How can I fix a floaty cel-animated walk cycle and get timing right?

[Edward67]

I’ve been trying to get my cel-animated walk cycle to feel more organic, but no matter how many times I adjust the inbetweens, the movement still looks floaty and disconnected. I’m wondering if my spacing charts are fundamentally off or if I’m missing something about the timing of the contact and passing positions.

[Scarlett_R]

I’ve been there. I kept chasing the float by tweaking inbetweens and spacing charts, but the walk still felt like it wasn’t rooted. I finally noticed the timing of the contact and passing positions didn’t line up with the hips and weight shift. It’s like the feet tick the ground but the body keeps drifting.

[ZacharyJ]

I actually tried locking the contact frame a beat longer and nudging the passing frame earlier, and it helped. I measured the center of mass travel across the stride and compared it to a live reference; when the COM held at contact for a frame and then accelerated into passing, the arc looked more grounded.

[ThomasG]

Another angle is that the problem isn’t just the spacing. I swapped to a simpler two pose loop and the legs still looked floaty until I forced a heavier knee bend and a bigger hip drop at contact.

[BrandonM]

Do you think the real issue is the timing of the hips and weight shift, or is something else going on like camera speed?