Cycles and stepped mode.

Cyclic animations are actually challenging. Making sure they loop correctly without seeing "hiccups" can be frustrating if you do not utilize the graph editor effectively.

I have learned to pose out my characters based on their key poses using "stepped mode" - allowing me to focus on posing. This works for creating performances or actions...but I don't feel like it works well when creating a simple cycle (walk, run, etc).

It might take me a few more tries to get an effective work flow down. Right now, i'm experimenting and seeing what really works.

Hello dino! (dinosaur rig courtesy of Digital Tutors).