Learning Animation in Source Filmmaker Part 2.5 - Creating a Looping Walk Cycle

Hi! Here's a very quick and simple guide on setting up a walk cycle to loop endlessly. This tutorial was made for people who have finished the previous tutorial - Walking and Followthrough, and would like to know how to actually utilize the skills covered in that video to create a walk cycle that can be easily duplicated and looped perfectly. This is a much, much less in-depth tutorial, but I hope it helps!
Music: Have a Short Rest - Shoji Meguro - Persona 5 OST

[@duckoconner2256]

You’ve created the walk cycle, he’s never going to stop. He’s never going to s- *scout gets pancaked by car halfway over there*

[@SoupMan..]

R. I. P. Scout

[@x5ilco]

this comment is the exact equivalent to them greenscreenkids you see now a days

[@HocTapSFM]

I love these tutorials man, they're so helpful and they aren't boring like other animation tutorials. I love how you always bring in small jokes to keep it entertaining too.

[@IranianShrek]

the end got me

[@Peptuck]

Additional useful tip: When setting up the walking animation and you want to be sure that the feet are at the right heights, spawn in three of the same object - doesn't matter which one, as long as it is small and visible - and set them at the perimeter of your animation: where the toes land at the front, where the heel stops at the back, and the peak height of the ankle when it is rising through the passing step. This will both help measure the bounds of the animation and help to be certain both feet are at the same consistent height and distance.

[@CRealCreator]

I finally have an excuse to insert the saxxy award into the animation.

[@springscale1811]

To avoid the sliding, another thing you can do is keeping the foot's front/back axis (probably z) translation curve a straight line when the foot is touching the ground, and make the root having the same tangent as the foot.

[@diegomartin6053]

I didnt understand, can you explain?

[@pipe8248]

@@diegomartin6053 he never did...

[@hi_its_jerry]

i'll try to explain it to the best of my ability for those who didn't understand: so what you have to do according to OP is find in which direction your character's foot is facing/walking towards. in sfm its usually the X axis, aka the red arrow (or y, which is the green arrow, it depends). Afterwards, you're gonna want to head into the graph editor and find when your character's foot is making contact with the floor. On that same keyframe, go to left panel of the graph editor and select Position X or Position Y depending on which way the foot is facing (this will only show the curves for the X or Y axis respectively). Now drag the play head forward until your character's foot isn't touching the floor anymore, and insert a keyframe if there isn't one already. So now you have two points. Grab that last point using the scroll wheel (or press W on your keyboard to select the move tool if you dont have a scroll wheel) and drag the point vertically until the line between those two points is flat and horizontal. Now you may also select both points and press 2 on the keyboard to further flatten the tangent. Repeat the process for the other foot.

[@joelsium1236]

@@diegomartin6053 use linear movement for contact position for feet rather than spline movement in graph editor

[@canceroushit5933]

Loving these vids, I e been messing with half life Alyx’s sfm and it looks fantastic! I just gotta learn how to animate

[@The_asdfghjkl]

rip scout.All he wanted to do was walk but...we all know what happened next...

[@solafide4355]

Thanks for uploading this. I'm just starting out, and making the first walk cycle on a custom model has proven to be a real bastard up till seeing this. The other guides I've seen have been saying you need to keep animating every step, or opting to copy paste and patch their cycle when it breaks.

[@jack_of_ass]

This is so helpful and straightforward, thank you!

[@Raddish1337]

I love this sm

[@MadGamer-iy7ky]

Glad to see you back

[@SoupMan..]

R. I. P. Scout “You Were real good son, maybe even the best” - soldier May you stay in our hearts together scout 😂

[@SeriousMoFo]

Can we save this walk cycle? and if so how?

[@thedaemonwolf1814]

You can save animations created for a character by right-clicking their animation set in the animation set editor and finding "Export Animation". If it's greyed out or refuses to save, detach the character's IK rig and try again. When you export, you will be prompted to name the animation file, which I highly recommend being specific with their names since not all models have the same number or names for their bones, and specific names like "Link walk cycle slow" or "Fox run cycle Smash" can help you keep track of what animations you have for what characters.

[@SeriousMoFo]

@@thedaemonwolf1814 thank you very much this is quite helpful can somebody pin his comment here

[@gunsnbombs1552]

RIP Scout... He stopped walking.

[@TakeControl1337]

Lovely ending, good job

[@sonicdudeatdawn2]

Scout boutta end in a medieval setting as an op boi

[@DeFunnyGuy1]

I love the end

[@CRealCreator]

So that’s what I did wrong. I’m too lazy to fix it, but nice to know for the future to not move the character until the walk cycle is done.

