28.2.15

How does that song go again ..Saturday night and I like the way you move .. pretty baby??. Well it is Saturday night and I am sat writing my literature review and I need a break for a few minutes so I thought I would write this update rather than watch rubbish TV ..may keep my writing momentum going.

Animatronic Thesis:

I have written a rough introduction to the literature review that explains what themes I am researching and why they are important fields of study for this thesis. I have also started to get a few words down under the first sub-chapter heading on Animatronics, CGI and Live action integration.

Animatronic Build:

Today I have spent many hours experimenting with thermoplastic resin (1.1), it was a very messy experience but fun and interesting. I found fusing the colour pigment with the thermoplastic rather difficult at first as the pigment comes in a powder and simply rubbing into the thermoplast in its liquid state did not seem to be an affective way of amalgamating the two substances. I found it easier to mix the two substances by making a bowl shape with the thermoplastic and the placing some of the colour powder into the bowl closing it up and letting it boil through on the hob. Then when the thermoplastic had completely turned into its liquid form I stretched it and folded it in on itself (similar to making a stick of rock candy) This really worked well, I had to use a pair of rubber gloves to stop my hands burning as the plastic retains a lot of heat from the water.

1.1

The next stage was to try and colour match the pigmentation is the prosthetic teeth I had made (1.2) It was intially very difficult to get a good colour match as when the thermoplastic hardens it also lightens in colour so to get a good idea of what colours needed to be added I separated the thermoplastic into smaller samples to do different colour tests with. (1.3)

1.2

1.3

When I found a good colour match I then applied the same colours to the rest of the thermoplastic pieces. The results are very good I am also happy with much detail can be achieved from using this material it would be very good for casting. 1.4, 1.5, 1.6

1.4

1.5

1.6

27.2.15

Animatronic Thesis:

I have managed to reach 85 potential contacts for my research questionnaire meaning I only need another 25 to reach 110. It is taking a lot of time up as I have to do background research on every hit I get to ensure they have working experience within feature films. I am hoping to get 10 questionnaire responses from the 100 emails sent. This may seem like a small sample but the animatronics industry is still a very secretive business and even though this is a low number it is still very ambitious.

I have also started to draft the introduction for my literature review, I am using the Palgrave study guide on writing a post graduate thesis to aid in the formatting of the introduction so hopefully once I get the general point across I can start the chisel it down to a very precise introduction. 

Animatronic Build:

My colour pigments for the thermoplastic arrived today (1.1) I picked a range of 5 colours so I can mix and match to get as close to the colour of the prosthetic teeth reference as possible. 

1.1

The colours are quite pale so it will be interesting to experiment with them, I purchased white and black pigment incase I needed to tone down or brighten colours accordingly. Testing will be conducted on a small sample of thermoplastic and I will keep an account of the amount of pigment I use so this can then be replicated when I am using a larger quantity of thermoplastic. 

I have also drawn a quick sketch of the animatronic character, It needs detail adding but it gives a good outline for what I am trying to aesthetically achieve (2.1) It reminds me a little of slimer from ghostbusters..but without eyes. 

2.1

Feelings:

At the moment I feel like I am trying to work as much as possible on this project so I do feel very tiered at time. I am working till the early hours of the morning and when I work in the day time I only get a few hours here or there before I need to attend to my other obligations. But I am still finding the project very fascinating and I am enjoying doing my own research so I feel rather happy with everything. 

Evaluation: 

This has been a very interesting experience over the past few days, both elements of the project are developing simultaneously and almost in harmony. I hope this continues as the project is coming along nicely and everything is running smoothly. 

Analysis:

The current situation of the project has one foot in the prototyping stage and one foot in the initial development of the man project.. this applies to both elements of the project. I am aiming to really start grounding things over the next week and move completely out of this stage and start getting some real solid material together. 

Conclusion:

It is difficult to say what I could have done differently since the last input of the blog, I guess if pushed I could have spent more time working on the aesthetic side before starting to build the inside components.. 

Action Plan:

I aim to finish the sketch in detail over the next few days, then I will copy that into photoshop and do a virtual render of it and finally finishing up in zbrush where I will aim to get a full 3d rendering of the character. I will also try to finish my literature review introduction before my next supervision meeting on Monday. Then next week I will start writing the literature review and getting the bulk of my arguments down on paper. 

23.2.15

Today I went into University and sat my two postgraduate research courses. The first was on academic writing which was really interesting as it highlights many of the areas I take for granted when I write. I realised I need to clarify many of the complex terminology I use and also make sure that when I use phrases like 'this show that x is equal to why' that I explain in detail what 'this' is. The course has also made me think about referencing my own work within the thesis.

