Locomotion Cycle Bundle
A collection of locomotion cycle courses
Why a Locomotion Course Bundle
And what this bundle can do for you
Locomotion Course #1
The Walk Cycle Course
This is the first locomotion course I created, and is still by far the most popular. It will help you to learn the human Walk Cycle , and with the help of 3 different Walk Cycle Templates that are easily downloaded, it will help get your characters walking, fast.
Why learn to animate the walk cycle?
If you are learning animation, or even if you have been an animator for quite some time, you will know that the basic walk cycle is key to a lot of the work you do. It is also quite difficult to get right, and if you get it wrong, it's something that really stands out and is easily spotted. Why? Because we see people walking all around us, all day, everyday. And so we can spot a "bad" walk , or a "faulty" walk, a mile off. The thing about animating a walk well is it takes a lot of practice, and consumes a lot of time. This course addresses that, and offers a simple, easy way to learn to draw and create the walk cycle, with minimal fuss.
What this course can do for you.
Not only will this course help you understand the steps it takes to get a smooth walk cycle, it will also save you a lot of time in doing so. The learning process need not be so time consuming. This course will help you get to the goal - a smooth walk cycle - fast.
How will this course deliver this promise?
It delivers this promise in two ways. Firstly, the lessons are short and to the point, with no unnecessary fluff. You get straight to the key material you need to learn, and this speeds up the process.
Your unfair advantage: walk cycle templates
Secondly, with this course you get the templates that I created for my own work. Just import them into your animation project and trace over them, to create your own walk cycles. Quickly and easily. They are a great resource to have, they will simplify and speed up your work process unbelievably, and they are yours to keep. Initially there was just one set of Templates shipped with the course, now there are three sets (different styles of walks) and there will be more added in future. You will get access to these new walk Templates as they are added to the course, it's all included in the initial cost of the course. And they are also being added to all the time!
Why you should take this course.
Apart from the course it's self, and the templates that come with it, that are constantly being updated and added to, you will also get access to this course and it's contents for life. That includes any updates and new material that may be added to this course in future.
Video
Video
Enrol in this course now.
If you want to improve your animated Walk Cycles.
Course curriculum
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1
Locomotion Course Bundle
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Welcome to the Locomotion Course Bundle
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The Locomotion Course Bundle - what's in it, and what's improved
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A little bit about me
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Course #1: The Walk Cycle Course
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2
Course #1: The Walk Cycle Course
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Introduction to The Walk Cycle
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Section 1 - Introduction
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A Study Of The Walk
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The Mechanics Of The Walk
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Animating The Walk
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The Keyframes
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The Inbetweens
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Section 2 - Introduction to Template
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Using The Templates
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Bones & Body
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Section 3 - Introduction to The Animation
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Creating A Character
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Creating A Background
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Animating The Camera
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Animating The Background
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The Finished Animation
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Section 4 - A Few Final Pieces
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Variations & New Walk Cycles
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Postscipt
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Looking Ahead
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NEW - Using the Templates - a practical example
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NEW - Using the Templates to animate the Game Ranger's walk
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Importing Templates to use
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How to download the Templates (PNG files) so you can use them.
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Walk A - "The Bop"
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Walk A - Templates - Static
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Walk A - Templates - Moving
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Walk B - "The Glide"
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Walk B - Templates - Static
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Walk B - Templates - Moving
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Walk C - "The Strut"
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Walk C - Templates - Static
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Walk C - Templates - Moving
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3
Course #2: The Dog Run Cycle Course
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A little about me, your instructor for this course
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Introduction to the course
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Section 1 - Introduction to the Anatomy Of The Dog
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The Structure Of The Dog
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The Bones
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The Muscles
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Section 2 - Introduction to The Run
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A Study Of The Run
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The Mechanics Of The Run
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Animating The Run
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The Keyframes
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The Inbetweens
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Section 3 - Introduction to the Templates
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The Templates
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Using The Templates
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How to download the Templates (PNG files) so you can use them
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Section 4 - Introduction to the Animation
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Creating A Dog To Animate
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Creating A Background
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Animating The Camera
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Animating The Background
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The Finished Run Animation
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Section 5 - Introduction to A Few Final Pieces
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Postscript
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How to download the Templates (PNG files) so you can use them
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Rotary Gallop A - Preview
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Rotary Gallop A - Templates - Static
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Rotary Gallop A - Templates - Moving
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Rotary Gallop B - Preview
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Rotary Gallop B - Templates - Static
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Rotary Gallop B - Templates - Moving
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4
The Run Cycle
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Intro to the Run Cycle templates
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The Run Cycle Templates
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5
Birds Flying
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Birds Flying - intro video
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The Bird Flight Sequence
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Bird Flight Sequence - separate PNGs
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Bird Flight Sequence - long version
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Bird Flight Sequence - medium version
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Instructor
Animator
James Whitelaw
Locomotion Course #2
The Dog Run Cycle Course
In this course you will learn to get your 4 legged friends running. And fast. It goes through the structure and anatomy of our canine friends, then covers all the various walks, trots and runs of the dog before showing you how to animate a dog running, in 2 types of rotary gallops.
