Learning Blender: A Hands-On Guide to Creating 3D Animated Characters

Creating the Poses for the Walk Cycle

To make Jim walk, you must define the basic poses he will make while walking. There are a lot of ways to walk, so we’re going to use a basic one. There are two contact poses: the moments at which each foot touches the floor. Then there are two other poses when one foot is on the floor and the other is in the air. Those four positions of the body define the basic walking movement.

You must create a motion that can be repeated, which means that the animation needs to end in the exact same position as where it started. In Figure 12.3, you’ll see the main poses and a couple of additional ones that refine the movement. Notice how after those poses, there is another one identical to the first one (pose 7): this ...