Here is a time lapse of me drawing on my new tablet. I did it on the train. It's not very edited so there are some gaps. I'm not used to editing these weird tablet resolutions and all my kit is set up for standard TV and film resolution. Well it's 720 by 1200 so I would probably be fine if it was the other way round. I tried using the editor in youtube studio but it is pretty awful.
It's the first time for a long time I put some effort into 2d and recorded the results. I do occasionally work on paper with my daughter when she is drawing. I have never done a time lapse like this before I know a lot of drawing apps have it built in but it's my first time trying it. Interesting to see it. I usually work very roughly and I don't mid a sketchy rough finish. I think it gives more character plus overly finishing a drawing or painting kills the dynamism I've always thought. Digital art is different to traditional art as you can go in and edit as many times as you want where as with traditional paper and art materials there comes a point where you destroy the paper if you over work too much.
I usually use on old Wacom where I draw on the tablet and see what I'm doing on the screen. This is because when I shifted over to tablet the cost of a set up where you are drawing on a screen was extremely high. I was working in games at the time and even the concept artist who was doing nothing but drawing was working on a standard pen tablet. Grunt artists like me used to hand paint our textures, back then a Wacom was standard issue. There was always a bit of a faff with pens going missing.
I don't often get it out and my Wacom is very old and it broke! The pen kind of sprang apart and springs and pieces went everywhere. At first I couldn't put it back together and I started looking at alternatives and that's what led me to looking at a new tablet. I have since fixed my Wacom pen it seems a little unhappy and does not fully fit back together as it used to but still works.
I still splashed out on a new tablet which is very portable and like a doodle pad. I used to draw all the time as a kid when I was bored. In the back of lessons on the cover of my exercise books or in the back pages. I've worked with other animators who have apple tablets that they doodle on. I hate apple so I got an Android one. It feels odd to have a pen back in the way of what I'm drawing I'm so used to the line magically appearing while I scratch away on my Wacom.
Working on Goosebumps Horrorland was a wild ride, full of challenges, lessons, and memories I still think about today. It was also the project where I did the most cutscene work in my games career. Initially, I was hired as a model maker and environment artist, a shift from my previous roles, where I was typically brought on as an animator. For context, I was a generalist in earlier jobs and had experience across all areas of game art—animation, modeling, texturing, and more. However, animation was always my main ticket in.
At the time, I had decided to pivot from animation to focus on environments, props, and texturing. I wanted to explore other facets of game development, especially as motion capture seemed to be taking over much of animation. That said, the opportunity to dive back into narrative animation through the cutscenes for Horrorland was too good to pass up, even if it came with plenty of hurdles.
Above is the first cut scene I did on the project. I got the most notes on this one and I was very worried as I really struggled to get up to 8 seconds a day which was my initial goal, but I knew I needed to increase it to deliver on time. It took ages to approve and I think I was still doing notes on this up till the end. The publishers used to give a lot of notes when we had close ups on the characters faces. We didn't have many controls to work with and it was difficult to make them stay appealing and expressive.
The Cutscenes That Keep Getting Views
The cutscenes I worked on for Goosebumps Horrorland have become the most-viewed content on my YouTube channel. Many of these videos have over 100,000 views, and they’ve been the source of fan mail. While it’s gratifying to know people enjoy them, it’s a little surreal. These cutscenes were created under immense pressure, with tight deadlines and resource constraints. As much as I wish they showcased my best work, they represent a time when I had to balance speed with quality—a constant tug-of-war.
I often get questions like:
"Why is the render so low quality?"
"Why does the sound seem unfinished?"
The answer lies in the tools and processes of the time. These videos are playblasts—viewport renders from 3D Studio Max. They capture what I saw while animating: low graphical settings, no lighting, no textures, and no anti-aliasing. The low settings were essential for smooth playback in the software. These playblasts were quick and functional, designed to get publisher approval before integrating the animation into the game engine.
The sound is unfinished the final version in the game was likely tweaked at a later date so if there is music it may not be final.
From Props to Cutscenes
Initially, I worked on environments and props for the game. There was another animator handling the cutscenes, but the tight schedule made it clear he needed help. After some back-and-forth, I was brought on to assist. Before long, I found myself taking the lead when the original cutscene animator left the project.
The work was daunting, especially given the process: storyboards, animatics, animation, and multiple approval stages. Each cutscene had about a week’s turnaround, with some days lost waiting for feedback. Despite the challenges, I enjoyed the chance to focus on hand-keyed animation for narrative scenes, even if it came at the cost of long hours and stress.
The Freelancer Fiasco
One particularly frustrating chapter of the project was the freelancer we hired to help. He chose to work on the final cutscene—the most important and action-heavy sequence of the game. Unfortunately, his skills didn’t match the task. His work was so poor that I had to redo about 70% of it. By that point, I was running on fumes, but I managed to salvage what I could.
This final cutscene is a sticking point for me. I often get comments on YouTube asking why I haven’t posted it. The truth is, it’s a strange mix of my fixes and his original work, and I’m not comfortable showcasing it. It’s frustrating because I know how much better it could have been if I’d had the chance to start fresh.
