Original subtitles

- [Instructor] In this video,

we will start the blocking stage of our run cycle.

To create this run cycle,

we will mix the layered approach

with the blocking approach.

In this video, we will create the main poses

before jumping into spline

and polish each part of the body one by one.

Note that nothing is carved into stone

and those poses might evolve during the polishing stage.

It's important to use the video reference you will gather

on the internet

and to guide you during this blocking stage,

I'm providing a picture

with the different main poses.

The last thing I'd like to address

before we jump into it is that most of the time,

I'm using global coordinates

with individual origin for my manipulators

but I often use local space,

especially for the forearms

that can rotate only along one axis.

Though I generally press R to rotate

and then Z twice to switch to local space.

This is why you will often see me press Z, Y

or X twice to switch from global to local.

If you are used to work with widget manipulators,

then I advise you to directly switch to local space.

This way you will get more familiar

with the controller alignment.

I personally exclusively use a shortcut.

This is why I often stay in global space.

The idea is to create a slightly stylized run cycle

but the fundamentals of a realistic venular run cycle

will be there.

Making it stylized will be mostly

about contrasting the timing

and exaggerating a bit the poses

but making it looks cool

will require us to have a good physicality

and realistic fundamentals, so let's get started.

The first thing we are going to do

is to link our character into the scene.

So let's get rid of all the default object

in our scene and then go to File, Link

and in the chapter five file,

you will find the TRIDENT-CHARACTER RIG_final file.

Go to Collection

and choose the first collection, TRIDENT-CHARACTER.

Double click the collection

and it will appear in the outliner.

Now, to be able to expose the rig of our character,

unfold the imported collection

and right click on the sub-collection,

go to ID Data

and choose Add Library Override Hierarchy.

This will give us access to the current rig

and the different object of the character

and if any update were made

on the original linked file,

it will automatically update

in your scene.

We have now a new character collection

with two sub-collection,

including the rig and the different models.

We can get rid of the file we've imported just before,

the one with the orange collection icon.

From there, we can select the rig,

switch into pose mode by pressing Control + Tab.

Then when animating,

I personally like to switch the shading to flat

with texture object

and enable the cavity and shadows.

In the 3D view properties panel,

you will find the rig properties panel.

Here, in the visibility tab,

you can disable the weapon's visibility.

Set the length of our cycle, 24 frames.

So I will go on frame zero and press Control + Home

and then go on frame 23 and press Control + End.

Since from 24 on frame 0 will be the same,

I don't want to read from frame 0 to frame 24

but jump from frame 23 to frame 0.

There with the dope sheet opened,

I will switch to the Action Editor

and I will duplicate the current animation called Keying Set

to create our run blocking animation.

Don't forget to click the shield icon

to make sure you set a fake user to the animation

and won't lose it.

Another thing I advise you to do

before we start blocking the animation

is to create a second 3D viewport in perspective,

showing your character.

While we generally animate in autographic view,

that's always a good thing to have a perspective view,

just to preview the animation.

So let's now create our first pose,

the straight leg pose.

This is the one where the front leg

is getting straightened just before contacting

with the ground.

The back leg is pointing backward

and as seen in the video reference,

the front arm has already started swinging backward.

So from a side view, you should be able

to see both elbows.

Left shoulder is twisting forward

and the hips are twisted in the opposite direction.

For the animation of this character,

we will be using 30 frame per seconds.

This is the usual frame rate used in video games production.

And the one I'm used to animate with.

It's only to work on cinematic animation,

then you can stick to 24 frame per seconds.

In the end, whatever the frame rate,

the goal is to make your animation feels good.

It's not that important during the blocking stage.

So we can now start positioning the feet

from a side view.

When it comes to rotating the foot backward

and forward, I advise you to use the foot roll controller,

rotating it on its x local axis.

It will make your life way easier

since it's built to create this kind

of rotation and mechanism.

Since we won't be animating the root bones,

you can hide them through the rig UI.

Now pose the second foot,

again using the foot roll to rotate the foot forward

and then rotating the toes backward.

As usual, I will probably go back and forth

onto this pose while building the other poses.

In your case, just use the reference provided

or build your own poses.

It's very important to pose your character

from different angles.

Don't stay in side view.

That will be a big mistake.

When it comes to twisting the hips

on the global z-axis, it's pretty straight forward.

Just follow the position of the legs.

Since the right leg is forward,

just twist the right side of the hips forward.

Then the torso the opposite direction,

the left side forward.

A very important thing here

is that the torso root controller

will be your main controller to position the torso

of your character.

This is the controller you have to move the most

to get your character into position.

Then the chest and hips controller

are here to tweak the pose of your character.

And this is why here I prefer to console the rotation

of hips and chest by pressing Alt + R,

the main shape using the torso root controller

and then fine tweak the pose

using the chest controller

and the hips controller.

It can be very hard to get a correct pose.

In my case, I won't be able to reach it right away.

So try your best to match the reference

and then go on the next pose.

You will naturally get back to this pose

to adjust it compared to the other poses.

Posing the arms will definitely help

to get a better silhouette.

I will slightly rotate the front shoulder upward

and forward and then I will work with the arm controller

that can rotate on all axes

to match the reference.

When rotating the forearm,

don't forget to favorize its local z-axis,

since elbows and knees can normally rotate only

on one axis.

To make our life easier,

we will pull the hand with a closed fist.

Watch your own hand as a reference

and make sure that the fist is slightly curling.

Don't make a box shape with the hand.

Look it from every angle

and you will notice that the joint always form a curve.

Take the time to properly pose one

of the hand and then we will mirror it

on the other side.

My favorite controller for the hands

is the master palm controller.

It allows you to move all the palm bones at once

with a nice falloff

and build nice base and shapes.

There I will curve each finger,

rotating them on their local x-axis.

The first joint is supposed

to be rotated almost at 90 degrees.

Then I will pose the thumb

and then adjust the finger accordingly.

As I explained in the very beginning of the video,

it's better to enable cavity

and shadows onto your flat shading

so that you can see the geometry a little better

and betterly read the pose.

Again, take the time to create a nice pose,

adjust each joint.

Don't forget to slightly compress the palms inwards

and then adjust the thumb position.

There are different poses for closed fist,

depending on the people and the reference you are watching.

The best reference still being your own fist

because you can see it from every angle

and you can also feel the pose in your own hand.

Once we have reached a satisfying pose,

we can select all the hand bones controller,

press Control + C to copy the pose

and then Control + Shift + V.

This will automatically mirror the pose

on the other side.

With my finger posed, I can now readjust the position

of the arms.

Don't forget, you can both rotate

and move the shoulder controller

and that the arm controller

can be rotated in all direction

while the forearm controller

should be rotated only along its z local axis.

You can slightly rotate the hand inward

to break a bit the wrist

and get a more opening shape for the arm.

Don't go too extreme

because your wrist motion is pretty limited.

Take a few seconds

and try rotating your fist forward

and backward and then try to rotate it

from left to right.

You will see that its motion

is currently very limiting.

Posing the right arm is pretty straightforward.

Don't forget to check your pose from the front view

and realign the knees and the feet if needed.

Don't forget to double check the reference I have provided

and rewatch the previous video

where we have breaked down the run cycle poses,

using real-life references.

In the neck, it's important to switch

to NECK-FOLLOW, instead of HEAD-FOLLOW

where the base of the neck gets aligned

with the torso, which is more natural

and then we can tweak its position

and tweak the head position.

From there, don't forget to slightly tweak the position

and orientation of your foot of your knees

and we finally have our first pose done.

As explained in the beginning of this video,

this might not be the final straight leg pose

but that's a good start to work onto the next one.