We're providing you with 15 frames that make up a looping walk cycle. Once you have 3D Printed the pieces you can make your own real life 3D animation by simply taking a photo of each piece one after the other. Put them all together and you'll have your very own 3D printed walk cycle.

Now for the fun of the Magical Portal: the pieces can be positioned anywhere you like so that the character is moving through books, walking around a room, with an ever-changing background, whatever crazy ideas you can think of!

1. A Simple Loop

Simply interchange the prints, one after the other, in order from 0-14. We recommend marking the position of the print and labelling each piece with a sticker underneath as things can get confusing quickly if not!

2. Going for a Stroll

Things get trickier here! Each piece is replaced by the piece in front of it; 0 is replaced with 1, 1 with 2, etc in each photo taken. The furthest right piece is number 11 so, in frame 2, it will become number 12. Frame 0 is out of camera and will only reappear in frame 4 at the furthest right.

3. Back & Forth

In this piece, we've positioned each layer facing the opposite direction. This generates the feeling that the characters are walking back and forth.

4. Up & Down

In this case, we've made a linear walk cycle; the only difference being that the first 3 frames walk up out of the table and the last 3 walk back down into it. Our brain fills in the rest.

5. A Neverending Circle

Here we moved each character forward one position in each photo. This gives the effect that they're all walking through the portals in a neverending circle.

These are just some of the countless ways you can bring the Magical Portal to life. Please feel free to try out your own ideas and let your imagination run wild with this project.

Don't forget to share your results so we can all enjoy them and get inspired!