Walk Cycle Tutorial

As soon as I sat down at my computer and started to design characters that I would like to animate, a horrifying thought came to me. I have no idea how these characters move. I couldn't fathom how someone could animate a human--say--throwing a ball and making it look natural. Let alone a drawn character with different physical rules than a human. How would I make a cartoonish-looking figure walk and bend and express themselves?

I wasn't interested in making my characters too realistic, and wanted to pursue a more comical tone. After browsing through my hoard of favorite animation videos on Vimeo, I found that I was drawn back to an animator named Charles Huettner. I followed him a year or so ago and found that his style intrigued and inspired me. Digging through his videos, I found an excellent Photoshop animation tutorial that might prove useful for anyone wanting to animate a walk cycle of a character that isn't necessarily human. The first video features Charles Huettner and Caleb Wood animating in photoshop and the second is a finished animation by Charles Huettner. 

I hope this inspires people as it inspired me! Get animating! 

Photoshop Animation Tutorial from Charles Huettner on Vimeo.

The Jump from Charles Huettner on Vimeo.