How can I animate a character walking towards me?

[zorgrian]

I want to be able to rig bones so that characters can walk towards the camera (me). I have pondered over this one for more than a while and I have ascended to ask the forum since I do not want to reinvent the wheel if it has been invented.

So how do I do it? There has to be a normal way. An unacceptable solution that I have arrived at for some scenes, is to do a torso & head shot while the background recedes away ... this kind of works and looks good if the character is talking while walking but what just getting the character to walk toward...

The problem I have is that bones seem to function only in left to right plane.

[rylleman]

The most obvious solution would be to animate the walk using switch-layers.
Do a forum search, this topic have been discussed before.

[heyvern]

The trick here is using bone scaling to simulate "forward movement".

Not sure what you are trying to achieve, but I use bone scaling to create foreshortening of the limbs.. like if an arm is going back I alternate scaling the bicep and forearm. The same with the legs... thigh and calf. It works pretty well... put in a little bit of rotation on the limbs.

Forward movement is tough because things can go behind and in front. I use copies of multiple layers and animate visibility as they move back and forth.

Like an arm will pass in front of the body, then on the back swing behind it. I use two copies of the arm and switch them on and off.

-Vern

[Víctor Paredes]

for complex animation i use 3d objects.
you can make the legs in 3d and put bones inside it.
see the tutorial.