Walk cycles
All character animation is based on cycles of movement, and the most basic one that every animator starts with is the walk cycle. A walk cycle starts with two extremes, called the Contact positions:
Contact Start Postion
End Contact Position
You can see that one is just the reverse of the other, with the arms and legs switched. When we walk, the legs and arms swing opposite each other, so when your left arm is forward, your left leg is back.
You can create a basic walk cycle with just one in-between, called the passing position. This is the moment when the legs and arms switch places:
Passing Position
This gets the basic idea of a walk across, but it’s a little jerky. For a smoother cycle, you should add two more in-betweens, for the up and down positions:
Down Position
Up Position
This gives us a much more fluid walk:
