The Basset Hound Walk Cycle

Hey Folks

So i have finished my monster walk cycle and now I think it is time to attempt a four legged animal walk cycle. I have chosen a basset hound because I have 3 of them in my parents home so it is the best form of research to do on them just now.

I found this portrait of a basset hound online and really like how they captured the look, feel and weight of one and this is a good start to get me motivated.

I know this is not a very good photo from the net because it has a cat in the middle but if we take a look  at the leg movement of the basset hound it is in the position where the back legs are on the UP position if you remember from my walk cycle page and the front legs are on the DOWN position. this is strange because in the "Animators Survival Kit" usually the extremes are the back legs are on the DOWN POS whilst the front legs are on the PASS POS however that was for a medium sized dog probably because of the bassets weight and size the legs maybe move somewhat different.

This is a perfect example of displaying the weight of a Basset Hound to start with if we take a look at the skin on this animal it obviously sags over its legs and underbelly. By just standing in this position it shows that this is the main feature of the basset hound and it will need to be taken into consideration when walking so the skin will flop not violently but in motion with its legs.

Bassets are quite heavy animals because they were originally bred for hunting and digging but now they are just lazy things that steal your couch or bed in the house. This is an example of a bassets normal weight of fat. I forgot to say but in the picture above the person holding the dogs chin is meant to show sagging skin. you can see it here on this basset. when a basset walk the underbelly drags most of the weight because of the amount of fat and it makes even the back of the bassets skin move around too when the belly sways from side to side.

This is just a funny photo to show that we could exaggerate the bassets face if we wanted to but i'm not actually going for exaggeration in this walk cycle it will be pure study of the animal for weight and the four legged cycle.

nice portrait here captures the emotion and the facial features of the basset and even when relaxed you can see a lot of weight within the animal

Im sure i saw this on the Gas advert i cant remember but i will find it and get it up here for you to show exaggeration of a basset hounds movements. Again you can see from my comments that he has taken into consideration of the skin and weight of the basset and how it drags right down to his underbelly.

 Enjoy Muchly