Walk Cycle Tutorial - Part 1

[@katkasfm559]

" Children can control the parents " - Will Hurrell 2013

[@noireanimations]

lmao

[@armandod2010]

When you watch this, you appreciate what people do with sfm.

[@noireanimations]

I just recently started animating with SFM, and oh boy can it be annoying.

[@JasperHahnAnimation]

"Everything's a child of the pelvis." "Locking the hand to the pelvis"

[@supermariopeepeeproduction8262]

XDDDD

[@ultradepth3991]

Hah.

[@thepapermask2102]

Yeah, the first quote was refering to the FK-Rig, and he locked the arms to the pelvis in the IK-Rig.

[@SalsaE621]

@@thepapermask2102 yeah i dont think you got the joke

[@ravenrafenn]

"Grab his pelvis"

[@TheSwordofFlames]

Over two years since this video came out, and it's still relevant. I'm glad Valve keeps SFM the same, for the most part

[@bluewolf9366]

+TheSwordofFlames indeed :)

[@CorkScrewDood]

TheSwordofFlames I still wish i can put more than 8 lights in a single shot because of how inaccurate the global light can be.

[@olivari6145]

You can, just disable shadows on a light to add another one.

[@Crowborn]

CorkScrewDood you can add as many as you need, Just disable shadows

[@Y3SkyBreaker]

This holds true even with S2FM

[@pyrous6795]

dude, your tutorials are amazing, one second I had no idea how to even make them move, the next second I'm making them walk. you were so clear about everything and showed exactly how to do everything step by step. +1 sub

[@milocatto]

This tutorial has helped me more than valve has in their SFM tutorials

[@keagan5012]

Probably the most helpful sfm tutorial i've watched. Posted more than two years ago and still relevant. Thank you so much dude :)

[@willhvids]

+-Glace- Thank you sir.

[@nikita6485]

Thats Right.

[@funny-o2564]

i fear no tutorial, but this tutorial it scares me...

[@jmvr]

I fear no tutorial, but this tutorial.... it tutorials me

[@Theanymemetor]

I tutorial no fear but this tutorial…it me fears

[@Daucus]

Just finished my first attempt at walking and it went pretty smoothly. Once I got in there I understood why you were typing the numbers in there. Thanks for all the help! looking forward to more!

[@snagoons]

Good tut man. Really appreciate that you cover what hotkeys and little hacks you use while animating, learnt a great deal.

[@Wazgrel]

Very good tutorial, but I find using pelvis to move the model a little inconvenient, because it leaves the root behind. It can cause troubles if you later use the model after the walking cycle in the same shot. Locking the feet to the world and moving the model forward with the root_transform is a little easier. Plus you can copy+paste previous poses before contact 3, not having to repeat the entire posing process with each step. Especially if you're making a walk cycle in advance to import and use it in different projects. Huge time saver. And if you worry that it's going to look very repeating - you're going to modify the entire animation on the spot with the project you're working for so I don't think it's a big deal. :)

[@willhvids]

Animating on the spot is used for games, but in films the root should be kept in place, that's the way all animation companies do it. This walk can be copy and pasted it just requires a different method. Moving the root can cause serious foot sliding issues which is why it's not such a big deal for games. But if you prefer that way, then do as you wish =]

[@Wazgrel]

Will Hurrell I see, thank you for explaining! :)

[@amaurythewarrior]

Will Hurrell i suppose it's not too hard for experienced animators to compensate for the foot sliding, but it's definitely very frustrating.

[@amaurythewarrior]

TheNethero "so that it's not left behind when I need it" i can't think of a situation where you would need it ?

[@amaurythewarrior]

TheNethero okay, but aren't your foot IK controls parented under the root ? i mean if you started moving your foot controls in the scene rotating the root would mess that up, no ?

[@legaleotf6483]

In sfm vids, write in a paper the stuff from tutorials, so you can make a SFM guide book!

[@MrRobloxDDude]

*Tries to pose the 1st foot flat on the floor*. *Ragequits 1 minute later*

[@MrRobloxDDude]

+fis Never thought about being a youtuber hero, neither did I think I could just learn how to animate like a pro instantly. I just find using sfm difficult to get used to xD

[@LuminiousDBD]

I know this is from years ago. BUT SAME

[@InternalDialogNik]

@@LuminiousDBD Still Accurate.

