the good book #2

My dad always said if you're nervous about a subject in classes, just "over-prepare yourself".

Not only for walk cycles. But also a quadrupedal walk cycle. "It's just two sets of legs slightly out of phase!" Says YOU Richard Williams....*goes to the corner and cries* Sniffle. Ok, let's face the music;

"Four legged animals walk like two of us joined together. - One slightly ahead of the other - two sets of legs slightly out of phase.

We look for all the same things as we do with a human. Start with the contact positions (probably starting on the front foot.) Where are the ups and downs? Where is the weight? What's the speed? Character? Differences in build?

But with two sets of legs working, there's a lot weight transference going on - where the weight is coming from,, where it is and where its going to." (The Animator's Survival Kit, Richard Williams, 2001.)

WHEW.

Is there too much in my shopping cart if I put that in there?

It's here for reference at least.

I am going to be animating maybe like a step or two with the cat. He will sit, and then he will flip out and flee.

I found a different page deling with my very dilemma.  Here it is, page 60:


" Important animators are called key animators, and word got round that they just draw the keys - anything that they draw is a key - and slaves fill in the rest as according to the little charts provided by the key animators. Wrong. A key animator is simply like a key executive - an important one.

Many good animators call all their extremes 'keys' - I sure used to.But it makes life so much clearer and easier if you separate the keys from the extremes...

...There may be many keys in a scene - or maybe just one or two - it depends on what it is and the length of the scene. Its whatever it takes to put it over, to read what's to occur. You can spend time on these keys. 

I remember once visiting Frank Thomas and he was drawing a cat. 'Dammit,' he said. 'I've been working all day on this damn drawing - trying to get this expression right.'

I was shocked. All day! Wow! That was the first time I ever saw anyone working so hard on a single drawing. How was he ever going to get the scene done? Finally, the penny dropped. 'Of course stupid, it's his key!' It's the most important thing in the scene! He's got to get that right!'

And it was encouraging to see anyone that great struggling to get it right! "

Then we get into straight ahead animating, or pose - to - pose. I am using a combination of "straight ahead" and "pose-to-pose" (Example, page 63.).  I have already planned the scenes. I need anticipations/extremes. No known disadvantages according to Richard. :)

Alright there we go. I will refer to this as well.