Animate a "Sneaky Walk" With "Monty"

Sneaky Monty

In the video tutorial below we show how to animate a sneaky walk with "Monty" the green pea.

To complete the tutorial, first start with a Basic Walk with "Monty" - which you can learn how to do here.

Then, as with our other character walks tutorials, adapt the basic walk to give it character and personality - in this case a "sneak". 

The Best Free Rigs for Learning to Animate in Maya

Morpheus - endlessly flexible

We do not design and build our own rigs here at Bucks - there are just too many excellent free rigs and sets provided by Maya enthusiasts for student use. We point our students to the very best freeware rigs from the web and show you where to find them. In the end though, it is up to our students to find the rigs that they most enjoy animating with. There are so many; all have their strengths and weaknesses. Below is a list of some of the best, and where to find them.

Student showcase - James Hatton takes Monty for a stroll

Recently our first year Animation and Visual Effects students completed their second formally assessed animation exercise. This time the project was to animate a series of walk cycles, combining different character walks into one shot. The brief included sound effects and music, collaborating with sound designers to create a miniature short film.

Many students came up with very imaginative work, understanding that as an  animator it is necessary not just to be technically good but also to be entertaining. Good animation combines creativity with technical prowess - after all, animators are actors with a pencil - or a mouse.