[@LuminiousDBD]

@@InternalDialogNik I still try everything humanly possible to avoid them moving around 😂

[@bujakerino]

@Luminious haha i'm working on my first SFM vid rn and I'm only using scenes where nobody is moving or if, you just see the upper body 😂

[@CossZt6]

Straight and efficent tutorial. (First one that explained walking cycle simply) good work.

[@NonSoloRecensioni]

I followed this tutorial using the Spy, this method works perfectly with almost every character, thank you, it's very easy and you are really good at explaining stuff :D

[@MrStreetboy80]

Iv only just started using sfm and trying to master walking first. Was sliding and skidding all over the place at first and kept getting twisted ankles at the end. I’m getting better at it now thanks to this tutorial. I want to walk properly when I animate. Most people avoid it in most videos Iv watched or their ice skating through a map lol. Great tutorial. Thanks 👍

[@willhvids]

You only need to animate two steps, from first contact on either the left or right, and ending up in contact on the same foot. Then you can copy and paste those frames but you'll need to paste the pelvis and feet X (if it's moving forward in X) with offset so it continues to move forward rather than flicks back to its start position.

[@pootisbird6156]

What map you use

[@willhvids]

Make sure you only select the root when you move it to the centre. And the curve if because you have it set to spline rather than stepped. Right click in graph editor and it's the last option and choose stepped.

[@AshraldRails]

I used to be a animator like you, but then I got a arrow to the knee.

[@KingDispenser]

Go away

[@Nakeuru]

no more like I used to be an animator like you then I took hate to the knee

[@mudmask2417]

Nakeuru I used to be an Knee like you but then i took an adventurer to the arrow

[@mrxbx9002]

AshraldRails You got married?

[@colbyjackextracheese6249]

Mudmask I use to be a youtube commenter like you then I took a wumpis to the grumpis

[@willhvids]

Thanks for your feedback and the reason I do that is just to keep it nice and tidy during blocking stage.

[@willhvids]

Yep you can export your cycle, I recommend only animation 2 steps, say if it was 24 fps, then you animation one step taking 12 frames, the other step, the other 12 frames, then you export only 23 frames, so you exclude the 24th frame. I think you select it in the motion editor then right click the model in the animation set editor and export animation or something, it's been a while since I've done it haha.

[@Bartosz2023]

thanks it works now and made it and it works like a charm. question..could you possible save this as a animation and use it as a loop on any model and just stack the cycle without making every step manual?

[@rogers2293]

Subscribed! Great Job! You've helped me grasp how to use the tangent's alot better with this tut. Can't wait to see part 2. Any Idea when that will be ready? Thank you for puttin this up by the way, hope there will be more to come.

[@TheSpokenBanana]

This is very useful, Is there anyway i could repeat the steps again other than doing the whole animation again?

[@ForgeO2]

thisis the best walking tutorial i have ever seen! thanks! helped alot!

[@willhvids]

When you right click in the graph editor there should be a few options for pasting, I think it's paste with offset. You'll need to paste them separately to the other keys that don't use this paste mode.

[@TrakMiro]

Thank you for explaining rigs in a way that didn't make me feel stupid.

[@Lray2305]

Nice tutorial, I understood the graph editor more, I think Im ready for my first movie :)

[@choppgaming]

Haha thanks! It encourages me to make more, I really should get around to making a better version of this. As for particles, I don't have much of an idea with those, I haven't really spent any time on them, but perhaps you could edit the medic beam to make it look like a rope?

[@eragon2704]

Very helpful. Is there any easy way to extend the animation (make it repeat) and then transfer it to another map or sequence?

[@Paperminers]

Thank you so much for this tutorial! I had no idea how to use the Graph editor or even animate, but now I made a really nice looking walk cycle. :)

[@willhvids]

You can select all the keys then in the time stat box type in "*=-10" without the quotes, that will scale it down by 10 in the time.

[@Cheezdude365]

thanks a ton! i was really missing the inverse kinematics that i was used to from other animation programs. this tutorial helped me a ton, liked, favorited, and subscribed, looking forward to more of your tutorials! Sadly, the rig_biped_simple doesn't seem to work for dota 2 models? unless i've done something wrong.