The GG transformation was something that got done at the 11 hour. The initial plan was to show GG's shadow changing in to her monster form but there was some technical problems. I wanted to get the cut scene done and approved and so pushed for this texture swap with the wings appearing. I think the other model is actually behind GG and either has transparent textures or is scaled, can't remember how I did it in the end but this is the vid I showed to the team to get approval for the idea.
This is from the final cut scene I think I did this bit from scratch as our freelancer didn't manage to finish before it got passed to me. These 3 vids show the way I used to work from a very rough stage below.
The below clip shows the animation about half way through
The last clip shows animation as it was used in the cut scene (I think unless I got asked to alter it). All of this work is long before I started working in TV and is from 2008. I get a lot of comments on the half way done animation and the first rough animation telling me they suck. Well it all sucks but thankfully I can animate better now! Although most TV jobs also have a lower seconds per day out put then this did and with doing the sound editing storyboards and camera direction it was pretty crazy. Also the last time I worked in the main stream games industry.
A Baptism of Fire
Looking back, Goosebumps Horrorland was a trial by fire. The tight deadlines pushed me to animate up to 20 seconds a day while juggling sound editing, storyboarding, and camera direction. It was exhausting, but it taught me resilience and how to prioritize under pressure.
A strong memory on this project was that the games testing was done in studio behind me. So all day everyday I used to hear "Yo Yo Yo it's bumper carnage" along with all the lines from the cut scenes like "Double Wow!"
While the cutscenes may not be my proudest technical work, they hold a unique place in my career. They’re the only project that’s brought me fan mail and consistent YouTube views—even after all these years. For a game released in 2008, that’s something.
If anything, this project reminds me how far I’ve come as an artist and animator. It may not have been perfect, but it was a stepping stone that helped shape my journey.
Welcome to this tutorial on creating a female walk cycle in Maya! In this post, I’ll walk you through the process of building a smooth, natural-looking walk cycle, starting from scratch. Whether you’re a beginner or just brushing up on animation principles, this guide will cover the essentials of hand-keyed animation—the same techniques used in games, TV, and film.
If you prefer to see the process in action, check out my video tutorial [embedded above].
Step 1: Start with the Key Poses
The foundation of any walk cycle lies in the key poses. For a standard cycle, we focus on four main poses:
Passing Pose: One leg passes the other while the weight shifts.
Stride (or Contact) Pose: The legs are at their furthest apart, marking the extremes of the stride.
These poses are then mirrored for the opposite side, creating a symmetrical cycle. In the video, I show how to use the passing pose as the loop frame. This ensures your animation can repeat seamlessly.
Step 2: Blocking the Animation
At this stage, I work in stepped mode—a setting that eliminates interpolation between poses. This approach keeps the animation "snappy" and focused, allowing me to adjust the main poses without distraction from computer-generated in-betweens.
Once the key poses are in place, I mirror them manually. Some rigs have a "mirror pose" feature, but for this project, I handled it by hand. It’s worth noting that many free rigs available online include mirroring tools to save time.
Step 3: Refining the Motion
With the main poses set, it’s time to add tween frames, which double the number of key poses and smooth out the motion. This involves:
Using the graph editor to tweak translation and rotation curves.
Ensuring legs and feet land correctly, with natural arcs as they lift and plant.
Adjusting the hips for a fluid, balanced sway that complements a female walk.
For characters with exaggerated features (like larger hips), you can accentuate the sway for added personality.
Step 4: Adding Details
Once the foundation is strong, I layer in the smaller, more dynamic elements:
Arms and Hands: I used IK (inverse kinematics) for this rig, but FK (forward kinematics) is often simpler for walk cycles.
Hair and Accessories: Elements like hair bounce or accessories add realism and flair. For this walk, I manually animated these details for full control.
Character-Specific Motion: For instance, this character has secondary motion in the chest area, which I animated by hand instead of using physics simulations.
Step 5: The Final Polish
The last stage involves fine-tuning and ensuring the animation loops perfectly. For this, I used a translating floor plane to double-check foot placement and reduce any "sliding" issues. Small tweaks in the graph editor ensure that the movement feels fluid and polished.
Tips and Tricks for Animating Walk Cycles
Keep It Simple at First: Focus on the main poses and smooth motion before diving into secondary details.
Use References: Study real-life footage or reference videos to capture realistic motion.
Experiment with Tools: While Maya is my tool of choice, the principles apply across software like Blender, Max, or even traditional 2D animation.
Watch the Tutorial
Ready to see the entire process? Watch the embedded video below to follow along in real-time. This animation took several hours to complete, but in the video, I’ve condensed the steps into a 15-minute walkthrough.
Conclusion
Creating a walk cycle is one of the most fundamental skills for animators, and mastering it can open doors to all kinds of projects. I hope this guide (and the accompanying video) gives you the confidence to create your own. If you have any questions or want to share your work, drop a comment below—I’d love to see what you come up with!
