Embracing the Technology

Was anyone else as blown away as I was with Coraline? I am still convinced that the wrong feature animated movie won the Oscar this year….sorry Pixar.

From the first trailer, I was on YouTube looking at every “behind the scenes” clip and absorbing everything that I saw, from Althea Crone’s hand-knit work to the many faces of our hero.

I was amazed to find that the faces were made with a 3D printer. I’m sure by now most stop-motion people know how all of those faces were created, but I wonder how much that technology will be in our future. For now, though, the cost is out of reach for small, independent studios but perhaps someday, as the 3D printers become more common place, they may be available to everyone.

Check out the 3D printers at Objet.

 http://www.objet.com/

But, for now, if you have a spare $24,000 (starting price) you too can have an Objet 3D printer. By the way, you’ll need some kind of modeling software to create the many faces/emotions of your characters. Imagine all of the sculpey, wire and armatures you could buy with $24,000?

I looked at the “desktop” model of the Objet Alaris30 printer and it’s really no desk top. The weight is 183 pounds. Imagine the UPS guy trying to carry that to your door? Then, imagine yourself trying to carry it in and finding that sturdy desk to set it on..."Hey mom, where can I put this?"

So, if you plunk down a mere $24k and then pick your modeling software, let’s say Maya, which currently sells for about $3500, you’ll be good to go. Will all of this stuff eventually become the standard for us?

Then, of course, there will be a day when there will be machines with robotic arms that will, with the aid of a computer, calculate and move each character, movement by movement, for the perfect action and we won't have to lift a finger....hey they have those robotic arms building cars, so who knows, right?

So, my question is, are we, the current and future, stop-motion animators going to need to rely on or become more dependent on technology or can we stay true to ourselves and continue the hand-craftsmanship of our predecessors?Now there you go---Handy Animation...that could be the new name for our style of work.

And now for some fun....

Here's something I hope everyone who reads this blog will share...what was your most embarrassing or frustrating moment as a stop-motion student? My moment came after I had created a character wave and saved it on the Lunchbox in our class file. Our instructor, Tom Brierton, let us use his minotaur armature, which was a terrific treat. I not only did a standard hand wave but I was able to get the minotaur to do a sports stadium wave, rising from his seat and waving both arms in the air. When it was time to view it, it was not there. Apparently another stop-motion instructor decided that her class needed the use of the Lunchbox and erased every one of our class work, Grrrrrrr.

I will try to pose a question each week so that we can share.

To be continued……….by the way, this really isn’t “Part IV” but I thought if it worked for George Lucas, then I would give it a shot.

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written by Tim Smyth, November 06, 2010

No one that I can think of, really does stop motion the way it used to be done. Because of television and film schedules the new technologies have been embraced, and the new technology, meaning frame grabbers, has improved the animation many times over. So in many ways we are not really doing it the way the animation pioneers did it, plus the fact that we can basically shoot for free, is a very new sensation for some, and the only way that was ever know for others.

I think that folks should do stop motion the way they feel best suited for them, the big budget directors will always make that choice for the big shows, but we on our own films can make our own personal choices. I would like to think that all the old processes will not go away, but some have, and forever, like optical printing, only a madman would want to go back to the old way of accomplishing that task on film stocks, but there are some old techniques I like, Harryhausen's split screen technique for example, but again, why would someone composite images on film today, and it is hard to find really good film stock to print acceptable background plate with today. Now in camera effects, like hanging miniatures and split screens, I love to watch, and to make, those are real magic when they work, but it's hard to make them work, and kids are making better effects within their home computers, Unless of coa**e one was just trying to do it the old way as a lesson in hardship and fun. So if a film director wants to print out the heads, or even the whole bodies for that matter, that's OK with me, as long as I can do whatever I want the way I want.

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