L4 Character Performance & Believability

• Materials

• Design Considerations

• Do’s & Don’ts

• Safety

Armature Construction

Materials

• What you would require to get started? • Toolbox!! • Modelling Wires (1mm)• Plasticines• Epoxy Putty• Fimo, SuperSculpey (Optional)• Sculpting tools (Can be custom made)• Cutters, Pliers• Paints (Water based Acrylics)

Materials

• Metal Epoxy

• Stronger bond

• For joints

• Safety (Gloves)

Materials

• Miliput Epoxy

• Good for repairs

• Sculpts, moulding

• Weaker joints

• Fine, Superfine

Materials

Materials

• Super Sculpey

• Fimo

• Sculpting Clay

• Oven Baked

• Fine sculpt

• Brittle (depending)

Materials

• Cutters/Pliers

• Side cutter

• Long nose plier

• X-Acto

• Cutting Mat

Materials

• What else? • Beads (Various sizes & white preferably)• K & S Square tubes• Electrical Connector Strip• Heat Shrinking Tubes• Sandpapers (Rough to fine grit)• Wing Nut, Regular Nut, Screw thread• G-Clamps• Threadlocker• Foam Latex • RTV Silicone Mould Making Rubber (Optional)

Materials

• K&S tubes

• Connecting joints

• Connecting tubes

• Connector Strips

• Joining Wires/parts

Materials

• Heat Shrinking tubes

• Shrinks when heated

• Minimses wire breakage

Materials

• G-Clamps

• Holds your sets

• ThreadLocker

• Locks threads

• Connecting threads to tubes

Materials

• Where to source?

• Hobbycraft or Hobby Shops

• www.Animationsupplies.net

• www.Chromacolour.co.uk

• Maplin Chain (Maplin.co.uk)

• 99p Shops, Poundland, The Works

• BCU Woodworking Dept and Fashion Dept

• BCU Art store

Materials

• If you can’t find them. Try…

Design Considerations

• Plan out your design

• How will your character stand? Support?

• Weight (Light Upper body, Heavy Base)

• Durability (Can it be replaced? Repaired?)

• Will it stay in place?

• Tie-Down (Magnetic or Screw in)

Design Considerations

Design Considerations

Design Considerations

Design Considerations

Design Considerations

Design Considerations

Design Considerations

Design Considerations

Design Considerations

Design Considerations

Design Considerations

Design Considerations

Design Considerations

Design Considerations

Design Considerations

Do’s & Don’ts

• What you should do

• Be patient

• Experiment and try different materials

• Document what works and what not

• Find references and tutorials

• Try to foresee problems that may occur during production

Do’s & Don’ts

• Don’t • Rush through

without planning ahead (problems will arise later)

• Leave it to last minute without trying different materials (what works?)

• Wires cut through plasticine like butter. Find ways to ensure it has grip

Do’s & Don’ts

• Don’t

Safety

• Keep an eye out for

• Safety labels and hazards on packaging

• Operating machinery and tools (Wear goggles)

• Always cut facing away from you

• Wear gloves when handling expoxy putty

• Do not breath fumes/particles (latex, etc)

Useful Websites

• www.animateclay.com

• www.stopmotionanimation.com

• www.stopmotioncentral.com

• www.stopmotionben.com