page for any minor changes. (coming soon)

Running Time: 56 mins
Software: Maya 2016
Instructor: Andrew Silke

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