So Then This Cat Walks By.....

Three years in an animation degree and this is the very first time that I have attempted to animate a four legged walk cycle. Oh the struggles! In light of the joy that is self teaching, I've included some of the first ones I attempted, oh yes there were many.

This one was the first one and used live action film reference:

There are some good moments in this one, but my biggest problem was that the model cat was black (making it damn near impossible to see the legs) and I could not get my head around the cycle rhythm.


This next one I decided to seek help from Preston Blair, old faithful.

It was probably my interpretation of the walk, but I ended up with this odd sort of happy cartoon dog action which was a little odd, it almost seemed as though instead of four legs there were two pairs of legs walking independently.

The final one was done after much searching and researching of bigger cats, tigers and lions to get a more realistic although exaggerated feel to the walk. I also looked into walk cycles I could find in animation films such as Disney's Aristocats and The Lion King.

For a self teaching exercise I'm pleased with the result and he has the right amount of cautious movement that I wanted to indicate he is following someone from afar. The cat is a minor (tiny) part of the film, but more than anything I just wanted to learn how to do a four legged walk cycle and to prove to myself that I could do it.

Needs to loop :)