New armature for buck

So this is the new silicone puppet that I've been working for Jo creating her a armature using brass tubing that I've welded to Steel plates.  I then use threadlocker glue to stick the aluminum wire to some more brass tubing.  The feet are made in two parts with brass tubing welded to steel plates and then a bolt added to the end by being welded on

Here is a link to the buck website http://joey-goodchild.wix.com/buckthemagician with making of videos to follow soon.

The head is also made out of silicone with a wooden block that has aluminum wire connected to animate the mouth and eye brows.  the eyes are buttons that will be painted on by Jo 

I wrapped electric tape round the armature so that the silicone wont react with the threadlocker

I then bulk out the body with sponge and wrap it in foam bandage before putting it into the mould

This image is both puppet together, on the left is the puppet that Jo has made the body to with my silicone head.  On the right is the naked silicone body I made for Jo with the silicone head.  All the cloths were made by Jo for both puppets

Working with the misses on her latest project

Starting to put together all the work I've be doing with Joanne Goodchild on her latest project for Uni ( http://joannegoodchild.blogspot.co.uk/ and http://joey-goodchild.wix.com/animations ).  I've been making some of the props for her set.

The top image is just a early test of how the puppet will look when with a put against a mock up set.

I made the telescope on the top shelf that seen better day. 

I made the lava lamp which was then painted by jo

I also made the laptop and microscope with were then painted again by Jo 

Quick test from computer arts tutorials

These are just some quick test from the computer art magazine tutorials using adobe Illustrator CS6.  Always nice to try new stuff and keep my skill up to date while adding to my profile/ portfolio.  I wont say that there any good but with more time and better choice of colours they would look better.    

These top two are the same tutorial only I decide to try them individually so to try the same tutorial two different ways.  I may also try to do the top again taking more time on it and finishing it off in photoshop. 

Rams dialogue

Trying to get round to posting all that I've been doing of late.  This was the rams dialogue which I used stop motion lip sync software to get the timing right for the animation.  Using stop motion lip sync as a dope/ X-sheet to make sure that the dialogue syncs with the character.

Me on location

Gathering sound in Crofton Park for my latest animation to help with some of the silence between the dialogue.  It was a productive day with some great wind and bird sound to put into the background and was even able to record a cock crowing which worked out great.  The sound aren't the best but they have worked out good and next time they will only get better.

Also I received an email from the animate Chapman Monty Python saying that the competition has been extended to the 01.01.2013.  Which will give me a little more time to add some finishing touches to the animation.   

The images at the top and left are me recording wind moving through the the tree.  The others three images are of me recording sound of me walking on sticks and snapping them for the sound effect.  It was a nice day till the the rain came down and socked me and beautiful assistant.

Animatic test

Here are the first animatic test for the the lonely sheep (life of Brian).  They are just test for both the motion and final look of the animation.  I've got to reset the ratio of the screen size but apart from that and adding some more elements, this is some way to how the final animation will look

This one below is the right ratio for the screen size and the one I'll be using.  I may blur the Ram a little more as it may look strange with the firer ball shooting up from behind the haystack.

The final film is of the ram landing which need a lot of to get right.  A lot of squash and stretch with some secondary action, like eye blink and hair moving.

Flashing light test

This is a test for the flashing light that shoot up from behind the hat stack.  I've used it in my animatic which should be up tomorrow.