How do I make a walking motion in MikuMikuDance? How do I move the body to make walking motions in MMD? Can I make my model walk in place?
Can’t talk-the-talk if you can’t walk-the-walk!
Analyzing Mahlazer’s MMD Walking Motion…
I just saw Mahlazer’s new video posted to YouTube that included a link to the motion and 
WAV files used in the video … I had to have ’em!
After unzipping the files and starting a new MMD animation, and trying out the new VMD motion files, I could see that I probably wouldn’t be using them for anything I’d be going to do.
… but … I noticed the nice walking motion Mahlazer had created for the opening seconds of the animation.
With a little bit of copy/pasting I was able to make a continuous walk! Mahlazer’s walking cycle repeats itself using frames 15 thru 54. I kept it going until I got the walking motion to include nearly 1000 frames.
DOWNLOAD the walking-motion zip!
You can see that the model is walking-in-place … walking with a will, like she’s on a mission … shoulders back and a solid, confident stance. The only change I made to the basic pose in Mahlazer’s set-up was to bring the models left arm forward … my downloaded vmd file had the model’s arm and left hand behind her back.
I liked this motion because it’s more complicated than my OWN walking motions; the body has an up and down motion with the shoulders swinging and body twisting, 
while the head is almost still; the eyes remain focused “on target”… there’s a lot going on in that motion.
Take a close look …
Download the vmd file I made from Mahlazer’s motion file and try it out on your own models.
Check on it from all angles … look closely at the cycle and at the frame-chart diamonds to see the register points … and look at the interpolation curves (used to control the acceleration of the various aspects of the walking motion).
Little things make a big difference … like the way the Center bone is up-and-down with each cycle … “down” when one foot is flat on the ground and “up a bit” when she is on her toes. … Notice, too, the effect of the interpolation curve as the rearward foot lifts off the ground and accelerates with good speed and then slows as it drops to the floor, out ahead of the model.
Watch how the upper-body rotates with the stride … and how the head does not do so.
This is not a casual walk…
… she is going the distance!
Thank you, Mahlazer, for giving us your motion files! We have a lot to learn.
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