Anthro run cycle

... and now the wire frame for a possible run cycle. Here I've tried to oscillate both hips to reflect their full range of motion during this cycle. The timing isn't finely tuned yet, different moments of the cycle will create faster and slower points in each limbs movement which I haven't really maximised yet. Useful as a reminder that anthro movement is very energetic, likely the arms will have to be swung in arcs to maintain balance.

Ignore the black dots in the middle, they were placeholders for the start and finish of the cycle

Anthro walk cycle

A quick test of a wire frame I made of an anthro walk cycle. I think it's rather species neutral but I had a larger herbivore type in mind; not only is there rise and fall in the hips but due to the mass and stability issues of the legs, each step the leg is going to be thrown forward, creating a far amount of 'hip swagger'. This isn't efficient, as I've mentioned in previous posts, but a digitigrade or unguligrade on 2 legs isn't ever going to be.

Head shapes 2

The point of looking over skulls in the first place is to gain some idea of the forms that they lend to the shape of the head and face. One aspect of creature design a friend pointed out was using these observations to help make choices in accessory design. Again, somewhat dependent on the class of species and actually if you work the problem through you end up with some plausible if not odd looking results..

Any eye wear is going to need a much wider bridge. Glasses don't have to be designed to hook round the ears but if they did the arms would need to sit higher and not to the sides like for a human.

Head shapes

I better post some of the sketches I've been sitting on! I've been thinking about skull shapes for anthros for sometime. Previously I looked at the need for anthro skulls to have a cranial dimension like that of a human, if you're thinking intelligence it seems fitting to exaggerate an animals skull to hold a similar brain size to a humans.

The 2 small intermediate diagrams show the distinction of cranial size (red), 
nose/face area (blue) and jaw (green).

Animal skulls are much more elongated front to back than a human's. Where you'd draw an average human skull as a sphere with a box below for the jaw, for an anthro you're looking more at a ovoid with a box at the front. This is so you can retain the distinct facial features such as those elongated noses and jaws. You can break this idea down further into class (I take class to mean either carnivore, omnivore or herbivore). The main distinction between them being the required jaw size to tackle their specialised foods. As a general idea, jaws tend to get both longer and deeper with herbivores; more muscular action is needed to grind plant matter, so a large bone surface is required, their food is generally in a hard to reach place, hence the long face. For either class, starting with a skull similar to that of a human guarantees you'll retain an adequate brain size.

Taking this a little further the idea of snout length is certainly up to not only the species and the class but also to your own preference. Felines tend to have a much rounder short snout, canines have a more rectangular and thin snout. Length adaptation is up to you. For example, the sketches above are for carnivores, their main principle is that their jaws are thin and sleek with large forward pointing eyes however the length of the snout is undefined.

Jaws are nothing without teeth, and teeth are distinctly specialised for each class. There are a number of other more subtle differences than teeth to think about, especially if you want to be creating expressive characters. Jaw depth i've mentioned, however it's carnivores that tend to have a much larger jaw opening range to catch and eat pray. Useful for expressions showing rage and anger. Due to their large teeth, particularly their canines, carnivores have limited side to side motion which herbivore use to rotate their jaws to grind plant matter. Side to side motions are more or less reserved to show puzzlement or thinking. 

Ahhhhhh a splinter!

Huh?

Sorry, been busy!

Now that i'm home, time to get back into posting!

Lumbar Support

I've gone back to thinking more about spinal curves when it comes to anthros. This is particularly relevant with tough, heavy types and also very relevant when thinking about how a tail would be structured and function on a biped. I think that the fundamental understanding of what can and can't be done with anthros bipeds certainly concerns the lumbar support system.

Part of the lumbar lordosis support

The human S-curve transfers tension and load down into the pelvis via the sacro-iliac joint. If we are going to retain anthro features such as larger skulls, bigger chest and shoulder like that of Minotaurs, the more weight we are applying to the cervical and thoracic vertebrae, ultimately pulling the torso forward as well as the centre of gravity. This is going to make it harder for this S-curve to hold it's mid-line (shown in red). If the mid-line shifts away from the sacro-iliac joint then weight transmission is less efficient, resulting in muscle groups having to bear the torso's load rather than the spine. 


In humans an important deep structure called the thoracolumbar fascia, which are tough multi-directional connective tissues directly attached to the spinous processes of the lumbar vertebrae. Our erector spinae muscles and latissimus dorsi, as well as our core muscles such as the obliques act to pull the thoracic spine (our chest) backwards and downwards, keeping us held upright. The gluteals as I've mentioned in previous posts are under tone to hold the pelvis from tilting forward, keeping us stood upright. These multiple actions ultimately draw the lumbar spine into lordosis like drawing the string on a bow, the lumbar curve is under a great deal of elastic energy, stored in the thoracolumbar fascia.


Understanding the limits of the lumbar curve is important for anthro characters, who are often portrayed as extra massive, with craning necks and heads. The spinal curves may have to adjust to hold this weight and maintain the mid-line, either through hyperlordosis or even kyphosis.

How the sacro-iliac joint and the lumbar curve would be arranged to structure a tail is a relevant question. It would certainly require changes to the configuration of the pelvis as well as considerations on nerve pathways out of the sacrum.

More on the thoracolumbar fascia:

Stance sketches

Some ideas on digitigrade and ungiligrade legs this week. I'm hoping to have the time this month to complete some 2D animations on walking.