The second course was on research planning, I did find this course interesting but the format was more for Phd students so everything was created for their timescale. I had to adapt the charts and table to suit my needs as a masters student. I did however find talking to other research students very interesting, it was really nice to talk to students with children and work commitments that are in my same situation. I have found being a research student kind of a lonely experience so far as you are not tied to a class room. So the interaction is solely between myself and my main supervisor. The other funny thing was when talking to other postgrad researchers that they all talk in as much depth as I do when I talk about my project. Sometimes when you are explaining what you do to people you can see them slowly loosing interest or they look at you as if to say.. who would read that many words in detail.

Animatronic Thesis:

Over the past few days I have been concentrating my efforts on building the contact list for my questionnaire, I have now reached 75 potential participants. Another development concerns using data from … in my research to give me a good timeline for the use of animatronics in film.

I am still continuing with my literature review research and I am very pleased with the progress. I have found some very good news articles that underpin many of the themes I am working on.

Animatronic Build:

The past few days have focused mainly on making some prototype teeth for the model out of thermoplastic (1.1) , (1.2)

1.1

1.2

I am pretty pleased with how the teeth look, I used the model created by James as a template for the teeth. I also found that you can get really nice fine detail if you use a pin, so I created different typed of decay using this technique. The teeth also interlock very well which was one of the concerns I had when up scaling the model. When James made the teeth he used a standard denture mechanism that allowed him to see how the teeth would fit together before applying the resin for the gums. Since I cannot do this I need to be able to make subtle changed if needed, luckily thermoplastic will allow me to do this.

Feelings:

I still feel very positive about how both the elements of the project are going. I am trying to put the same amount of effort into each elements so progression continues at the same rate. One thing I am finding quite nice is that when I feel that I am getting to much into the research I can have a break and work on the psychical build and vice versa. This is helping keep focus and enthusiasm at a high level, I aim to continue on this path and hopefully the outcome will be very positive.

Evaluation:

This project continues to be a very exciting and fascinating process, I am really enjoying on both projects. I did initially think that I would prefer the physical build over the thesis but I am really enjoying doing the research. I think it helps when you have a strong connection with the field you are research so it become less of a chore and more of a personal journey.

Analysis:

The current situation of both projects is that they are starting to come out of the initial research - prototyping stage and coming more into the developmental stages. This is an exciting and interesting time as things are pulling together and taking shape.

Conclusion:

I do not feel that I could do anymore or anything else over the past few days I have done both training, research and practical elements of the project. I hope to continue on this linear..

Action Plan:

I hope to do some more experimentation with the thermoplastic when the colour pigment arrives and I will start to look at how I will created realistic looking teeth with this medium. I also aim to add more contacts for the questionnaire and start to write my introduction for the literature review outlining the themes and purpose of the chapter.  

20.2.15

Animatronic Thesis

I have been reviewing some of the articles I have found in spfx magazine. I was published in the 80's-90's and has lots of interviews with animatronic special effects artists. I have then been taking printing screens of the pages and placing them into the correction section of my literature review folder for easy access. I have also come across an interesting area within animatronics that I feel may be interesting for future experiments so I will keep that information for a later project.

I have also been looking at the control rig used in the teenage mutant ninja turtles films (1990's) as they use motion tracking of the puppeteers lips to control the lip movement of the animatronic.

I have also joined LINKEDIN with a month long professional trail so I can directly gain access to industry professionals.

Animatronic Build:

I have spent the past few days working on putting together the jaw mechanism for the animatronic. (1.1) I have used the robotic parts left over from my last build. The mechanism works pretty well, I am driving the jaw off two servos linked together with a y cable to control them simultaneously from one controller.

1.1

In the image the bottom two U servo brackets are connected with a long U bracket. This is just to keep them together during the testing. Eventually the two short U brackets will be linked together at the servo horn, this will give me more space for the tongue mechanism. The system give great movement and stability, I used the jaw mechanism design from my last build and just scaled it up. The advantaged of using these materials is that they are very light and strong. The metal wire is there to give you an idea of the placement on the upper and lower jaws. I have also put the teeth that james made for me next to the mechanism for scale. 

Feelings:

I am feeling happy with the progress over the past few weeks, I can now see how the thesis and the project will come together and compliment each other. It was a great concern that they would be two separate elements and I did not want that. I wanted the project to be developed alongside the thesis and be justified via my research into control systems and realism. 

Evaluation:

This has been a very positive experience, the mechanism works well and I have a real positive outlook concerning its performance. The research project is also coming along well so that is also very satisfying and positive. 

