Learn How to Animate a
Tiger Walk Cycle
Course overview
Learning how to animate a Tiger Walk Cycle in Maya is an essential step for mastering quadruped animation. From weight shifts to stride rhythm, you’ll discover how to create a powerful and convincing tiger walk.
Instructor Jonathan Symmonds, a senior creature animator with over 20 years of industry experience, guides you through biomechanics, curve refinement, and efficient workflows for animating four-legged animals.
The tiger rig and lighting scene are included, helping you finish with a polished walk cycle ready for your portfolio.
About the Tiger Walk Cycle Course
Learn How to Animate a Tiger Walk Cycle in Maya
Animating a quadruped such as a tiger is one of the most rewarding challenges in 3D animation. From subtle weight shifts to the rhythm of each stride, creating a lifelike walk cycle requires careful observation of reference and a solid understanding of biomechanics.
Guided by Jonathan Symmonds—Hollywood creature animator and co-founder of Sophoria Academy—you’ll learn how to build a realistic tiger walk cycle step by step inside Maya. You’ll discover how to read references, work with curves, and refine body mechanics for convincing motion.
Create Portfolio-Ready Quadruped Animations
By completing this course, you’ll produce a studio-quality tiger walk cycle that demonstrates your ability to animate realistic quadrupeds in Maya. This project is ideal for adding to your demo reel, impressing potential recruiters, or expanding your skillset for careers in VFX, animation, or game development.
Master the Art of Tiger Locomotion
From capturing the weight and rhythm of a tiger’s stride to refining animation curves for smooth motion, you’ll gain the confidence to tackle any quadruped project. The included tiger rig, light rig, and final scene setup ensure you have all the tools needed to practice and showcase your work at a professional level.
Course Information
- Course Duration: 3 hours 25 minutes
- This course can be taken at any time
- Category: Animation
- Course Cost: 49 USD
- Prerequisites: None
- Software required: Autodesk Maya 2019+
- Instructor: Jonathan Symmonds
What You’ll Learn in This Course:
- Animate a Tiger Walk Cycle in Maya: Build a realistic quadruped walk cycle with proper weight and pacing.
- Work With Animation Curves: Master techniques for controlling and smoothing curves to refine locomotion.
- Simple, Proven Workflow: Learn an efficient workflow for quadruped animation that saves time without cutting quality.
- Tiger Anatomy for Animators: Improve your understanding of locomotion and biomechanics to create lifelike realism.
- Peer Review & Feedback: Share your work and gain valuable critique from fellow students and professionals.
- Accessible for All Levels: No prerequisites required—perfect for beginners and intermediates alike.
- Learn From Industry Experts: Taught by Jonathan Symmonds, lead animator on Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon.
- Enhance Your Demo Reel: Add a professional-quality quadruped walk cycle to showcase your animation skills.
- Exclusive Rig & Assets: Includes a custom tiger rig, cached animation, final scene, and light rig setup.
- Flexible Learning: Study at your own pace with pre-recorded lessons you can return to anytime.
Lesson Breakdown of the Tiger Walk Cycle Course
01
Introduction to the Course
Video description and explanation of the Tiger Walk Cycle Course
FREE
02
Tiger Walk Cycle Tutorial – Part 01
Explore the rig’s capabilities and study reference material to set the foundation for your walk cycle.
PAID
03
Tiger Walk Cycle Tutorial – Part 02
Learn how to block the hips and feet, establishing the key poses that drive a natural cycle.
PAID
04
Tiger Walk Cycle Tutorial – Part 03
Refine the body mechanics by adjusting secondary motion and correcting shapes across the rig.
PAID
05
Tiger Walk Cycle Tutorial – Part 04
Polish the animation with final tweaks, ensuring a professional result ready for your demo reel.
PAID
06
Certificate of Completion
Claim your Certificate of Completion once you have completed the course at Sophoria Academy
PAID
Enroll Now
Invest in yourselves and take home this awesome Tiger Walk Cycle Animation Course
Meet Your Instructor - Jonathan Symmonds
Trusted by 3,000+ students worldwide to master creature animation.
> Speciality: Animation
> Experience: 20+years
“Surround yourselves only with the best. The better they are, the better you will become!”
Jonathan Symmonds
Jonathan Symmonds has worked for over 20 years as a senior animator on blockbuster productions including James Cameron’s Avatar, Prince of Persia, Dark Tide, Knerten, and Trollhunter. He is best known as the Lead Animator on Game of Thrones and more recently House of the Dragon.
With deep expertise in creature animation, Jonathan is also co-founder of Sophoria Academy. He has been nominated three times for the VES Awards, delivered his own TED Talk, and personally trained more than 3,000 students worldwide.
Join him in this exclusive course and gain insider knowledge from one of the most respected animators in the industry!
Do you want to learn how to animate a Dragon?
Master dragon animation with the Lead Animator of Game of Thrones
Why choose SOPHORIA Academy?
Buy the Course for only
$49
- Instant access to this course
- 3+ Hours of videos
- Download Project files
- Exclusive community
- Lifetime access
- Final Instructor scene included
- LightRig Included
- Tiger Rig Included
Join other students in our Discord Server!
You won’t learn alone — join our global community of animators to share work, get feedback, and grow.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Tiger Walk Cycle course teach?
This course shows you how to animate a realistic tiger walk cycle in Autodesk Maya. You will study quadruped biomechanics, stride rhythm, weight shifts, body mechanics, animation curves, and the polishing techniques needed to produce believable creature locomotion.
Who is this tiger animation course best suited for?
The training is ideal for beginner animators, creature animation students, and Maya users who want to strengthen their understanding of quadruped movement and animal locomotion in professional animation workflows.
Which software is used throughout the Tiger Walk Cycle course?
All lessons are demonstrated in Autodesk Maya, the industry-standard software used in film, VFX, and game animation pipelines.
Are project files included with the course?
Yes. The course includes the tiger animation rig, lighting setup, cached animation files, and the final Maya scene so you can follow along with the workflow and complete the walk cycle yourself.
How long is the Tiger Walk Cycle animation course?
The full animation course runs for 3 hours and 25 minutes of training and is designed as a self-paced online tutorial.
Why is studying tiger locomotion useful for creature animation?
Understanding how a tiger moves helps animators learn feline balance, shoulder and hip mechanics, spine flexibility, paw placement, and weight transfer. These principles are essential for creating believable quadruped animation across many different creatures.
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