Sunday 9 February 2014

MatureArms

Guess where I've been!
Trying to make a big ol' silicone character that's where!
Well as you know, I'm pretty stupid, so I design characters that are a pain to make. But hey, where's the fun in easiness!?!?

Everywhere.

Anyway, here's a picture of some characters that I'm doing…





So first things first, I started making the blob guy. He doesn't have a name because I cannot name things to save my life.

The first thing to do with any Stop Mo character is to design and make the armature. Due to the size and thinness of this guy's limbs, I had to make the decision of creating this character with a wire armature. However, sneakily I've used ball and sockets too! YES! HOW? 
I'll show you.

Its not that great don't get too hyped.


Above is the Ball and Socket/Wire hybrid armature that I created using a mixture of materials from general hobby stores and the lovely website Malvern Armatures.

Some Ball and Socket feet that transform into wire legs!

 I then went on to blocking out the armature with very light Balsa wood.
 For this character, it is very important that I make sure he has the lowest weight possible. He's very top heavy and those tiny little legs will be a pain to animate if the character is heavy.
So Balsa wood is the perfect material. It's solid, so it gives you a nice core to hold onto when shifting him around frame by frame on set, but its not very dense, so its as light as a feather!
The belly section will be blocked out in soft foam (which is also light!) BUT that comes later!

You may wonder where the arms and hands are. But I'll be blogging about them later, so don't you worry!

On to the Tortoise…
For the tortoise design I decided to go with a full Ball and Socket Armature from Malvern Armatures!

Part of the service the company provides is a custom and tailor made design to fit whatever character you come up with. So here, working closely with Malvern Armatures, I started sketching armature plans:
With swift response and a couple of alteration emails back and forth, we finally came up with the arrangement below…
Very technical eh?!


Once the design was finalised and confirmed, the armature was constructed and sent straight to my door! That's what I call service!

What a lovely looking bit of Stop Mo goodness!
Can't wait to get it moving!

Thats all for one post me thinks!




I dedicate this post to my bestest buddy Chloe.
2 years today and I miss you more than ever, you lil bunchie!

<3 

2 comments:

  1. I will never get tired of looking at that tortoise.
    It's coming together nicely Sean, can't wait to see more :)

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    Replies
    1. I've only just seen this comment!
      Haha! Thanks Ally!
      Writing up another post now! Sadly its not about the Tortoise though!

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