Analysis:

The current situation of the project is pretty good, however it is still in the initial prototyping stage but making prototype mechanisms to the correct scale helps when trying to estimate size and servo torque. 

Conclusion:

I do not think there is anything I could have done to improve my approach over the past few days. I have balanced family, work and studying pretty well so I hope I can continue at this pace and enthusiasm.

Action Plan:

I have decided to use thermoplastic for the models teeth as well as some of the internal mechanisms. I have ordered some thermoplastic pigmentation to colour the teeth yellow/greenish and hopefully make them look pretty realistic. I will also experiment making teeth with the thermoplastic in the next session.

17.02.15

It is half term this week so my children are not at school so there will be some gaps in the blog this week.

Animatronic Thesis.

I am still doing my literature review research, I have found some very interesting videos on youtube that underline many of the themes that I am working on. I have never used videos in my research before but I think it will be good in this instance to use as many sources as possible due to the lack of written information on the subject. The list of potential participants has gone up to 56 so I am over half way with building up a solid list of possible contacts.

Animatronic Build.

I have tested the melting point of Thermoplastic and discovered that it starts to melt at around 40 degrees. I did this simply by putting it in a pan gradually heating it with an electric thermostat in the water (same on I use for my daughters bath water). I am still not sure about how this will effect the animatronic structurally under heat and pressure. I could just hypothesise that it would be pretty difficult to get to that temperature inside the animatronic but then again with friction and heat from the servos this could be a real possibility. I am in a bit of a conundrum with this material as it is really useful in terms of strength and form but I cannot have something that will weaken under heat. I may have to introduce a cooling system if I decided to carry on using thermoplastic for the internal works of the animatronic.

I have been prototyping a jaw mechanism over the past couple of days (1.1),(1.2),(1.3)

1.1

1.2

1.3

To start with I took a length of 2mm thick lightweight steel wire and covered it with a length of heat shrink which I then set to the metal under heat, I did this to make the thermoplastic stick to the mechanism more efficiently. I then bent the metal into a jaw shape making sure that it would fit perfectly into the rim of the bottom jaw prosthetic. I then boiled some thermoplastic and moulded it to the shape of the jaw and around the metal wire. I then re-boiled the thermoplastic again and set the bottom jaw into it so the thermoplastic acted like a mould. This gave a perfect seal for the prosthetic teeth. I will use this method when building the main project to protect the teeth when testing the jaw mechanism.

Feelings:

I feel that things are coming along nicely, the research is starting to take shape and I am in the position to start thinking about what order I am going to be structuring the literature review. I am also happy to still be working on a physical build I have got a book called: Animatronic, a guide for holiday displays. It is a good reference guide but it is written for a different audience and the terminology is very americanised. The other issue I have with the book is that they work in feet and inches in the example and I tend to work in mm and cm, so there is a little bit of extra workings out. 

Evaluation:

This project continues to be a fun experience, I wanted it to be a fun yet purposeful experience and so far it very much is. 

Analysis:

The current situation is very good, I am finding plenty of time in the day to put towards to research and building of the project. I am fully aware that as things progress they may get more complicated and it is very time sapping when you have to work in a manner that is very specific..such as researching a particular animatronic control system in-depth. 

Conclusion:

I had a good week playing with my children and studying at home. I hope that this balance continues are it is proving very progressive. 

Action Plan:

I will go in to uni on Monday 23th and try and set up a meeting with my supervisor. I have two courses booked in on that day also: research planning and academic writing skills. I will also look at getting an example of the full size jaw rig using the materials I have at home this should give me an idea of scale. 

13.02.15

Animatronic Thesis:

I am still undergoing my literature review and I have narrowed down the topics to 5-6 main themes I want to concentrate my efforts on. I have also been researching information to create tutorials basing them on the similar outline of the Stan Winston School videos as they are very lighthearted but at the same time very indepth and interesting. I spent some time in the library and have found a few books on special effects the include the implementation of animatronic systems and compares them to other mediums. I have also identified an area of research that seems to have little written evidence, I am taking this as a gap in the research and will conduct my own research in this area.

Animatronic Build.

I have been prototyping a tongue mechanism using milliput (1.1) and thermoplastic (1.2).

1.1

1.2

Milliput:

The milliput prototype works really well and has plenty of movement but my main concern with it is the strength of the miliput when put under pressure from the pull string. From experience I know milliput tends to crack and splinter over time the compound reacts under strain and can come loose. This would be a major concern for me down the line as I know form past projects that it can be a real effort to replace the internal parts of a project in the later stages.

