If a game provides a pet to accompany the protagonist, players might be too distracted by the furry creature to appreciate the work that went into creating realistic animations and smooth pathfinding for the four-legged companion.  

In this GDC 2016 talk, Microsoft's Tobias Karlsson discusses a solution to animating four-legged creatures with simple, understandable techniques that other animators can rely on.

Karlsson explores how bipedal locomotion differs from the movement of a dog, explaining how many of the shortcuts and conventional wisdom that have been created and relied on are no longer valid when animating quadrupeds.

Animators interested in learning how to create realistic four-legged friends may appreciate that they can now watch the talk for free over on the official GDC YouTube channel!

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its new YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC Next already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

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