Above, Gin's play blasted walk cycle. It took two attempts at finalising this animation, because of extra limbs and eye movement.
Above, yang's walk cycle. This character was efficient to animate because of his small legs and lack of arms.
Above, Yin's walk cycle. Exaggerated leg movement disguises stiff upper body movement caused by the character's poncho.
I used the walk cycle diagrams by Richard Williams as reference for all three character walk cycles.
I created Gin's walk first, but eventually started from scratch after completing Yin and Yang's walk cycles. My knowledge of walking animation improved and I therefore chose to start Gin's walk again.
I started with Gin's legs, being the foundation of the walk cycle. Working with 25fps, I created some basic leg poses. Viewing the legs from the front, I then created arcs that see the foot move outward when off the ground, then inward on contact.
Upper body movement is secondary animation, relying on the lower body for influence.
The above image shows some geometry collisions on the shoulders during arm movement. I amended this by creating less dramatic arm movement. The rest can be hidden under the character's feathered neck.
Next, I worked on Yang's walk cycle. His legs are much smaller, making it challenging to create efficient movement.
To counter the characters small legs and their limited movement, I gave lots of attention to the chest, head and shoulders. Exaggerating these movements for a more dynamic walk animation.
In contrast, Yin's legs and feet are lanky. I had to avoid his feet intersecting or dragging along the floor.
Once leg movement was achieved, I created chest and hip rotation. Finally, I added secondary shoulder and head animation.
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