Hi everyone, quick question. Has anyone been able to create natural walking and running animation movement when the character is front-facing and moving towards the camera? I can't for the life of me get it to look natural even when using Cartoon Animators template character and animation. Have anyone been able to accomplish this and if so how?

Btw worth mentioning that I'm referring to G3 characters and G360 characters...

Cheers,

Does anyone know how to accomplish this? Any advice or examples of natural front-facing walking animation using cartoon animator would be much appreciated.

I'm not a CTA4 expert at all, seldom use it but I made a quick test.
Not sure what you already tried and I can imagine you already did what I did...
Set character (G3 360 Mr. Jean-Pierre) at frame 1 like this:



Set character at frame 600 like this:



Started at frame 1 with Elastic Folks_Front - Move - Run(1S), followed by Run(2L)
Then I checked the "interplay" between the length of my run loop and the distance the character runs to avoid "sliding"...
Went for Run(2L) x 30 times, finished with Run(3E)...



Result:




Toystorylab on Vimeo :     Crassitudes (my "Alter Ego") on Youtube: 

The example your provided shows exactly what I'm struggling to solve. The motion of the character running (using CA template motion) doesn't look very natural. Especially, compared to the side facing view where the animation looks somewhat realistic.  Is there a way to improve the animation of the character running towards the camera or is this a limitation of CA? 

Thank you for your help!

Perhaps, this might help.




YouTube Tutorials Here

As there seem to be no "natural" walks in "front view" in store/market place (why not??),
here is a test with a walk animation key-framed by hand... (see attached zip/walk 1.ctBMotion)
Just a quick test, so not perfect, slightly "foot sliding". But with some efforts, it surely can be done.




Toystorylab on Vimeo :     Crassitudes (my "Alter Ego") on Youtube: 

Hi arsenewenger -
Regarding your needing some samples.
This is NOT exactly apples to apples, BUT you might find something useful with it.



Watch on YouTube...

At one time, RL in a previous version of CTA (V. 2) offered a nice walking / running
motion template (G2 characters only).

While the G3 characters are an "improvement" (Per RL), the idea of a "bow-legged" runner is
frankly, pretty pathetic. Their current offerings (motion) are something akin to "PROOF OF
EVOLUTION" - where the knuckles are scraping the pavement as they move. Unless you are
willing to painstakingly do frame-by-frame motion design you are kind of stuck between
a rock and a hard spot.

RL is an enigma - sometimes they offer really unique effects / motions / solutions - at other times you
really have to wonder what were they thinking. For some reason RL "thinks" everyone wants a
rubberband man/woman/animal. The emphasis on "elastic" in my opinion is a bit overblown and
over used. Yes, CTA is used by industry artists who may specialize in that "genre" - but there are
equally, other uses this application can be potentially used for - but for whatever the reason, RL's
motive appears to suggest - if you want a more precise motion/movement/realism - you should
be using iClone. With that said - most of us aren't looking for a huge budgeted epic - we just
want to be able to produce a "reasonable quality" animation/presentation.

I have supported and used RL products since December 2000 when CrazyTalk 1.0 and Effect 3D 1.1 (1.0)
($29.95 / $39.95 - respectively - ran on Windows 98!!). As with any software application, there were some
great versions and some not so great << where features that were in earlier versions were suddenly gone or
something was amiss and having to revert back to a previous version. Back in the day, you could not have two
different versions on the same machine - so there was a great deal of trial and error, customer support << YEP!!!
You could actually call and get a LIVE person on the phone!!,  along with multiple installs and uninstalls. To stick
with them all these years - should account for something << (both for RL and me).

As mentioned - this animation may not give you any real insight - but perhaps, it might move RL to
offer a more realistic approach to simple and BASIC walking and running animations for G3. Sometimes
you just have to shake your head... GOOD LUCK!

FXD

I tried to make a front walking loop package

Thanks, everyone for the feedback. It seems to be a major limitation with CA to not being able to create a natural front-facing movement for G3 characters (would gladly be disproven) hopefully this is something they aware of and will prioritize improving for future updates...

Hi Arsenewenger,

Admittedly, this may not be a situation that will help you, but - You could create (in CTA 4) your G3 Head animation (optionally
with or without a body) - export it out - preferably as an uncompressed or similar resolution / quality AVI / MOV / etc.
(green screen background recommended for the HEAD animation << will come back to this in a moment...)

Then separately, create your "Body" animation using a more realistic walking / running "G2" character -
then create within the CTA 4 Project for the body, whatever static or animated BACKGROUND you want - as shown in your
samples (trees / meadow - forward walking / running). After exporting your animation out; as previously explained - bring
both animations into your favorite NON-LINEAR VIDEO EDITOR << several paid and free are available online - as long as it has
the ability to CHROMA KEY (your green screen to transparent).

I should mention - if precision is important - while in CTA 4 use a grid / snap option to "line up" the head to the body animation
so when "merged" they will work as expected. This may sound like a lot of work, but actually, it should go reasonably fast
toward the creation of the two videos. Generally, most Non-Linear Video Editors have an ability for Cameras, Positioning or Scaling;
so you should be able to "sync" the animations to each other.

Obviously - all / any animation will be processed / created in CTA 4. The Non-Linear Video Editor is just a conduit to "marry" the 
two animations into one flowing video. Timing and motion should not be too difficult, if you keep your "stage" / output
video dimensions the same, as well as their dedicated frame rates. (i.e. 24, 29.97, 30 fps, etc.).

It would be nice, if CTA 4 offered an inclusive solution - but as of this posting, they really don't - at least, not for what you
are wanting to do.

If you have any familiarity with Adobe After Effects or Adobe Premiere (among others) AND I DO NOT WORK FOR ADOBE,
I just use their software for my own projects - you can achieve some nice effects / results (as well as Photoshop CC which 
allows you to bring in a video and edit each frame accordingly and then export out as a video.

What I described here - I have done on more than one occasion to finish a project. This is not the only option, but for me
it works 99% of the time, when I am in a pinch - Remember - patience and compromise is at work here. You have to learn
to be flexible at some of the most inconvenient times. It just comes with the profession. However, in the end your
"adjustments" to a project work out just fine.

When it comes to CTA 4 - you can import / export the various character "parts / limbs" to Photoshop or some other type
of 3rd party editor, so in essence, you can "build" your unique character any way you need - to suit your project requirements.
So even though your body may be a G2 (skin) - you can (with limitations) - use G3 (skins) as a building block for your 
characters.

Again - just a thought or two regarding your project - Good Luck.

FXD