62. Quadrupedal cartoony shuffle

After the complexity of (semi-realistic) walks of last few days today I've tried to create a cartoony shuffle. The character is a simple sack character and the movement is similar to HB cartoons. 

So very simplified in the body movement, something which would be aimed at pre-school with simplicity (and kawai). Though the legs are just little stick they move as they would if they were more complex, though I've kept only one joint on them. The head has a little bob, and the body has a small drag. A simple little character which is quickly animated without much of the 12 principles being utilised.

61. Quadrupedal reptilesprawl

Keeping it low and sneaky a reptile sprawl came my way. Reptiles have a somewhat different leg distribution than mammals. They are in a permanent type of sprawl as their hip bones, and shoulders consequently are positioned differently. 

They do have incredibly muscled bodies and strong tails which aid in balance and momentum. In the case of this figure, the front limbs are grabbing the ground in front while the back ones are being lifted but the body and stepping forward keeping balance with the side swing of the body. The whole movement is more complex than I managed to capture and I think I've only just scratched the surface when it comes to such reptiles. I'll definitely be coming back to this one. 

60. Quadrupedal bearwalk

What is the opposite of sneak. A freakin' bear that's what! So that is what I went with today. 

There are a few similarities with the sneak walk. Having watched a few polars go for a stroll (and I mean the real ones the not the carbonated drinks Gladiator and Aliens edition - though that would be an interesting and beatific project) I noted that their hind limbs are permanently erect while their from ones resemble a kind of sneak. For the purposes of propulsion along the slippery surface, and because they don't do much sneakiness the front limbs turn into a type of stomp/grasp of the surface. This relates the mass of the creature well and allowed it to speed whilst being levelled with its pray. This is achieved with an accent on each frontal push-off, whilst back legs will inevitably have flicking paws. (for snow cones and ice cream).

59. Quadrupedal sneakster

Understanding more of the quadrupedal walk cycle I've attempted a more complex motion. For this I used a canine body. The motion is that of a sneak. 

While sneaking for a biped involves tiptoeing and similar walking like an animal but on two limbs, the sneak cycle in a quadruped is rather different. The momentum comes from both ends. The front limbs are carefully placed in order to cover as much ground as possible. The hind legs propel the back and the body creating a worm like torso movement, as it contracts bending upwards and then expands expressing downwards. The head follows the shoulder line as the butt is always higher, allowing the figure to leap and have stored energy if so required. For this one I've tried to vary the speed of front limb movement in order to have a slow expression and a quick one in one walk. 

58. Quadrupedal hipster

I think I understand the four-legged movement a lot more. This time I wanted to do a study of a hip propulsion in a quadruped. For this I reverted back to a skeleton. 

It could be a canine, but could be easily a feline or another animal. The hip movement is representative of mammal, and a pawed creature at that. Hoofed and trotter animals have a different propulsion. The hips are powerfully swaying from side to side, leading with knees and the ankle and paw fall in after this. As soon as the foot reaches the floor the front paw is raised in a mirror mimic of the knee/elbow joint as forearms swing down at forty five degrees with foot propelling the motion and causing the other hip to come in to the side and the action is repeated henceforth. There is a small change in the spine as the main movement is lateral. This is reflected in a small bob of the head. 

57. Quadrupedal lamedog

Wanting to solidify my understanding of the four legged cycle I stripped all the ingredients down to their basics. The Model I've needed up using is a very abstract dog (or an ant). I went ahead and animated it straight without any prep, just maiming for a discovery animation to happen as an experiment. Usually I have a concept/theme and then I work from key positions through key frames to accents and then I add any necessary in-betweens. This time as a visual memory exercise I animated straight through, the only desire to create a walk cycle. I ended up with a lopsided step and the back left leg has a stronger step indicating weakness or limp in the right. It reflects in the body and a crawl by the front limbs. So I've inadvertently animated a lame abstract canine.

56. Quadrupedal soft hominid

Firm yesterday. Soft today. I wanted to achieve and practise a fluid soft walk. The figure is almost stroking the ground as it glued through. In order to mix things up a bit and to prevent myself from becoming stale I chose a hominid figure. It could be a small monkey (I've avoided tails at this point; though they do add to the balance to some creatures other use it for communication purposes and it would detract from the main propulsion which I'm attempting to solidify).

The hind legs are raised high and the propulsion comes from it's hips. The front limbs are used for balancing as the entire chest bends down to take on the weight distribution. The front and hind paws are softly placed on the ground. Leading with the wrist at the front, and with the toes at the back, allowing for push off to happen with back of the foot-paw.