Walks

Walks are very interesting, and even more so when one is learning about animating them. I've started to notice more subtleties in the movements of walks and how interesting they are and have. At first walks seem basic at first, just one foot in front of the other right? No. There is actually a great deal going on which makes it all the more complex to animate. I like Richard Williams' comment on how walking is the process of falling over and catching yourself just in time, moving forward in a series of controlled falls. Everyone varies in their walk which can easily reflect body type, personality, and emotion.

One observation I found to be really interesting was how people would step down from the curb on the street and back up on the other side. There seemed to be quite a variation of what people did to step down and then step back up again. Some people would step up and down from the curb without much change in their stride. They would only slow their pace slightly when planting a foot down on the street and during the extra effort during the step up back off the street but their strides tended to stay consistent. In another case the person would shuffle their feet, taking a few short steps before reaching the curb, stepping down and taking a few more short steps before regaining a longer stride across the street. What was interesting was that when they reached the other side, the pattern returned and right before reaching the curb the stride would shorten to small tiny steps moving right up to the curb, stepping up to the sidewalk and regaining the original stride. It wasn't like they were focusing on their feet either, they would glance both ways checking for cars, glance down right before stepping, and then continue across the street.

People tend to lift up their back foot as little as possible, some people hardly lift it at all, almost sliding the soul of their shoe across the ground when taking a step forward.

Young children on the other hand seem to have much higher energetic steps, lifting their foot much higher before planting it back on the ground.

I noticed that some heavier people tended to point their toes outward more

I didn't see many people walking heel to toe except for some woman. Placing one foot in front of the other also seemed to increase the amount of hip movement with each step.

Once in awhile I would notice someone with a slight limp or irregular pattern in their walk. More energy was given to one leg then the other with more hip movement to avoid bending that much at the knee.

Upper body movement varied a lot but remained mostly solid. Some people had more of a loose sway in their upper body while others were a lot more ridged.

Weight and balance seems to be centered around the waist.

One walk that caught my attention was a guy coming out of his apartment carrying two large garbage bags and was taking much shorter steps, keeping his weight shift more centered yet slightly drifting at an angle in the direction he was heading.

With most walks, it seems that there tends to be not much shoulder movement but the arms would almost always be swaying forward in back, mirroring the legs.

Some people would be moving their whole arm while others would mostly just be moving their lower arm but in all cases (even with the guy carrying the heavy garbage bags) there was a bit of sway in the arms opposing the legs.

People tend to lean forward while walking, more so when walking at a quicker pace. An exception seemed to be when people kept their hands in their pockets, restricting arm movement and straightening out the spine a bit more.

Another walk that caught my attention was where a guy seemed to almost lurch slightly, having his foot fall at a faster rate then when lifting it up.

Head movement can change a walk, most people had very little head movement while walking at normal paces.

However, if someone was glancing to the side for a longer period of time, their walk would start to drift in the direction they were looking and then correct itself when they looked forward again.

People tended to have pretty short strides for leg length, never reaching a foot out very far even if they were in a hurry.

Charles' 20 Walk observations

1. The shoulders seem to move opposite of the hips.
2. If the shoulders do mimic the hips then the walk is more of a waddle.
3. If there is no contact pose, where both feet touch the ground, then it is a run.
4. Females have more vertical hip movement.
5. Feminine walks are a result of having the feet land closer together, as if the character was walking on a tightrope.
6. Feminine walks are not as bouncy as masculine walks.
7. The pass position is not always a direct tween for the up and down position. The foot might not pass the leg right on the pass position.
8. In a confident walk the body is held more forward and upright.
9. In a sad or sulky walk the upper body is hunched over.
10. The heel leads the movement of the foot.
11. The heel is the first part of the foot to touch the ground, unless the walk is a sneak or sprint.
12. In a real walk the foot only comes off the ground a few inches.
13. In a typical walk cycle the arms pump only once from one contact position to the other.
14. In a limp people typically keep the injured leg as straight as possible.
15. The bounce or sag in a walk not only conveys weight but mood as well.
16. The arm movement in a walk accentuates the mood or personality conveyed through a walk.
17. There is ease out when a foot leaves the ground and more of a snap when the foot is placed on the ground.
18. The jiggley bits like hair and fat appear to move contrary to the movement of the body because of inertia.
19. The swing of the arms is widest on the down position.
20. Both feet are rarely pointed straight ahead in a walk.

This is the blog of team Flying Vector. We will be documenting our progress in creating a 3D animated short film during the short period of just 10 weeks at University of Denver.