Creating an Eight Frame Run Cycle
Figuring out how to create an animated run cycle can feel a little overwhelming. These are the basics of how I was able to draw and animate an eight frame run cycle for my character, Ashe.
I knew that I wanted my character Ashe to be the first hero I created a run for. Her clothing is straight forward, but requires a little bit of motion on the sleeves - a reasonable challenge. I started researching a run cycle online and found the reference image on the top right on Pinterest.
It was a perfect reference drawing for me to use because it has the right weight to it and the arm swing seemed the most believable.
Reference Image
If you created this, contact me for credit.
Next I opened the GIF in Photoshop and drew Ashe eight times mimicking the arm/leg positions in the reference image. While referencing the original, I had to keep in mind that Ashe wears tighter pants, but has a flowing shirt.
I ended up drawing a stick figure over each frame of the reference image to ensure I had the positioning as close as possible in my version.
On the left, you’ll see the line version of the drawing - sans head. I already had Ashe’s head and to ensure consistency between frames, I didn’t want to redraw that over and over.
What do you think of the end result?
I realized at the last second that I should really be doing this in the other direction. In general, moving right feels like moving forward in these basic animations without context. It’s important to think of things like this as they’ll effect lighting and shadows. I flipped the image horizontally, colored in all eight drawings and animated them on 2s, looping forever.
I (of course) see a lot of imperfections here, but I’m feeling really good about it considering it’s my first attempt!
You can see the animation in action here: www.stevengerdts.com/ashe