The Dog Run Cycle Course
Why take this course?
Whether you are just starting out with animation, or are quite a proficient animator and just want to brush up on your canine runs, there will be something in this course for you.
This course is designed to help you understand the various gaits of the dog, and then it's specifically designed to help you animate your canine runs - in this case the rotary gallop (the fastest and one of the most common of the dog's runs).
What's in The Dog Run Cycle Course?
Here is what's in this course, in brief.
This course is designed and put together in such a way that you will firstly understand your character - the dog, by looking at where the modern dog comes from, then looking at the anatomy of the dog.
Then we will look at the various ways the dog moves - the gaits. We will study all 4 of the main gaits, and the 2 transition gaits. 
Then we will drill down into one of the gaits in particular - the Rotary Gallop - the fastest gaits of the dog. We look at the mechanics of this gait, and then break it down into frames, which we will use to animate our dog.
We also look at various ways to create a background, for our dog to run across.
And then we look at various ways to create our dog, which we will animate.
Then we are introduced to the Templates that we will use to set up the dog's animation.
We then use these templates to animate the dog we have created, and get it to move across our backgrounds. We look at the 2 ways to achieve this.
Finally we look at our finished animation and have a look at what we can improve on, what we can learn further, and what we can expect and look out for in this course in the future.
What's included in the course
The Course Includes:
1. 32 lessons
2. 1 hour 30 minutes of video
3. 2 sets of Templates
- 12 frame Gallop & 8 frame Gallop
4. More Run Cycle Templates to come
5. Other downloadables
6. Lifetime access
7. 30 day money back guarantee
How this course gets your dog run animations done fast and easily.
The secret weapon I use in this course, is Templates.
Animating the 4 legged animal, such as the dog, and getting it right - is extremely challenging. I know because I have been doing it for years, and it doesn't really ever get very easy, to be honest. Even after years of animating, getting the timing, weight and look right in a walking or running 2 or 4 legged animal continues to be a challenge.
That led me to create "Templates".
A look at Lesson 1 (of Section 4)
In the video below, we look at a few methods of creating a dog to animate..
In the video above, we look in detail at a part of the course, Lesson 1 of the 4th Section, "Creating A Dog To Animate", We look at a few ways to create a Dog to animate; 1. by using a frame by frame approach with artwork drawn in vector mode on the animation platform, and 2. by creating artwork of a dog in a drawing package such as Krita, and importing it into the animation platform as separate parts (body parts) to be put together as a cut out or puppet. In this demonstration, as in the course, I have used OpenToonz as the animation platform, but this can be done in many other platforms, and is only an example of how one can use a variety of methods to trace off, or use the Dog Run Cycle templates that come with the course.
Run Cycle
A new addition to the Bundle
This is the latest addition to this bundle.
It consists of "fixed" and "moving" Templates of a 24 frame Run cycle, in the 3 formats; Bones, Body & Bones and Body. They play out to the left, and to the right.
These will really help you get your characters running easily and quickly. Just download the Templates and use them as a background to animate your runs off. It will save so much time, and you will end up with a consistent, predictable result.
Animating Birds Flying
FAQ
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Do I download the course onto my computer?
No, the course will be available on Thinkific for you to log in and engage with at any time. The advantage of this is it is "always there", and can not ever be lost.
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What about updates and new material?
That is another great advantage of having it on the Thinkific platform; all new material that may be added after your initial purchase will automatically be available to you. So you will always have access to the most current version of the course you purchase, no matter when you purchase it.
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What if I decide I don't want the course after purchase?
As long as it is within 30 days of purchase, you will receive a full refund if you decide for what ever reason that you no longer want the course.
Why do I create and use Templates?
The back story to why I create and use Templates
Animating the 4 legged animal, such as the dog, and getting it right - is extremely challenging. I know because I have been doing it for years, and it doesn't really ever get very easy, to be honest. Even after years of animating, getting the timing, weight and look right in a walking or running 2 or 4 legged animal continues to be a challenge.
That led me to create "Templates".
So a bit of background on how I got into creating "Templates" for all my walk and run cycles; when I started animation, and for years after wards, I always spent a LOT of time trying to get my characters, whether 2 or 4 legged, to run and walk in a believable, "realistic" way.
Why I use the inverted commas on "realistic", is animation is not about making things realistic. It's about making things "believable" (There I go with the inverted commas again). So all I wanted to do was get my characters, whether 2 or 4 legged, to run and walk in a "believable" way. And because this always took so long to achieve, yet is at the same time so simple as it's a predictable and repeatable action (a dogs walk or run follows the same repeatable steps over and over, no matter what the dog, or the setting) - I decided to create something that I could use repeatedly, to simplify and speed up the process.
And thus, the "Templates" were born.
