Re: Ceratopsian gait

["David Krentz" <david_krentz@fa.disney.com>]

Subject: Re> Ceratopsian gait                                10:44 AM  
3/23/98

  On our movie we tried several types of walk cycles for ceratopsian
characters ( they were the most "accurate" model we had).  I did a lot of
reading on the subject and also had the benifit of extremely talented
animators and excelent live action refs of various animals.  Without getting
into too much detail, and assuring you all that all possibilities were
explored, the semi-sprawl gait seemed to work the best.  It worked from a
functional stand point as well as fitting into the alleged trackway.
  Keep in mind that a CG model has a skeleton that can be assigned properties,
so " faking it'' is not that easy.  When we added about a ten degree
rotational arc to the scapula as the arm pushed back, it functioned much
better than without.  Without the scapula moving SLIGHTLY the stride length of
rear leg caused the front leg to lag a little.  
  That's my two cents, just thought I'd let you all know about my personal
brush with " cyberpaleontology". (  Is there a legal limit for qoutation marks
in one paragraph... I hope not).

  David Krentz 
Walt Disney Feature Animation