Puppet Wars Stop-motion

[ThePandaDirector]

I am a big fan of stop motion. I bought a professional armature so I could do some proper practice, but have never made a film due to the amount of work that would be needed to do something I like.

But ever since I first saw Puppet Wars, I couldn't help but think it was made for stop-motion. Since they are quite simple in terms of motion (apart from all that fabric) and manufacture, I thought about how they could be made.

I thought about a simple way of creating a Puppet that could be animated. My inspiration came from Mr Potato Head. The body will form the core, it would consist of a block of plasticine, covered in light foam or stuffing and then the skin of the Puppet. Head and limbs could be seperate with a pin that plugs into the main body. This means the pieces can be animated seperately and replaced if needed. This method likely would require Framegrabber software so the Puppet is on the right mark before you take the shot. The only problem I see is manipulating the body (squish and stretch), but then it would be cheap enough to create to just use replacement animation.

Hair and things like Puppets being torn apart would be very difficult to animate, but some Puppets are simpler (and funner - Austringer) than others.

Other materials would also be difficult. Wood would likely be wood/foam painted as wood, unless it needed to move (Ice Golem's arms) in which case it'd be silicone, ceramics could be clay, metal could have a metal sheet cover, skin would be silicone, but not so sure about snow.

If anyone has experience in stop motion or fabric, I'd really like to hear your thoughts.

To be fair I don't know the first thing about sewing - always was better at tearing =]

Edited October 13, 2011 by ThePandaDirector

[DeadSlinger]

Hi!

I love stop motion also and really like your ideas.

I can`t offer any words of wisdom, but I wish you good luck with the project and would love to see it. Have fun!

[Shadowopal]

I passed the link on for this thread to my brother who runs the animation lab at Columbia College in Chicago. he doesn't have an account and I asked if he had any quick tips after reading. Here's what he responded:

"I'm not sure where to start. For materials he can use whatever he wants. He's right in the stretch and squash limitations, though.

Replacement animation is an option and for examples you probably can't beat George Pal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_P%C3%A1l .

If he plans on using pins for limbs, I'd suggest working in alan wrenches or something to secure them in place so they don't fall out. Putting a silicon tip on the end of an alan or screw would make a tighter fit for the alan against aluminum wire. We've found there can be slippage other wise.

Cloth can be animated by hiding wires or affixing to a foil thick enough to hold shape. Hair can be latex with wire or any material that can hold shape (foil) or string braided around wire,

If he wants a whole different direction of brainstorming, there's always the cheapo armature of epoxy and wire.. Make a simple stick figure with aluminum wire and epoxy the joints, but first braid the spine and leg wires so they offer more resistance than head and arms.

Cheap software

Stop motion Pro (PC)

http://www.stopmotionpro.com/

iStopmotion (Mac)

http://boinx.com/

Frame Theif (Mac)

http://www.framethief.com/

The best software:

Dragon Stop Motion (Both)

This was the software made by the people who did the United Dragon commercial and the like. At $275 it may be a little on the steep side, but is ridiculously cheap for pro-sumer software.

http://www.dragonstopmotion.com/

These are quick answers with out making an account. If he wants more specifics, I can make one or maybe exchange emails."

[ThePandaDirector]

Wow, thanks Shadowopal and Shadowopal's brother, that's wonderful =]

I understand what he means about slipping, I'll need to play around with that (Sebastian, bring me my trusty alan wrench). It makes sense using silicone and wire for hair, and wire with cloth, these are just areas that require a little more finesse to accomplish (Corpse Bride makes us all look bad). Never thought to look at George Pal's work, so that's a good call.

I have this armature: http://www.animationsupplies.net/proplusarmature.php

I may use the arms and/or hands if I need them, but the way I see the puppets, they're quite simple and a basic armature that is solid enough will do the trick.

I'm also aware of Dragon Stop Motion (it's very pretty), I think I'll get a trial for it when I'm ready.

My idea for puppets being torn apart is to fix the fabric being torn to thick foil and bend it as it's torn. As for the stuffing coming out, I'll probably just have to do that as best I can with real stuffing.

I think I'll start with Convict Gunslinger and Guild Austringer. They're quite simple in design, but both have elements (Gunslinger's stretch and squish, Austringer's bird) that offer challenges that form the foundation of the rest. Austringer's bird worries me a bit, but I'm not sure what else there is to do other than a thimble load of research.

One question though - I want to paint the fabric (and most things for that matter), what fabric/paints are most suitable?

On a side note Shadowopal, you don't happen to have a cousin who's a robotics engineer?

*Facepalm* I've got a lot of work ahead of me...

Edited October 16, 2011 by ThePandaDirector

[Shadowopal]

No But, I build animatronics for Halloween if that helps.

I'll check my bro the fabric question. May take a while for an answer though. may be faster to hit a fabric store.