A run cycle is very similar to a walk cycle. The key poses and general locomotion is all roughly the same – just pushed. Pushing timing, pushed spacing, pushed posing. This definitely helps define a run – as a run.
But what truly separates a run from a walk is that for at least 2 frames both feet will be in the air at some point.
So all we have to do is incorporate this into the poses and adopt the same workflow as in the walk cycle tutorial – a layered/pose to pose workflow.
A layered/pose to pose workflow means we’ll be first roughing in our animation with 1 key pose at a time while in spline. Then once our keys are in place we’ll work on 1 body part at a time ( layering ) until its all polished.
Here are the workflow Steps:
- Contact Pose
- Passing Pose
- Down Pose
- Up Pose
- Offset Rotations
- Cleanup Arms and Legs
- Refine and Polish
The sections below will walk you through these 7 steps. Though you’ll probably understand everything best if you review these steps after you’ve watched the free run cycle video tutorial.
