Animate a Triceratops Walk Cycle

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  • Mentor: Jonathan Symmonds
  • Skill level: Beginner
  • Course time: 4 hours 15 min
  • Software: Autodesk Maya
  • Project files: Included
  • Course Cost: $49 USD
Course overview

Learning to animate a Triceratops Walk Cycle in Autodesk Maya is a powerful step in understanding heavy creature locomotion. In this course, you’ll explore how to balance weight, rhythm, and power while capturing the grounded, deliberate movement of one of history’s most iconic dinosaurs.

Instructor Jonathan Symmonds, a senior creature animator with over 20 years of professional experience, will guide you through the process of refining animation curves, adjusting timing for mass and muscle, and achieving the perfect sense of weight and momentum.

How to animate a Triceratops Walk cycle

About this course

Animating a triceratops is an exciting challenge in creature animation. With its massive body, heavy stride, and grounded movement, the triceratops requires careful attention to weight, rhythm, and balance to achieve believable motion. Guided by Jonathan Symmonds who is a renown creature animator and co-founder of Sophoria Academy—you’ll learn how to build a realistic triceratops walk cycle step by step inside Maya.

You’ll discover how to analyze references, refine curves, and control body mechanics to animate large quadrupeds convincingly. By completing this course, you’ll produce a studio-quality triceratops walk cycle that demonstrates your ability to animate heavy, complex creatures with accuracy. 

This project is ideal for adding to your demo reel, impressing recruiters, or expanding your skillset for careers in VFX, animation, or game development. From shaping the weight and stride of a triceratops to refining animation curves for smooth motion, this course equips you with the confidence to animate large creatures convincingly.

Course Information

  • Course Duration: 4 hours 15 minutes
  • This course can be taken at any time
  • Category: Animation
  • 49 USD
  • Prerequisites: None
  • Software required: Autodesk Maya 2019+
  • Instructor: Jonathan Symmonds

What you will learn in this Course

What You’ll Learn

  • Animate a Triceratops Walk Cycle in Maya: Create a heavy quadruped walk with realistic weight and grounded motion.

  • Work With Animation Curves: Refine body movement and stride flow using clean splines.

  • Efficient Workflow: Follow a step-by-step process from blocking to polish that saves time while ensuring quality.

  • Triceratops Anatomy for Animators: Understand weight shifts, hip rotation, head motion, and body mass unique to triceratops.

  • Accessible for All Levels: No prerequisites required—ideal 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 dinosaur walk cycle to showcase your skills.

  • Exclusive Rig & Assets: Includes the triceratops rig, cached animation, scene setup, and lighting.

  • Flexible Learning: Study at your own pace with pre-recorded lessons you can revisit anytime.


Don't hesitate

Take your skills to the next level!

Course Lessons

Bundles - Get a deal!

  • Age: 41
  • Speciality: Animation
  • Experience: 22+ years
"Surround yourselves only with the best. The better they are, the better you will become!"
Meet your instructor

Jonathan Symmonds

Jonathan Symmonds has worked for over 23 years as a senior animator having worked on titles such as James Cameron's "Avatar," "Prince of Persia," "Dark Tide," "Knerten," "Trollhunter," to name but a few. He is more famously recognized as the 'Lead Animator' on the "Game of Thrones."

He has extensive knowledge of creature animation and is one of the co-founders of Sophoria Academy. He was nominated 3 times for a VES Society Award and has even done his own TED Talk.

Join him as he takes you through this fantastic course and learn some insider knowledge from one of the greatest animators around!
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Project Files

Our courses have all the working files set up and in an easy to understand format. Your instructor has prepared everything for you already!

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Buy the course for only

$49

  • Instant access to this course
  • 4+ Hours of videos
  • Download Project files
  • Exclusive community
  • Lifetime access
  • Final Instructor scene included
  • Cache Files Included
  • LightRig Included
  • Triceratops Rig Included
  • Environment Scene Included

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