Thermoplastic:

I really like this material, I find it difficult to use due the quick setting time. You get about 20 seconds to mould that shape you want before the plastic become in-usable. However you can reheat the plastic in boiling water and repeat the process again until satisfied. The main issue I have with this material is that it I do not know how it will react to the heat created by the servos and other mechanisms. I will have to do a test to ensure that I know what temperature the material starts to liquidise.

Feelings:

I am still feeling very optimistic, I find the initial start to any project is always the most exciting and the very end of the process is always the most satisfying ... it's the in-between bit that is the most stressful so I have that stuck in the back of my mind at this current stage and how I need to prepare for that.  I feel that the research is also coming along well, It is difficult to find lots of information out about specific areas as they are still 'industry secrets' but I am uncovering alot of useful material through online sources such as summons.

Evaluation:

The prototyping of the tongue was a very good experience, its a simple mechanism and I hope it will add character and realism to the end result. Reviewing literature is an interesting experience this time around as I am very passionate about the subject matter instead of trying to fit my research to a pre-established proposal.

Analysis:

The research is still in it's early stages I have made a file with many subfiles to put the different categories of literature into. Hopefully this will make things easier when It comes to writing the literature review at the start of March.

The current position of the project is still in the early stages but this type of experimentation helps to give an idea of how things will shape up and its really satisfying to actually get your hands on something and starting building parts and experimenting with materials.

Conclusion:

In conclusion I think the prototype tongue has demonstrated the usefulness of thermoplastic within this project. It is a really strong and lightweight material that can be reused and reformed easily. I think after I have confirmed that materials melting point that it will be the best choice to make the different elements of the internal mechanics with.

The research is really gaining ground in a short period of time, I just hope that people within the industry will respond well to it as there are not many other studies conducted in this area.

Action Plan:

The action plan for next time is to continue with my literature search and participant contact list. I will also test out the melting point of thermoplastic and start prototyping mechanisms for the jaw mechanics of the animatronic.

10.02.15

Animatronic Thesis

I have been working on two main areas of the Thesis: researching the topic and collecting articles for the literature review and building up a list of contacts within the film industry who are experts in the field of animatronics and visual effects. I am aiming to get 110 industry contacts this is to support the 10% (10 individuals) sample I need to conduct a pilot study and the 100 contacts needed ti fill the main study. The estimated response rate will be calculated from the results of the pilot study.


Animatronic Physical Build

Today a set of teeth I have order from an artist names James. s arrived (1.1) they are very lifelike and well made. I have worked with him in the past when he created the set of teeth that I used in (Actuality and Artificiality) I asked him to create a set of teeth that are very characterised/disfigured and had an almost troll like feel to them (I was recently amazed by the troll in Hansel and Gretel created by spectral motion). I have chosen to buy this set of teeth are they are going to be used as a point of reference for my larger scale model. I have now decided on what the physical build should look like and what the project should represent. I am going to concentrate my efforts on making a large animatronic mouth that is going to be attached to a helmet so it can be worn. The idea is to combine three methods of control: firstly Autonomous control (Arduino) R.C control and Manned puppetry. Because there are so many elements to the control system I want to keep the functions simple. So some features will work at random intervals using the Arduino for example twitching and grinding teeth, lip movements when talking (activated by a sensor). The mouth UP and DOWN and LEFT and RIGHT will be controlled via R.C and the head itself with be moved manually via the user.

The structure itself will be made from aluminium and controlled via servos, There was some consideration to using wire puppetry but this will effect the functionality of the puppet as it is a worn/mounted mechanical system.

One of the main factors concerning this part of the project is the aesthetics of the build as one of the main objectives of the research thesis (Hyperrealism). The skin will be made out of silicone rubber (plasticil gel 10) This will give it a realistic skin tone and feel. The form will be initially created using oil based clay and the mould will be taken from that using a silicone/fiberglass compound.

Before the creation of the skin I will be looking at / experimenting with different mechanism to determine the most appropriate from this build. The main practical concerns are weight of the animatronics and the strength of the materials.

I also have also conducted some in-depth research in animatronics (realism) using summons and the themes for my project are really starting to develop and I can sort of start to see the areas that will be interesting to develop or are under developed.



1.1

Feelings:

At the moment I feel very enthusiastic about the project unlike the previous degree there is no set structure other than the one I have created. I have set out a rough time line using a gantt chat (1.2) for the entire project taking into account the time needed for the build and the responses from the qualitative questionnaire.

1.2 

This does give me a line of security and reassurance of when things roughly needed to be completed by. 

