← Animation Glossary

Walk cycle

A walk cycle is a series of drawings that show a character walking in a loop. Animators use walk cycles to make it look like the character is actually walking instead of just standing still.

A walk cycle is a crucial aspect of animation as it is one of the most common actions a character performs. It is vital that the animator creates a realistic and believable walk cycle to ensure that the character’s movements appear natural.

When creating a walk cycle, the animator needs to pay close attention to each element of the character’s movement. Firstly, it is essential to consider weight distribution and balance. As the character takes a step, their weight shifts from one foot to the other, and this needs to be accurately reflected in the animation.

Timing is also crucial in creating a believable walk cycle. Each step needs to flow smoothly into the next, and there should be no sudden or jarring movements. The timing of each step must be consistent throughout the entire cycle to ensure that it looks natural.

Many animators use reference videos or even act out the walk themselves to gain a better understanding of how it should look. By observing real-life movements, animators can create more accurate animations that feel natural and believable.

Overall, creating a realistic walk cycle requires careful observation and attention to detail. Every aspect of the character’s movement must be considered, from weight distribution and balance to timing and rhythm. With these elements in mind, animators can create animations that bring their characters to life with fluid and natural movements.

Animation Terms

2

2D Animation

3

3D Animation

A

Alpha Channel

Ambient sound

Animation

Anti-Aliasing

Anticipation

Aspect Ratio

B

Bezier Curve

Bitmap

Blue Screen

Bone Animation

Bounce

Broadcast Standards

C

Camera Angle

Camera Shake

Casting

Cel Animation

Character Animation

Character Design Sheets

Cinematic lighting

Claymation

Clean-up

Close-up

Color Correction

Color Grading

Compositing

Composition

Concept Art

Continuity editing

Cross-cutting

Cut

Cutout nimation

D

Depth of Field

Dialogue

Dissolve

Distributed Rendering

Dolby Atmos

Dope Sheet

Dutch Angle

E

Easing

Emitter

Exaggeration

Eyedropper

F

Foley

Follow through

Forward Kinematics

Frame Rate

Frame

Framing

Freeze Frame

G

Ghosting

GIF File Format

Golden Ratio

Graph Editor

H

High key lighting

Hue and Saturation

I

Inertia

Infographic Animation

Inverse Kinematics

J

Joint

JPEG File Format

Jump cut

K

Keyframe Interpolation

Keyframe

Kinetic typography

L

Layers

Lens distortion

Level of Detail

Lighting

Line of action

Lip syncing

Low key lighting

M

Match cut

Matte painting

Montage

Morphing

Motion blur

Motion capture

Motion graphics

Motion path

Motion trail

Mouth shapes

MP3 File Format

MP4 File Format

N

Network rendering

Non-linear editing

O

Occlusion culling

Onion skinning

Overlapping action

P

Pan

Parallel rendering

Particle system

Persistance of Vision

Phonemes

Playback speed

Plot

PNG File Format

Pose-to-pose animation

Props

Puppet animation

R

Render farm

Rendering

Resolution

Rigging

Rotoscoping

Rule of thirds

Run cycle

S

Safe zone

Scene

Score

Screenplay

Script

Shot

Silhouette

Skeletal animation

Slow Motion

Smears

Sound Design

Sound effects

Soundtrack

Special Effects

Split screen

Squash and Stretch

Staging

Stop Motion Animation

Storyboard

Straight-ahead Animation

T

Time Remapping

Timeline

Timing

Title Card

Title Sequence

Tracking shot

Tweening

V

Vector graphics

Visemes

Voice acting

Voice-over Narration

W

Walk cycle

WebM File Format

Weighting

Wide shot

Z

Z-depth

Zoom

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