Siderian walking cycles: - the difference between the ‘diagonal’ and lateral walk.
Diagonal walk (top). There is more of a phase difference between the front and the rear limbs (e.g. left front relative to left back) than in the lateral walk. It’s as if the left foot nearly hits the left front paw. In more nerdy terms; the phase angle between front and rear on the parallel axis is 90 degrees. This gait is typical for felines and horses.
Lateral walk (bottom). The foot doesn’t ‘kick’ the front paw away and the limbs on the parallel axis move more simultaneously than in the diagonal walk. The phase angle is about 45 degrees. Most canines prefer this walk but I’ve seen many felines use the lateral walk as well. Individuals can also easily switch between the two and it comes down to personal preference.
Also – I don’t know how these gaits are officially called, so I made these names up myself.
Done in Blender, rendered with eevee. There are no muscle contractions yet as this is a very simple model with a simple rig, some basic shapekeys and some normal mapping.
