MagicFractal
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- Aug 11, 2012
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Now that Sis is off in college, she doesn't mind her dollhouse being converted into a HAUNTED HOUSE filled with tiny cable-puppets. And behind the haunted house is a very curious maze of fish line and rings for control. Move the ring, it tugs the line, and things ... happen ... among tiny puppets. A standard 640 x 480 webcam can give you the doll's-eye-view, or a HD camera set to close-up if you have one.
Or a Christmas scene that has LOTS of rings and cables, so that a whole classroom of kids are needed to control the entire scene. By using Teflon sheath (called spaghetti at ham radio stores), you can get cables to work with exquisite subtlety over appreciable distances and around corners and curves.
Envision if you will, a immersive scene, where individuals can walk through a synthetic garden and the flowers and ambient critters actually DO react to them (via PID - passive infrared detection) and respond as a program in your laptop tells them. There are EASY computer languages free on Internet that are inroads to control systems.
Of course puppet designers have interests overlapping with roboticists these days. Also go-motion animators, and scientists doing macro, micro, and nano-systems.
Doll Armatures can be any size, and can help a puppet maintain a pose
Or a Christmas scene that has LOTS of rings and cables, so that a whole classroom of kids are needed to control the entire scene. By using Teflon sheath (called spaghetti at ham radio stores), you can get cables to work with exquisite subtlety over appreciable distances and around corners and curves.
With hobby tools, use eye protection, whether you're a beginner or pro, and have a mentor if you're just beginning. Here's one widely available tool that can thread a cable through your puppet's parts.
For facial features on small puppets, we can use bits of BIO-WIRE. Can you believe this kit is $30? I am nobody's sales-rep, I'm sharing what I've found.
Older computers (still got that old laptop?) have "Centronix" printer ports ideal for controlling fancy stage-lights and effects. USB kits and newer computers can do more.
MASKS are popular in holidays. http://images.google.com and enter terms like "mask" to trigger some ideas. With LEDs, fiber optics, bio-wire, and cables, some astounding masks become possible.
Puppetmasterful engineers can make novel toys, and for profit little automated advertisements which I believe would be popular everywhere, and provide more work for artists in these times we seek work.
Envision if you will, a immersive scene, where individuals can walk through a synthetic garden and the flowers and ambient critters actually DO react to them (via PID - passive infrared detection) and respond as a program in your laptop tells them. There are EASY computer languages free on Internet that are inroads to control systems.
Of course puppet designers have interests overlapping with roboticists these days. Also go-motion animators, and scientists doing macro, micro, and nano-systems.
Doll Armatures can be any size, and can help a puppet maintain a pose