Hi there, hope I'm posting this in the right place, since this is my first time posting on this forum. I did a search for similar topic contents but nothing really came up.
I was looking for references that I could study in regards to animals in motion... domestic cats in particular. I know there are some good books and videos out there, but I was wondering if anyone had any scans or video or knew of places on the web that I could visit on short notice.
I've found a couple of images, but none of them are really that helpful.
Tried watching my kitty and the way she moves and have picked up some of her quirks. However as a beginner I still find it difficult to study movement while it's in motion as such. The legwork really confuses me (which one goes where when?! @_@)
Things like what you might find in the Eadweard Muybridge books make it a bit easier... I just purchased the Human Figure in Motion actually... now I think I should have gotten the animal one first. Dang.
Anyway, if someone can help out, that would be faaaaaantastic.
There's a Muybridge website that someone gave me in this forum just a few days ago: Muybridge
A science teacher I work with loaned me a book: Exploring Biomechanics: Animals in Motion, by R. McNeill Alexander. Cool stuff. He apparently scored if for five bucks at a used bookstore. I hope I'm good enough to return it to him or offer him more than he paid, since I get a lot of use out of it. I scanned a picture out of it just now: Cat Keys I'd run this on an eight drawing cycle at two frames each, so you'll need to work out the inbetweens. If you want him to really haul, you can do four drawings on two's. Biggest problem I've had is getting the placement of joints right, so take time to study that. What we think is the shoulder is actually the elbow, and the next joint (looks like elbow) is actually a wrist. It'll make more sense if you can find a skeletal diagram of a cat, dog, or even a larger 4 legged animal.
Good luck, and have fun!
Cartoon Thunder
There's a little biker in all of us...
rhinohouse's animals in motion, seems to be a modern take on the ever so excellent Muybridge books http://www.rhinohouse.com/
"check it out, you know it makes sense!" http://miaumau.blogspot.com/
This is a great book
Hmm... ok, I'll work with those suggestions.
Thanks for your help, peoples :)
Another way to figure it out is to go frame by frame through a tape (or DVD) of a cat walking and sketch from that. Cats walk left hind, left fore, right hind, right fore. If I remember correctly, they trot the same way.
Definately get a picture of a cat's skeletal anatomy. Breaking it down that way makes it easier to visualize what is going on inside as you animate.
2-D animation will never die. The invention of photography did not kill painting. Why would animation be any different?
Dancing Cavy Productions
http://dancingcavy.deviantart.com
Here's a link that I got from http://www.stopmotionanimation.com you might find it of help
http://www.rhinohouse.com/ the DVD from Rhinohouse looks really interesting
I'm considering buying it
Duncan
also there's nothing that a trip to the zoo can't do to help you animate animals. Go there and draw, draw, DRAW!
"check it out, you know it makes sense!" http://miaumau.blogspot.com/