[@Killerblaster95]

i didnt undestand the last part, where you take the root bone and move it foward, i do that but my character teleport foward, sorry for my bad english :C

[@gjtrue]

Didn't see that car coming.... 🤣

[@demonseven8531]

Tysm i had problem doing part 50 of pyro vs heavy

[@matthewhuff2226]

the car in the end lmao

[@Mittens...]

omfg that car

[@paatyz7]

NOOOO SCOUT, LOOK OUUUUTT!!!!!

[@alacan]

Thank you for this

[@Schivare]

How do you make the timeline extra zoomed in?

[@CRealCreator]

Omg I just noticed the car lmao

[@IloveMyFamily135]

You can just use import and go to session thats all you dont need hard time but how can i stop walking if i stop walking its just an npc moving without anything

[@Autismkid69420]

how are you able to move scout's legs so flexibly? i can't figure it out.

[@dudesup12331]

I just forgot what being able to stretch stuff means😢

[@NATH_STIX]

Please what application was used in this video

[@kimlong0793]

Your video is very good. But I have a question: how can I stop my model?

[@Schivare]

Whats the best way in copy and paste

[@nt33_old]

I just realized you animated the camera movement in the last part. How does it look so convincing?

[@fakenotfound152]

Bro, i was so serious looking, that car DESTROYED me, SHESH LMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAO HHAHAHAH

[@TomEyeTheSFMguy]

Nice

[@m.sharif_3d]

Hi! I just want to thank you for making these series of tutorials for SFM. They've been really useful and I'm hoping you do more of them! About animating walk cycles, I'm confused...because I followed the previous tutorial and this video's completely different in how to animate a walk cycle. Do I still need to lock the pelvis to the hands and use Rig_biped_simple? And, which poses of the walk cycle do I actually animate?

[@TTMR]

Hi! this video was intended to show how to take the knowledge from the previous tutorial and put it into a more efficient format. since the body itself isnt moving from the one spot, it's not necessary to lock the arms to the pelvis. And in regards to what poses to include in the cycle, it's best to follow richard's guides 100% when you're first starting out, and then when you have a bit more observational knowledge and experience you can figure out where to pick and choose.

[@m.sharif_3d]

​@@TTMR Many thanks for getting back to me! I've downloaded the Richard's Survival Kit and I've screenshotted a couple of walk cycles to use as a reference. I hope I can get through all the hills and valleys in animating walk cycles! I am a bit nervous as, I've used the prev. tutorial. It was easy to follow but, animating it was very difficult, indeed! I hope I can pull this through!

[@gm_kuro]

how are you making moving limbs smooth with physics instead of streching

[@D1N0793]

I need more clear instructions idk how, I kept watching the thing, but I just kept getting confused

[@diegomartin6053]

Hi! Thanks for the tutorial, can you explain with more details how to make the walking cycle in the place? I could do the walking cycle for the first tutorial, but I cant make this

[@clashroriyt]

does the model tell you what the root bone is?

[@redmannheavy5273]

It's too hard i cannot loop my walk cyle please help?

[@docshrekboticus]

when i move the root the model doesn't move

[@thechainsawnigga2543]

PERSONA MUSIC MY BOY

[@ericarzaga2897]

Can you like stop a loop sequence?

[@DIVINEjourney336]

where do you find the character walk cycle after importing it from the steam workshop??

[@StarByte786]

Scout never stops walking Some random car i think not

[@IntentionalMost325]

Everytime I try to drag a model leg the leg just get stretched doesn't follow it. it just stretches. Do you know how to fix this or somethin?

[@TTMR]

That sounds to me like the rig doesn't have IK attached. You can add an IK rig to the model by right clicking them in the AnimationSet Editor (the outliner on the side), going to Rig and selecting a rig. Most valve models use rig_biped_simple, but there are add-ons on the Steam Workshop that allow you to make rigs for any model.

[@Dafuqnot]

WHEN THED THE CAR COME IN

[@D1N0793]

dawg idk how this is so confusing I’m tryna loop a walking animation but idk how, someone help me in the replies

[@warbringers9391]

Bro how your legs are attached and not going crazy😅

[@Blidei_]

R.I.P Scout 2020-2021 got ran over by a car by walking forward too much non-stop.

[@MMDailyEdits]

Moonwalking scout

[@felipegameplays6585]

Eu não queria te desaniar. So queria dar ideia de video porque os video de texto (na minha opinião) são desinteressante

[@kaua_808]

Not stop mov-

[@ghostinng274]

Rip scout tho lmao

[@MadGamer-iy7ky]

I thought you forgot about us

[@bliss_gore5194]

guys the scout is dead!

[@Unoriginal-]

No matter how many things about walk cycles I see I still CAN'T DO THEM, WHYY...I HAVE SPENT MULTIPLE HOURS TO GET GARBAGE!

[@johnmccain8102]

Well he kept walking and he ded

[@krimux3076]

k

[@donteatcandies]

The end lol

[@Arsertijo]

Nice