[@PossibleDoot]

Great tutorial. Key frames can be intimidating, but your tutorial is a good insight on how they work. I used this on an imported model from garrys mod and it works all the same. The only problem is there is some "skating" where the foot is on the ground but skating as the other leg begins to lift itself, but its probably a minor mistake I made along the way. Not sure how to fix it.

[@startrek21000]

You know your day is made when you find a video where Max is wrong.

[@nano-ep9ih]

7:57 When I grab the lift foot, second bookmark(on 4th frame) disappears. But when I select, for instance, pelvis, bookmark appears back at its original location. Should I ignore that or create this bookmark?

[@Mrphillykills]

Hi, I need some help. When I add the scout model all of the 'Bones' are just white and I can't click and move them like you can. How do I change this?

[@lowgrasswhite]

Thanks for this tutorial, Will. Managed to make the Scootie walk, now i'm kinda lost as to how to make it infinate. I'll probably figure it out soon, it would've been nice though if i could just copy you from Part 2. Looking forward to it. Great job, btw :]

[@vitordias8]

Way to go for my first animation... thanks for the step to step, really good

[@Cheesynachobread]

Quick question, how do you keep the feet so straight? Whenever I use a rig it seems to mess with the feet rotation when I move it and the knees get all out of whack when I rotate it.

[@Daviddv]

The keymode thing is not there. I can't do stepped.

[@mrexpendable1232]

@Will Hurrell I'm really new to SFM. how did you open this graph looking map? i need a good flat area to practice this. thanks!

[@headcrab4]

Will! Throughout this video, you used only the graph editor. Is there any advantage to using the motion editor? I tend to use both in my animations. What are the pros and cons of both, if you can list them?

[@kmpeeskimo6359]

i really iked the tutorial it helped me alot and made walking in sfm a lot easyer for me i almost thought it was imposible at first btw you deserve alot more subs then you have

[@7382179]

Your tutorial is very useful . Please continue . Thanks...

[@willhvids]

What do you mean by that? The same mechanics are applied, from cartoon animation, to 3D animation, to real life walking, all the poses are used, and the mechanics of balance and weight distribution are all used. It's just animation is much more exaggerated than real life. This is only part 1 of the tutorial. Most courses for animation will take longer than a week to cover a walk cycle. The second part will cover a lot more of the mechanics of balance/timing and much more.

[@PaleozoicProductions]

I use Cinema 4D... does this work with this video?

[@-.Psycho.-]

This might be helpful when I want to make a video of some sort. So nice tutoriel and thanks!

[@thestilla3799]

Thanks a million Will,i just got into making gifs/animating (downloaded SFM a few hours ago,its my first ever program of this nature).As you can imagine im pretty lost as for where to start and what to do,your video was a huge help! Thanks again

[@Wbfuhn]

Here's a question. I'll probably figure it out with some math, but I use 72FPS for the most accurate movement in actions. Correct me if I'm wrong. So if you use 4 frames per step out of 24fps, that's 5 steps within a second depending on speed and stride. However, mathematically, 72fps is 3Xs more fps than standard movie speeds. However, to calculate that you would have 12fps per step. I've found higher fps is better with lip sync because then you can have accurate lip sync with sound.

[@CSSSERVERPROBLEMS]

Just a question, how do I make the motion repeat itself, keep walking forward?

[@willhvids]

You need to adjust the keys for the axis in which ever direction your character is walking in. E.g. If he's walking along x, you need to change the x axis for the pelvis and the feet.

[@kentreed2011]

3:19 When you do that it works but when i change the value to 0 it doesn't do anything, am i doing something wrong?

[@JohaPlsTheDemoApple]

Friend, a question like is called the map that were recording the tutorial

[@willhvids]

Nice work, the pelvis's location can usually be presumed by setting it just in front of the foot that is behind, as the weight is carrying the person forward, they are technically falling forward, so the centre of gravity should be in front of the support/foot. I was working on another walk cycle this morning, of a particular character I might polish it off then upload it in a while =]

[@humberjini1994]

Could you provide a download link to that excellent reference sheet you are working with? I cant find it on the website you provided

[@willhvids]

I don't like to post links too often due to TOS but if you google image search "walk cycle" you're sure to find it!