So the Templates that come with this course are the ones I have used, and will continue to use, in my own work. They have been tweaked, tested and changed over time to get to what they are now; simple to use yet accurate and dependable.
Why using Templates to animate Cycles works
Here are just 3 reasons why it's very advantageous to use Templates
The 3 BIG advantages to using Templates in a way like this are;
1. You know how your animation will look, even before you animate it (by playing out the video of the animated Templates in the course before you even download them. Then you can also position the Templates in your animation platform and play them out again.
2. It's reliable. The Templates have been created and tested, and used by me in my own work, so I know they work, and they are reliable. They will play out as they do in the videos in the course. All you have to do is use them to base your own animations off.
3. They simplify and speed up what can sometimes be a long and complicated process - getting a walk of run cycle right. So they save a LOT of time, time that you can use else where. And they also make these cycles simple, and easy to get down.
All in all, I LOVE using these Templates I have created, and I think once you try them, you will too.
How to use the Templates
Fast and simple, this is how you use the Templates.
To download the Templates (PNG files):
1. Choose the Walk you want to download by viewing the video at the beginning of each Walk Template section.
2. Once you have selected which Walk you want to download, go to the "Templates" section below the video section, and select which format you want to download - Bones, Body or Bones & Body, also choose if you want the Left to Right (L to R) or Right to Left (R to L) Templates. Each Zip files is labeled accordingly.
3. Click on the "DOWNLOAD" button to the right of your selected Zip file, and it will download it onto the "Downloads" section of your computer.
4. Click on the Zip file now on your computer and it will extract the 24 PNG files of Templates.
5. Save them to a file on your computer.
6. Import them into your animation software
7. Put them in the time line or X-sheet of your animation software
8. Use them as a background to trace/draw or position your characters walk animation.
And that's it! Done!
You are good to go!
Here is the reason you needn't wait to buy.
All the courses are priced at their lowest prices.
There is no reason to wait to make a course purchase. Each and every course is priced at the lowest price it will EVER be. They start at the lowest price, when they are launched, and only increase in price over time. They will never get "cheaper". There is a very good reason we do this; to protect you, our valued student and client. Please see the more detailed explanation in the "Pricing of courses" section below if you need to know more.
30 day money back guarantee.
If, within 30 days of purchase, for what ever reason you are unhappy with the course, I will refund you all your money back, no questions asked.
Pricing of courses.
Why the price of any course will never come down.
We price our courses at the most cost efficient price we believe is possible. We are very aware that many of our students are young and/or very price sensitive, and we are also very aware of the current economic environment, so we set the prices at the lowest possible level we can, whilst keeping in mind the time and effort that goes into our courses.
We don't want to offer "cheap" courses, we would rather offer the best courses we can make at the best prices we feel we can offer them at.
We want to create "value" in all the courses we make.
We also do not, and will not, reduce our prices in the future. So we don't have "sales", offer discounts or jump on the "Black Friday" sales wagon that comes around every year.
So, we will never reduce the cost of a course once we have students on board.
The reason for this is simple; we appreciate the students that part with their valuable cash, and we don't want to "cheapen" or "under cut" their purchase. So if anything, the courses will only increase in price, and value, over time. But they will never get cheaper.
This is to protect you, our valued student and student and client.
So if you purchase one of the current courses at $25, it won't get cheaper next week, next month, or next year. What will most likely happen, however, is the price will increase over time as more material, and new sections are added to the course over time. So the courses going for $25 today, may be going for $30 next year, and possibly $40 the year after.
A good example of this is the "Making A Short Animated Movie" course. It was initially priced at $15 and now is is currently priced at $25.
It will be repriced at $30 when part 4 of the film and the course are completed, then it will be be priced at $35 after part 5 is completed, $40 after part 6, then at $45 after part 7 and finally it will be priced at $50 after part 8 is completed, and the full course is completed.
The price may rise even higher than the $50 mark in future as more material is added post production, and the course work is updated.
So, it will increase in price later as new material is added after completion. But it will never go down in price. So if you buy it now at $25, you are locking in a 50% saving on its future price. But if you buy it in a few months at $30, or even $40 - you never need to fear that it will be repriced at $25 again, or even it's initial price of $15 - after you have bought it.
It won't.
This is to protect the value of your purchase. What you buy today, you will never get "cheaper" tomorrow, or next month, or next year.
And so it will be that no matter what price point you purchase this or any other course on James Whitelaw Animation - the price will never go down.
So you can rest assured the value of your purchase will never be under mined. Plus, you can be sure too that your purchase price will always be the lowest it can be. It will never be "cheaper".
We hope this gives you some reassurance that the value of your purchase will never be discounted in future.
Also, we hope this encourages you to make a purchase at any time, knowing that the price you see for a course is the lowest it will ever be. You needn't wait in the hope that it will be discounted in the future - it won't be. If anything, the price may be higher in future,
So if you want to purchase a course, there is no time like today.