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Aliuh — Shathkun Run Cycle
#wolfrunning #wolfruncycle #caninerunning
Published: 2014-02-08 04:22:03 +0000 UTC; Views: 13765; Favourites: 527; Downloads: 120
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Description
The head and tail probably could have been more realistic, but I tried so many different versions that now none of them look right, but I'm happy with this one. Anyhow, this is not meant to be a realistic run cycle, but more of a playful lope that you would never actually see.Related content
Comments: 277
ah. well, playful runs are actually fast and jumpy, with no actual purpose or destination.
either way, looks good
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these are the stages of a dog running, just in case u want em
sillydragon.com/muybridge/Plat…
i thought this might help
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Thanks! I think I saw that one recently, actually. XD
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Despite all of the flaws that can be picked out I must say that your animation here is quite hypnotic. It's so smooth it almost has a kind of relaxing quality to it...
And there's an important thing to remember about art that I need to constantly remind myself of. A thing doesn't need to be 100% accurate to life as long as it looks good, and your animation is looking good.
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Thank you.
That's true. I like to have my 'unrealistic' creatures 'realistic' but as far as animation goes, I have a long way to go. XD
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How many more phases do you suppose you'll go through for this animation? Will you finish it with colors and lighting? Or will you move on to a different animation when you feel you've gotten the fundamentals of this one sorted out?
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Me too. XD But for some reason its only when I don't proof read.
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I indent to complete it entirely with lighting and a background so I don't know how many more phases it will have. I certainly won't be posting every time I work on it a little.
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XD Alright. I look forward to future additions!
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Looks great, however the continuous acceleration and deceleration of the main body's mass looks unrealistic in a way that keeps this animation from feeling organic.
Your hips look more stable than your chest, which combined with the all-over circular motion creates what would be a wildly inefficient gait if a real animal were to move like this. I could see this gait being used in part of a frolic perhaps, but never in an endurance run.
Another reason to keep the body stable is to keep the head as stable as possible. The way the head moves in this animation tells me that this animal is neither fleeing nor hunting, because in both situations the creature would require a more stable field of vision than this gait allows to succeed at what they are trying to accomplish.
Your tail also looks like it moves in an unnatural way, but that may be because such a tail does not exist in the animal kingdom.
This lizard @ 00:57 could give some idea for realistic movement of a long tail:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=45yabr…
But due to his odd locomotion I wouldn't draw from him as a reference too seriously in this case.
It would be better to pull from canines and felines due to your creatures overall canid appearance and sort of similar tail length to a few felines.
Let's see...
Well. To know how your tail should move we have to ask what is it's purpose? If it's purpose is the same as cats and dogs which is to provide balance and control while moving then I would highly recommend looking at this cheetah:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAnRUR…
All the videos I'm seeing with running cats and dogs they keep their tails as stable as is practical. This makes me think that your tail's movement is far too extreme, although that may just be a component of this overall odd gait that would not be maintained. The tail would be held more steady in a long distance run.
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Let me start by saying I envisioned this run cycle to be a loping, playful one that wouldn't be maintained for very long. Sort of like a puppy learning its legs, I guess.
I see what you mean about the hip and chest movements. I'll see what I can do about that.
I tried so many different head movements that I guess I was resigned to this one. I know the alert stable head that your referring to, but I have never been able to successfully replicate it for some reason. And even if I could, I'm not sure it would be the right one for this particular cycle, though it would likely be better then this current one.
As for the tail I'm at a loss. The closest tail in the real world that I can think of would be a squirrel's. sta.sh/020ez2gwx0i8 Do you think a motion like that would work? I'm amazed at how little the tail moved in the cheetah video. I'll give that a try and see how it looks as well.
And let me end by saying with my household internet data package, I can't look up any video references to help me. I can only go by what I my imagination is telling me and any footage of my dogs that I have. XD
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Hmmmmm, that's a bit of a pickle you're in there, being unable to watch video references while trying to learn to animate. Hopefully that'll only be a temporary situation!
As a practice for a loping playful animation this does wonderfully~
The critter's facial expression is quite intense and focused, though, so I was unsure what purpose this animation had.
I have yet to try to sort out how to animate things myself so you're leaps and bounds ahead of me, but from what I've heard from a few beginner animators tails seem to be particularly difficult at times. I think that squirrel reference serves your purpose quite nicely.
What I think seems off about the tail (now that I've looked at it again and compared it to your squirrel) is not the range of motion, 'cause you want to keep it nice and bouncy for your playful stride, but rather how much it bends upwards from the base to about mid-way on it's 'downstroke'. The curvature of the tail seems too extreme on that downstroke in comparison to the squirrels, which seems to take away some of the ridged weight this tail looks like it should have.
Also during a playful stride I would probably animate the tail held in a higher position personally, since both cats and dogs seem to like to hold their tails slightly aloft when engaging in a high-energy bound like this, but that might be just because I spend entirely too much time around my cat~ <3
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Hopefully, but it doesn't look like its going to be temporary. I'll just have to gather all the references I can myself. Or there's always books...
I think I see what you mean about the base of the tail. I haven't tried the squirrel's tail movement yet, but will certainly keep in mind what you pointed out.
Hmm. I think your right. I tried that at first but others suggested it should be ahead. I guess it doesn't look as playful as I had hoped if everyone thinks it should be more alert.
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The reason I missed the intended mood of this cycle at first was definitely the facial expression, but an elevated tail will also help.
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the tail is one thing as someone said and maybe the lack of a neck is the ohter part that makes it look off? lol.
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I always have trouble with the tails... especially when their three times as long as they should be. XD I think this version I just posted is better. I added part of the neck too. XD
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His tail is too stiff. It should move more with him. Try moving a rope or something in the air to get an idea of the movement.
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I had a fairly good tail movement going, but then my file was corrupted. Now this older version is all I have to work with. XD
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i can't put my finger on what it needs...ah well, its better than what i could do, like WAY better XD
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That's my problem too. XD
Thanks!
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Pretty nice and smooth animation 
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Thank you.
Thank you for your suggestions!
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So smooth! How many frames is it?
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XD Thanks. Its 18 frames at 25 frames a second.
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you used flash? and just asking, what animal is it?
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I am using Flash, and he is a fictitious wolf species from my novel called a Shath'kun. Its basically just a large wolf with a long tail.
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Not at the moment, but I certainly hope to one day!
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You must do one, your animatons are awesome!
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Thank you. XD I would like to get better still before I try any serious animation.
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absolutely gorgeous sense of movement here! love how smooth the motion is, and how well you retained the anatomy of the animal throughout the entirety of the cycle <3 the only off thing I can see besides the tail, is the neck not bending much, it seems a tad stiff, but other than that, I can't see much in the way of flaw in the rest of the animation
I ABSOLUTELY adore the way you're able to take such vastly different animals and master their anatomy enough to create brilliant animations of each, like this canine looking cutie here compared to your horses and dragons and fantasy creatures :> there's a lot more variety in your gallery than I see in most, and I love it!
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Thank you! Your comment means a lot to me. 
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aww yay~ you're welcome!
and it looks much better
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The leg cycle looks great
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I read through your suggestions and made changes to the tail, spine, neck and a few things others commented on. The thickness of the tail is just the way I like to draw them, even though its not realistic. XD The shoulder your referring to it actually a scruff of fur. I realize now that its too far back; right where the shoulder blade is supposed to be. I'll try to fix that for my next update.
Thank you for your comments! They helped a lot.
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