[@mattvader12345]

Thank you so much! I have been hung up on movement for months!

[@EpicKing7375]

I'm currently having an issue, and I don't know if there's an obvious solution I missed or not, but here goes. So, when I animate the model however I want, then save it and close it to work on it anoher day, I open my previous work to find that the bookmarks that I placed are gone. The lines where I animated are the same as they were, but when I try to make some changes, then it alters the whole animation even when I add new bookmarks there. The same thing happens when I switch to the IK rig and back to the other one. I canceled one of my projects due to this....... Help?

[@vedji1857]

May I have the link of the image? (Despite me being human I stupidly don't know how legs work when walking)

[@stayfreshclothingco965]

how come when i move 4 frames forward and start another animation (moving his legs or arms in another position) his other previous frames get fucked up! how do i fix it so when i do a new frame it wont mess up my past ones? please help!!!

[@wrench2678]

when ever I do the rigged biped simple it always makes my models go crazy and just do random movements I did everything you did so what is happening?

[@Mays_McMuffin]

what map is this, i dont want to go throught a full map, i need to try and edit in a smaller spaces. PLZ

[@supaballer456]

how do you repeat the cycle??? i want to make the character walk in a long hallway and when i copy paste the keys to repeat it walks forward and when it completes the cycle goes back. how can i copy paste the movement without it going back?

[@willhvids]

I should! But I think I might remake this, like, I will make a few videos on this each focusing in detail on each specific part of the walk cycle, but at the moment I have a lot of work from school, but soon we will be learning advanced character animation! And after that I'm sure I will be able to give even more tips!

[@HarryClipzFilmz]

Do this have like animate layer instead of just one layer to keyframe?

[@Tronoid]

very nice tut ! unfortunately, the rig_biped_simple does not apply to all the models yet, just for those available by default with sfm ( them ones hwm ). except if there is something I'm missing. ;)

[@headcrab4]

Is there any possible way to save your walk cycle in some kind of preset, such as how you can have the default running animation for the scout, for instance? I have a project where there's going to be an almost Bay Watch amount of slow-mo walking, and it's going to likely take place on different maps. I don't want to have to do this every single time I chance scenes.

[@willhvids]

It is possible, except it is kind of annoying because when you rotate the pelvis the rest of the body moves too, what is it about the IK rig that is giving you trouble?

[@furyunleash22]

This will come in handy for my walk cycles. I'm gonna try to make more varied walk cycles, though. For example, I'm making a more slouched walk cycle for a werewolf Demoman. But I'm sure the basic process is the same.

[@3litEMystiE]

I think i should just accept the fact i'll never be good at animating. I think there's so much i still have yet to learn, a lot of this stuff i just don't understand. But thank you, Will for the tutorial. If i wasn't so crap, i'd understand it! :D.

[@dankmeme9142]

What is the name of the map you used in the tutorial?

[@vividlay]

DanksMeme Stage. I don’t know the exact file name, but if you type stage, you should be all good

[@donovandoms5685]

whats the map you are using? Just need to know

[@FistOfWood]

I'm kind of a newb at SFM, so I animated the basic steps, how do I loop the animation?

[@Bartosz2023]

Do you know how to get rid of echo effect in maps when you record your vocie in SFM i cant find any sultion expect this : How do I disable reverb on audio effects? Put a # in front of your path for the sound in the element viewer, and it will be played regardless of the soundscape the player is currently standing in. i dont know what this means......

[@maximsparks85]

how did you get it so dark? i cant get to shade any of my sfm. It just ends up looking like gmod

[@NowGamer97]

So when you gave made a whole cycle can you just copy paste it to make the character walk ever further, if no how did you do you do that?

[@Bartosz2023]

well i have a several amount of problems such as. i am using the same map as you (i think....2 maps are called kinda the same) and when i use default on scout he goes to the center but ends up laying down clipping in the floor. also i get a curve where you get a straight line in the editor and theirs no numbers or altered things on the beginning to the scout unlike your where you had to zero it out....i think i'm doing something wrong porbley have more problems but have not found out

[@NowGamer97]

I understand what you mean but how do I copy the x pelvis and feet with offset? I am rather new to doing any kind of animating in SFM so sorry for not knowing much :S

[@tcdieselsfm7844]

When I make a new animation, like the next part of the walk cycle the little arrows that you get when you press m appear but the first on changes with the second one, basically I get no animation because when I edit one part the others do the same, it is really annoying.