Evaluation:

So far this has been a good experience, the initial concerns regarding my supervisor and what was required of me have surpassed and I am ready to start hitting the books and building this project. I am hoping this experience will build on the success of the last project and gain the same recognition. 

Analysis:

The situation at the moment is still very loose as it is in its infant stage where I am gather information and doing investigative research, hopefully when the project starts to come together more it will become more defined. 

Conclusion:

In conclusion there is nothing else I would have done differently at this moment in time, however it is very early in the project.

Action Plan:

The action plan over the next few days in to carry on my research for the literature review and design the character for the animatronic on pen and paper. I am also taking lessons in ZBRUSH and SOLIDWORKS, this would allow me to express these concepts using these mediums also. 

7.2.15 New Build First Look

The eyes for my new project arrived today, the are handmade by Nissel of London who make the most beautiful prosthetic eyes especially for animatronics. I have also got some new push and pull servo plates, 3d printed by innerbreed fx. I have never really used these types of mechanism before but I will do a write up on them when I have tested them out. 

From the Spider Diagram created in Mondays review, I have formulated 10 questions for the pilot study. 

1. In terms of realism and movement how do you think Animatronic character systems compare to CGI characters?

In terms of realism and movement how do you think Animatronic character systems compare to CGI characters?

2. Do you think that modern animatronic characters that are built using computer aided technology act more fluid like C.G.I character systems, compared to hand built/crafted animatronic characters?

Do you think that modern animatronic characters that are built using computer aided technology act more fluid like C.G.I character systems, compared to hand built/crafted animatronic characters?

3. Do you think this simulated process (C.A.D) takes away some of the natural elements/movement/irregularities/spontaneity that may come with hand-crafting a model ?

Do you think this simulated process (C.A.D) takes away some of the natural elements/movement/irregularities/spontaneity that may come with hand-crafting a model ?

4. Do you think that if an animatronic system was created that was partially man controlled and partially autonomous E.g (Using face detection / Motion Tracking with high variables) that it would allow for the systems to almost improvise to an extent ?

Do you think that if an animatronic system was created that was partially man controlled and partially autonomous E.g (Using face detection / Motion Tracking with high variables) that it would allow for the systems to almost improvise to an extent ?

5. Do you think that this process may bring another element into how animatronic systems can be applied in films?

Do you think that this process may bring another element into how animatronic systems can be applied in films?

6. What do you think the future holds for animatronic characters in films?

What do you think the future holds for animatronic characters in films?

7. Do you think that because animatronic characters are relative to the actual environment rather than been super-imposed onto it, that it allows for a more realistic interaction between the cast and the character?

Do you think that because animatronic characters are relative to the actual environment rather than been super-imposed onto it, that it allows for a more realistic interaction between the cast and the character?

8. What genre of films do you think typically implement animatronic characters?

What genre of films do you think typically implement animatronic characters?

9. Why do you think animatronics are the preferred medium of character creation in this instance?

Why do you think animatronics are the preferred medium of character creation in this instance?

10. In your opinion do you think that animatronic models could be used / adapted for post-production use, for such things as promotional and education.

2.2.15 - First Supervision Meeting.

Today I had my first supervision meeting which went rather well, with the help of my supervisor we where able to breakdown some of the wider areas I was interested in and find some pretty good ground for possible innovative and interesting research.

I will go over a few of the topics we discussed and how I will be incorporating them into this research project.

1. Realism: for me realism is one of the key factors of animatronic systems, a system that fails to achieve a level of realism whether in movement, capacity or aesthetics will not connect with an audience effectively.

2. Animatronics in film: I tend to research films from when the first animatronic character appeared (Mary Poppins 1964) and I am to discover if there has been an increase or decrease in the use of this medium in films.

3. We looked at the teaching aspect of this study which is something that is sort of detached from the actual study at the moment. But I am hoping to bring it in by combining the tutorials with discussions on dynamics and development which I can then hopefully link in with some of my research questions concerning realism in movement.

4. We discussed a possible amalgamation of autonomous and remote control systems as an interesting and innovative idea. I may include this in my practical sessions as something that I can bring in with the tutorials.. but I will have to really get it together quick and have the resources there in place as I do not have much time to get all this together before sept.

5. Superimposition- Another area of interested concerning this study is looking at how audiences recognise the difference between animatronic and cgi characters in film and if we are getting used to the tricks and effects used in these mediums, thus making them feel less authentic to us.

These are just a few of the point that we hit upon during my first supervision session. I hope by next session I will have got together a more air tight plan of how I things will run.

I will also start my reflective blog from the 10th as this was just an introductory session.