Advanced ground matching run cycle tutorial in Blender

In this Blender tutorial we’ll learn how to make a run cycle animated character following a path and matching ground bumps. With feet contacts, and torso leaning, using the NLA or procedural technic .
You can use this technic for any kind of character or even use it for vehicules.
00:00 : intro
01:14 : Creating the animation path
05:09 : constraining the feet to the ground
09:44 : Tweaking heel and toes
13:45 : Torso Leaning using the NLA
15:07 : Procedural leaning
19:36 : Environment and FX’s

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[onkelfurunkel]

I found an automatic fix for the glitching feet: just check "front" in the shrinkwrap constraint’s "face cull" option.
That way, the bone will exclude the front normals and will only look for the other side of the normals (the side which is under the ground, that the bone should not go through)

[maciejszczesnik]

Pierrick, your tutorials are great. We need those slightly more advanced ones as often as possible ;) I also have to recommend your Advanced Rigging Tutorial for everyone - it's worth every penny.

[theshadow]

Damn. I've been trying to learn animation in blender for almost a year now and this video just showed me just how little I know about blender's animation system. Thank you for the advanced content!! TLDR I'm probably going to have watch this video a dozen times or so before I grasp everything XD

[lefteris]

Awesome and you seem to be one of the few tutorials who actually show how to make a walk cycle animation follow but also match the ground orientation!

[JCBordafdez]

I remember I came up with a similar and not so good approach as the procedural leaning method for my car animation in the Endless Engines challenge at the time. It did the job though.
This was really informative and helpful. I am currently applying some of this in my current animation for my portfolio as I have a character running along the scene for a while.
Thank you Pierrick for your tutorials, keep them up!

[mascarademermelada]

The result looks amazing! hands down the best animator in blender.

[jeffreyspinner]

Even if you never get the recognition your skills deserve, let me say without reserve, you are one of the most skilled riggers and animators I know. You are my long term role model in these areas.

[nexgen.graphics]

I am simply awed by the final output. You earned a sub for your impeccable effort!!.

[Micromation]

Oh, the one I was waiting for! :3 Btw. that procedural leaning is neat, might be super useful creating more beliveable car animations without the need to fiddle with every frame. This is top quality content - how you still simmer at mere 22k subs is beyond my comprehension.

[JaridMitchell]

Woah this is huge! Idk why more people havent covered this topic, thank you!

[charlesdarwin]

This is really genius. Thanks for the great tutorial.

[yvonhoule]

Certainly Highlights the fantastic possibility of Blender all this by a Masterclass from Pierrick I am very impressed in how you effortlessly convey high level information into the blender inner workings and how to utilize these features advantageously. Thank you very much for sharing.

[zoltannosurname]

This is absolutely brilliant, I am in awe at the simplicity and effectivness of this method! Thank you a thousand times for this tutorial

[warrenography]

I have often wondered and even tried this but my tech/logic reasoning never got me there; this is such a valuable contribution to the knowledge base, franchement il doit y avoir des "Pour le merite" pour ce genre de partage, je reste bouche bee une minute en reconnaissance de 1. ton effort et genie, 2, l'esprit de partage pour le bien de tous en deomonstration, et 3, la video qui explique de facon lucide. Merci.

[rexwinz]

wow. this is another level. Well done and thank you.

[rajasafwan]

i think i need to watch it many time, but im still understand what u doing, just need to watch it again the way u doing it.. really good video

[GabrielVez]

your tutorials are awesome and insightful. I recommend them to everyone I know that want to do high-quality rig and animations.

[루디와쪼랭이]

good!!! 이거 찾고 있었는데 역시 영상이 있었군요... 혼자 열심히 shrinkwrap 해보고 난리쳤는데 ㅋㅋㅋ ㅠㅠ

[stefanguiton]

Amazing in-depth tutorial, keep up the great work!

[NirrenCG]

WOW! Realy amazing mechanic! Thank you)