[@mikematuszyk7126]

wher to download the pic you are using ?

[@The_Foreman]

thank you so much for this. i understand the walk cycle fairly well at this point but am new at sfm. definitely helps.

[@willhvids]

Thanks! If you stay tuned, soon I'm going to be uploading a run cycle tutorial! I'm excited =D

[@Watcherprime_]

can you save these small animations for future projects or do i have to do this all over again?

[@willhvids]

Yeah you can export the animation, but for movies all animation would be done again. TV shows might reuse some stuff. I personally would just animate the walk again, you'll get much better the more times you do it.

[@Watcherprime_]

Will Hurrell okay just needed to know this. Yeah i understand that movies usually animate everything fresh but as im just making small video here on KZbin i try to find enough time to make them and saving animations for later also helps save time.

[@willhvids]

Hmm what time in the video are you referring to?

[@HawkyGaming]

This is fantastic. Recently picked up SFM and damn I've learned somethings already!

[@Daucus]

As an update I did one run through with a Spy for a project I'm working on and it turned out absolutely awkward. hahaha. Good news is that I rewatched your tutorial and I missed an important step of not calculating the x and z of the pelvis. I was doing all of that manually. Now that we have both laughed about my failure I'm in the middle of my 2nd attempt with a spy and it's looking great so far! Interestingly enough the spy has oddly shaped feet so I've had to alter the procedure a bit.

[@abdulazees1996]

I there any options for capturing my motions...

[@willhvids]

Hey thanks man! That means a lot to me and it gives me a lot of motivation to keep on making tutorials. Feel free to post this youtube video link anywhere you like =D

[@JackTheRaccBot]

Is there a way to make them walk but not have to do all of this, as in the sequences in the import menu of the models?

[@TheCackling]

Just want to say thanks for this. It's really helpful in understanding how to make a good walk and also helps me understand the graph editor a lot better than the Valve tutorial. Are you ever going to make a Part 2 for the torso and hip movement?

[@willhvids]

Yeah I plan on re making the entire thing and making a few 10 minute videos on each part of the body in more depth but I spend a looooooonnnng time planning these videos out so I can fit the most amount of info in the shortest amount of time and it's pretty tiring.

[@-aaa-aaa]

Can you explain how you have your frames as steps? For me, it's either slants or curves.

[@CorkScrewDood]

Bow Toes change the keymode to Stepped.

[@willhvids]

Yes that is correct. However, I wouldn't use an FPS that high unless I was doing something in very slow motion. 24fps is used for pixar movies and their animation is very smooth, sure it would look smoother with a higher fps but there isn't any real reason to do that yet. If anything I would only double the standard to 48. But I generally leave it at 24.

[@Pikachufan134]

What map are you using?

[@Daucus]

Pretty nice start to a tutorial. Some advice would be that in some parts you don't really seem to explain why you're doing a certain thing. Like the when you're rounding up the numbers on the key's.. any specific reason? Otherwise nice start ^_^

[@mikelarson5415]

Is this really possible without the IK rig? I cant get used to the IK rig.

[@smitty462]

when I right click "Unknown", it doesn't say selectable. I'm using Source Filmmaker [Beta] 0.9.8.15 (Which came out in late 2015.). BUT..........His video came out Early 2013.

[@TheDrFreedman]

Is there any way I can get that walk cycle picture reference?

[@m0fo225]

whenever I try to move a limb, i move the camera instead. how can i fix this? (I'm on 'Work Camera' when i do this)

[@NotoriousTitan]

Hold Ctrl before clicking on the limb.

[@DavveKTheGamer]

I need some help, After the 1 second mark and making a new keyframe that keyframe increases in speed.

[@choppgaming]

You should just leave the root where it is. It's really only used to place the model initially. A time when you should use it, is if you have your character on a vehicle perhaps, you would then parent the root to the vehicle so they move together.