In recent days, I’ve studied with excitement the effect of a walk cycle on the main character of delusion. This is all research work for my main project for University. Therefore, I used frame by frame animation in Adobe Photoshop. This means I drew every single image of the 12 fps animation.
For the beginning scene, I’ve chosen a lightweight and free movement – a child who discovers the world with an open mind and the joy of nature. Below you could see my sketches of this first motion sequence.
The character looks very easy, with simple shapes. Just the head and face have more details. I want to set the focus on the facial expressions of the figure. It’s a tomboyish girl with a poncho. The movement, especially from the feet is very snatchy, this is something I changed for the final character animation.
The look of the final outcome of this animated short-changed afterward. Nevertheless, it was a great experience to try a walk cycle with frame-by-frame animation at this point. I discovered some difficulties with the clothes for example. How the light is falling on the poncho isn’t that easy to catch on paper. Especially without any reference. Therefore, I made some more experiences.