The Walk Challenge – A contest
This month I thought it would be cool to run another contest. The walk is a difficult thing to animate well in animation. Getting the right attitude, making the character feel like they belong in the world you set them in. Weight, physicality and so on… They are all elements of a good walk. First prize is a signed poster of all the animators on Toy Story 3. Second prize is a set of steak knives, third prize is your fired (I had to make the Glen Gary reference.) Second and third prize are to be determined. There is also a possibility of the 3 walks being used for an article in a popular 3d magazine. Here are the ground rules:
Animate a one of the following walks: (in 2d or 3d)
A character with a physical limitation (ie a man with a ball and chain, or limp, etc… use of props ok)
A period character from the Victorian era (do your homework. Many to choose from)
An 8 year old kid on his way to or from school (think about subtext)
A confident character from the early 1970′s
Ok, there are the choices. Obviously you will need to show the cycle. Please include a rough and final pass. Its best if the character is in an environment. Obviously, no stock rigs. You will be judged on originality, execution, and entertainment value. Good Luck! Contest end May 14th. Email walks to splinedr@gmail.com
-Andrew
Andy Latham
Great competition! Just one question: by “stock rigs” do you mean the rigs freely available on the net? I’m assuming you are encouraging people to build their own as you guys must be pretty sick of seeing the same ones over and over!
Hannah
Sounds like a fun challenge! Too bad I don’t have the time to model/rig a character for it. Still a good exercise to do though.
andy holden
Great idea guys! I’m assuming it’s ok to modify an existing rig instead of making one from scratch?
David Martinez
Sounds like a great idea for a contest.
I will try to animate a walk for it!
Matt
I’m pretty sure by ‘stock’ rig, he means don’t just leave the rig as is, you can use the free rigs but add to them, clothing, hair, ears, etc..don’t just leave it stock, right? How long should this animation be, roughly? Also, the walk needs to cycle? Thanks!
Michael Vandenhoven
Put that comment down!
Comments are for closers only
Joshua
Does it have to be a cycle or can if be a scene with some sort of story arc that happens to have a walk?
Patrick
Why not use stock rigs? In fact, for an “animation contest” I think its BEST if everyone used the same stock rigs, that way their animation skills will be the deciding factor, not their rigs or how well they’ve modified it.
Like in a car race, if all drivers would drive the same make and model car, the winner is certain to have the best driving skills.
Seeing that we will be judged on our animation and not character design, i think it’s only fair if everyone used the same rig.
Miro Souto
Very good contest, walk is something hard, ill try get some time to participate.
Thank you, Andrew.
Jonah Sidhom
Man, there’s no way I can win, but with a prize like that I have to try.
So do we have to create our own rigs, or can we use a free rig from the internet (like Norman)? I’m screwed if we have to start from scratch, but again, I have to try. haha
Wei
So very tempting!
Can you clarify the “no stock rig” comment as many others have inquired?
Freddy
This sounds like fun!
Like some have said already, I’m guessing they mean to dress up/modify the rig a bit so it doesn’t look stock. A month isn’t enough time to model and rig a new character from scratch IMO.
Jeffrey Simonetta
So a ‘walk’, not a walk cycle.
Olivier L.
Like most people I am a bit puzzled by the “obviously no stock rigs” comment and would be interested to get some clarification of what it really mean but other than that I am really excited by that challenge!
For people who don’t know how to rig in Maya, I posted a video walkthrough for the free Maya abAutorig script.
http://www.olivier-ladeuix.com/blog/2010/03/17/abautorig-overview-how-to-create-a-rig-in-5-minutes/
Dr. Gordon
Stock Rig mean that if you do use a rig like, norman or the animation mentor reig, it must be dressed up and modified so that the character is not in its default mode.
Is that clear???
-Andrew
Sant Arellano
Clear! If we’re going to use a stock rig we should dress it up.
Regarding the walk, does it need to cycle or is it an animation of a character walking for a short duration?
Walking in place or walking a distance?
Ricardo
I think this will clarify the issue of “walk or walk cycle”:
Last paragraph: “Obviously you will need to show the cycle”.
Good luck to everybody!!
The Walk Challenge – A contest :Animation with a moustache
[...] “The walk challenge – a contest” [...]
Emma Carlsson
Lovely Competition
Great Training I think !
Will we be able to see eachothers animations? That would be Cool : D
Many Thanks
Emma. C
Olivier L.
well, I would be interested to see what people are doing. Here is where I am so far.
http://www.olivier-ladeuix.com/blog/2010/05/11/the-walk-challenge-a-contest-02/
L
Thanks for holding this contest! I’m excited to see everyone’s hard work. Any chance on a small extension??
Dr. Gordon
I have extended the deadline one week to the 21st.
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