Objects At Rest

explorations in audio and moving imagery

Category: Equipment & Supplies

Vitruvius Update and New Armature Development
I am in the process of relocating my studio over the next month or two. I plan to hold off on further filming of the Vitruvius project until I have the studio and lighting re-assembled. I have some compositing elements that I can work on in the mean time and I’m also exploring a new armature setup for future projects.

My new armature development utilizes aluminum wire, plastic tubing, super glue, and 6-32 socket screws. I wanted an armature that is inexpensive, easy to build without a lot of equipment, and modular so I could easily replace arms or legs of the puppets without have to re-costume. I also wanted to move away from the epoxy stuff with all the potential toxicity issues it brings…not to mention its permanence which doesn’t allow for removable puppet limbs.

The photo above is of the first armature. I just got some plastic tubes (square and round) and my cordless drill and a tap to make threads in the holes.
- Figure (a) shows the blocks of plastic tubing super glued together and the threaded holes for the screws which are clamping the wire in place.
- Figure (b) shows the front with a horizontal strip of plastic glued across the blogs for reinforcement.
- Figure (c) shows the plastic block with a slot drilled through for the T shaped tie down. The 2 lengths of leg wire go through the heel hole and are held in place via a screw in the back of the foot block.
- Figure (d) is the whole armature view from the back.
The socket screws clamp down on the wire running through the tubes and holds it in place. The “bones” of the arms and legs are just plastic tubing that is like a drinking straw but much thicker. The joints between the bones are strips of craft foam tied in a knot to keep bones in place but allow flexibility. So far, the armature it is light weight and stronger than I anticipated which is good.
2007-02-15
Business Cards: The MOO Solution

I needed to get some business cards to hand out at various times and decided to try the Flickr / Moo option. I have a Flickr site and read the specifications for sizing photos as Moo cards and made 10 card designs in Photoshop. I got the Moo 100 card pack for approximately $20 and it took about 10 days to arrive from the UK. The cards come in a little plastic holder which is nice. Click the photo below to see a larger version for more detail.

The cards turned out well and the paper is heavier than regular photo paper. They feel solid like a typical business card and have a matte/satin photo on one side and my name, email, and web site link on the back. I think the price and the ability to custom design up to 100 different types of cards is worthwhile.

The one thing I would do differently next time is to adjust the photos to make the images and text contrast more. For example, I used grey instead of pure white for the text on the photo and the grey at that size is a little difficult to read. However, they turned out great and should work just fine for my current purposes.

2007-01-27
Lighting With Clamp Lights

The lighting that I have been using for my films so far consists of incandescent bulbs and inexpensive Clamp Lights that you can get at hardware stores. I believe Karl at Between the Frames may be using the same lighting system.

I modify them by putting 4 holes around the rim which allow me to bolt armature wire onto the edge. The four arms of wire hold sheets of tracing paper in front of the bulb and housing which diffuses the light. By combining various bulbs and types of paper (printer paper, tracing paper, etc…) I can get different levels of light. I’m using 25, 40, and 60 watt bulbs and usually work with one main light to the side, one fill light on the other side, and sometimes one back light from behind.

To attach the 8.5″ x 11″ paper, I fold over the edges to make a seam and tape it closed. That makes a pocket for the armature wire, which has a bend at the tip to prevent tearing the paper, to hold the paper in place. Doing it this way makes it easy for me to remove the paper if I need full light or to switch to a thicker paper.

Clamp Lights have a tightening bolt that attaches them to a clip so they can be used and positioned in many places. In my experience, the spring clip that comes with the light isn’t stable enough and loses its grip over time. Therefore, I remove the metal spring clip that comes with the light in favor of using a wooden bead that is glued to a dowel rod or fixed to some other structure that is more stable.

In the photo below you can see one bead is fixed to the top of an old drum kit stand with epoxy putty and the other is a dowel rod with a bead and the rod is inserted into a wood frame. The light housing can be tightened to the bead which then provides an adequate balance between grip strength and the ability to rotate and position. It can easily be knocked out of place though so I have to be cautious when working near one of the lights during a shot.

I haven’t tried using color paper or cutting designs in the paper to see what effects that might provide but so far the system has worked out pretty well for a quick and dirty and inexpensive lighting system.

2007-01-20
Sword of Damocles Production Notes
The Sword of Damocles is a short stop motion animation that was made in response to the StopMoShorts December 2006 contest. The contest provided three words (sword, cave, and fear) to inspire animators. I focused on the sword with the idea of doing something related to the legend of the Sword of Damocles. I would also embed the other two words in some fashion within the film.

When I first learned of the legend I envisioned it in a medieval setting. However, the legend appears to be Greek in origin and much older. The premise I chose would keep a medieval setting while also referencing the legend. By using a referential approach I took the opportunity with this film to explore how it could become a veiled criticism of conventional film formulas (including film techniques, story formulas, three-act structures, etc.).

