I’m doing a walk cycle, but drawing only one cycle of the character walking in part way across the screen. I would like to then copy that segment, paste it, and reposition the copied segment so that it hooks up with the first segment, creating a longer walk.
How is this done?
Thanks for all of your help Ampy!
I will give this a try!
Thanks again Ampy for your responses, but I think what you’re describing here is simply repeating a cycle, correct? What I’m trying to figure out is how to take a short segment of a character walking in from off-screen (just one step with each leg), copy that segment, and repo it to hook up with the end point of the first segment, to create a longer walk in of 4 steps.
If I copy the original segment and paste that copied segment in after the original segment, the character will walk in, and then pop back to off-screen and walk in again, which isn’t what I want.
What I want to do is copy the original segment of animation and then slide those copied drawings toward screen right, so that they hook up to the end point of the original segment creating that longer walk of 4 steps.
There is a command in the “Select” arrow drop down menu called “Reposition All Drawings”. I’m guessing that may be what I need to use, but the issue I’m encountering is that when I click on that “Reposition All Drawings” button, it grabs all of the drawings, rather than just the copied drawings, which makes it impossible to repo just the copied segment.
Your imagined scenario is incorrect. You animate the Peg. The Peg moves off the screen and does not repeat. The pace of the Peg motion matches the walk cycle to create a plausible walk from side to side. So in summary you move the Peg from off screen to view on screen then it goes from one side to the other then off screen in order to have the walk cycle appear to take the character from side to side. You are not creating a cycle with the Peg motion. The Peg movement is a singular direction beginning to end motion that is not looped or repeated. The walk cycle is placed inside the Peg. The Peg does not become part of the walk cycle. However, if you wanted you could create a separate cycle with the Peg motion but this is not what you should do to achieve your stated objective this time.
**Also, I found this post that contains a good explanation for clarification. It suggests Right Clicking instead of keyboard shortcuts for additional paste options:
Thanks Ampy, but can you point me to a specific video dealing with this? I am an experienced traditional animator, so my issue isn’t simply knowing how to animate a walk cycle. I can do that. My question is how to manipulate the frames in the Harmony timeline. Is there a simple way to copy the first section of the walk cycle that I’ve done, slide them further across screen and paste them to hook up with the end point of the first section I animated in order to make the walk carry further across screen?
Sorry for my lacking the exact terms. I do not have enough time at the moment to perfect this response. I am just a hobbyist improving my skill and knowledge by seeking answers for others here.
The general procedure:
Extend the scene length.
In Timeline expose all layers.
Starting with the 2nd frame select / drag from the top of the exposure hierarchy to the bottom of the exposure hierarchy of the last frame of the cycle.
By “exposure hierarchy” I mean everything on the right side section of the Timeline with the frames / cells.
Click Ctrl C (Copy)
Drag the red Current Frame indicator to the first empty column of cells (past the walk cycle)
Click Ctrl V (Paste) **Or see my following post for Right Click advantage.
Note: because you skipped the first frame your cycle should scrub smoothly doubling the length without a glitch.
Repeat this as many times as necessary for the desired length of your scene.
If you want to have the character walk from one side of the screen to the other you drop the extended cycle into a Peg and animate the Peg.
There have been many videos created to show how this is done.
It is a good idea to watch several.
Just Google “walk cycles Toon Boom Harmony”
I discovered the “Reposition All Drawings” button under the Selection arrow, thinking that would do the trick, but the issue I’m noticing is that apparently you can’t just grab the copied section of the walk to repo it. It instead copies and repo’s all of the drawings.
Does anyone out there in Forum land know how to perform this function?