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March 9, 2006
percy wakes up
by sven at 1:14 am
Tonight I got set up and did some motion tests with the new puppet, Percy.
In my opinion, the first clip was the best. The eyes more than anything else make Percy live.
Problems:
- using just sticky wax, one of the eyelids fell off a few times (a plug-in system might have been wiser)
- the eyeballs catch and don't want to turn smoothly
- it looks like the facial paint smudged an eyeball; do I need varnish?
In the second clip, I wanted Percy to smack himself on the head -- as if to say, "What was I thinking?!"
Problems:
- jerky, jerky, jerky...
- I only tied down one foot -- and it shows
- the pants hang so low, they almost entirely cover the shoes
- when the head leans back, there's a big gap between the neck and the body
- is there a camera flicker? --or did my shadow effect the lighting?
- the eye movement is unmotivated
...And, of course, I had to try a walk cycle. Trying to make things a little more interesting, I dressed up the set a bit with stuff I got from Loose Ends back in January, and had the camera shoot from above.
Problems:
- dang it's hard to keep the head moving in a straight line; guess I need a surface gauge
- when the arm moves forward, the shirt sleeve pulls up and shows a lot of wrist
- the shirt also wanted to ride up and uncover the small of his back
- I tried to make sure I was bending the limbs, but he still looks pretty stiff
After all the effort that went into making this puppet, it's hard not to be a little disappointed as I discover design flaws. Still, the point is to learn -- and I can't complain on that account. I learned a helluva lot making this guy.
posted by sven | March 9, 2006 1:14 AM | categories: movies, stopmo