I begin by getting the feet and corresponding hip locations laid out. A complicated action such as this requires me to get up and down from my chair for additional research on how the body is behaving as it turns. I also have to keep in mind that the character is somewhat groggy. That tired feeling is going to affect the timings of the turn. The character’s left foot moves first. It lifts up at frame 24 and then plants at frame 31. The right foot remains planted until frame 31, lifts to frame 40 and plants at frame 50. The left foot has one small step that begins at frame 50, lifts to frame 55 and plants at frame 60. The body finishes its rotation by frame 74. Figure 8 shows the sequence of poses.

	[Figure 8] The step and turn poses for the lower body.

While the steps were being placed, I paid special attention to the location of the hips. Although fast, I want this phase of the animation to be as clear as possible. If you refer to the previous figure, you’ll notice that the hips remain over the static leg when the character lifts a foot to step. In frame 55, for example, the weight is over the character’s right foot until the left foot is planted. The hips will move after the left foot is touching the ground at frame 60. Keeping the proper balance at an early stage helps to better communicate the physicality of the character. The more believable the character is, the better the impression a director or supervisor can get from your work.

A quick render shows that the timings and locations are pretty close. Although a lot of work remains to be done on the feet and hips, this should be a good start. It s time to add some upper body poses for the turn. The scene currently has keys at frames 1, 17, 24, 31, 40, 50, 55 and 60. I’m going to generate keys on the chest, head, and arms at those same frames. This should keep my keys consistent, which again will help me if future changes are required.

As I begin to create poses, special consideration is given to the idea of lead and follow. As discussed in Chapter 6: “Force: Lead and Follow,” every action has a driving or initiating force and a complementing reactionary force. In the case of this turn, the hips are leading the chest, which in turn is driving the head and hands. If I keep that concept in mind when setting key frames, the character will be more believable.