The list that follows contains the conceptual ideas that I was working with when creating the storyboards, the script, and during filming. The whole process was very much stream of consciousness and experimental to see what I would come up with quickly. I may have succeeded in some places and failed in others. In either case, I did have fun making it quickly and learned several things that I can apply in the Vitruvius production process.
1. What quote by a literary figure is being referenced in the opening tale by the Jester? What is the context and meaning of said quote?
2. At what points do the harp strings sound?
3. Is the Jester ever seen in the same frame as any other character?
4. At what point does the Jester directly address you the viewer?
5. Why was the Jester dismissed by the King?
6. The King and Damocles toast each other? Who is the other party that the Jester is toasting at the end of the film?
7. There are multiple films presented, which one is the real film?
8. There are five characters and each are symbolic of participants in the film making process.
9. The sword is hanging behind the window at the end of the film but the Jester’s words are future tense and speculative.
10. The voice of the sword in the last act says: “I am the Sword of Damocles. Pay no heed to the tale being told by the fool jester. I was recorded by Cicero as being invoked by the King Dionysus to inform Damocles of the perils of being King. I am the one true Sword of Damocles.”
Character and Set Design Photos

The characters are aluminum armature wire with epoxy putty at the hips and chests. The wire is wrapped in jute string and painted. I used thin craft foam for the clothes and hot glue to hold it all together. I painted raw umber acrylic paint on the clothes to dirty them up a bit. The hands and heads are carved from basswood. The arms of the puppets are single strands of wire and the hands have a small hole in them so they are easy to put on and spin around. The feet are epoxy putty with a slot cut through to use tie downs. I also used some epoxy putty for hair. The eyes are wooden beads and the eyelids are Sculpey clay. Eye blinks are made by pressing the clay over the eyes for for one, two, or three frames as needed.

The sets are made out of pink insulation foam and covered with plaster wrap and then painted for texture. The chairs and table props are basswood and epoxy putty.

The film was shot on a Nikon D50 and edited in Sony Vegas. The vocals were recorded and edited in Audacity and the music was made with Sony Acid Loop samples.
2007-01-04
Video Assist Setup: Zigview S2 (updated with video)

I just got the new Zigview S2 (model B) with video out which is intended to help with video assist. I tried it out tonight with my Serlio puppet and here are some photos, info, and some thoughts about the product so far. There is also a thread at the StopMotionAnimation.com forums with another Zigview user’s results so far. The climaxdigital website has more info and pics.

Here is a video clip comparing the frames captured with the Zigview and the final output from the Nikon. It is an MP4 file using the H.264 codec at a resolution of 640×480 and is just under 2MB in size. If you can play it, you can get a sense of the quality I am seeing with the Zigview.

Here is the packaging. It comes with the video out cable, and several eye-piece adaptors for Canon, Nikon, and some other cameras. Since I got this from the UK I had to get a $20 Kensington Travel Plug Adapter for Worldwide AC Power to plug it into the wall. (The plug adaptor is the larger cylindrical object with the yellow sticker on it and does not come with the unit but I put it in the pic.) The unit is battery operated but it looks like the battery may run down after a few hours. Fortunately it can operate and charge the battery when plugged in.

Here is the unit attached to my Nikon D50. The unit is really lightweight and the buttons are plastic. It feels a bit delicate but hopefully it can withstand a lot of handling over time. The unit just slides/snaps down onto the viewfinder of the Nikon. Really easy to attach and remove and it swivels around which makes it a lot easier to see what’s going on in the frame at various camera angles. The viewfinder on the unit allows me to focus pretty and so far it appears to capture the whole field of view so I can compose and focus without removing the unit. The video out cable from the Zigview is plugged into a USB Video Grabber that I got at Compusa. The video grabber installed fairly easily into my USB hub so I didn’t have to buy and install any cards in the computer.

I am currently using Stop MotionMaker Advance and here is a screen shot of the desktop with the Zigview as video assist. This should be the actual size of the application panels since I cropped but did not re-size anything in Photoshop for this image. You should be able to get a sense of what the Zigview looks like at 640×480 this way. The image has some noise but I can see everything in the viewfinder and there is enough detail for me to check movements from frame to frame. Plus I’m usually standing about 3 to 6 feet away when moving things so at that rage the 640×480 window looks pretty good for video assist.

Here are a couple of shots to demonstrate the coverage of the viewfinder with the actual hi-res photo taken with the Nikon. I re-sized the hi-res photo which is twice the resolution for this comparison. Again, the zigview appears to provide almost total coverage of what the camera is seeing which really helps with composition.

So far I think this may work out well. It is definitely a step up from the web cam that I was using which had really poor resolution. I couldn’t see details in the face or hands of the puppets with the web cam which I am now able to see thanks to the Zigview.

2006-10-14