Alien Walk

Walk Cycle

Challenge

This piece brings digital illustration to life with motion graphics. The challenge of this video is to create a character with limbs and animate it to walk smoothly.

Background

It was interesting having to study the way a human walks and to observe the timing of when and how each joint would bend or stretch. It is so natural to us humans that we do not have to think about these details everyday. In After Effects, I learned that applying Easy Ease to certain keyframes is an amazing way to execute smooth movements in shapes.

Final Product

The final product resulted in designing a cute alien that walks outside on a starry night. The character was animated using the puppet tool. The shape and joints resembled human legs while the arms were designed to wiggle at every step. As the video plays, the alien walks while enjoying the beautiful night sky. An additional shooting star was included near the end of the looped clip which made it more intriguing to watch. Overall, the motion of the walking character looks very natural with the way each limb moves.

Process