Frame Accurate Motion Control

sferril@comcast.net (Scott Ferril) — Fri, 22 Nov 2019 22:50:28 GMT

It's not always pretty, but necessary.

For those that have hoped for a repetitive move only to find that the frames didn't line up, this is the answer. When a camera shoots 24fps-30fps while moving at anything but a super slow speed, there is a vast difference between every frame. When shooting the successive passes, the camera will shoot frames that are now consistently between the first pass frames, and none will line up.

To overcome this issue, the move must be tied to the frame synchronization of the camera pulse. A genlock signal from the camera will tell our motion control system (Flair) when the frame is actually shot, so the motion control can be in the exact position on each pass. This is highly critical, but often overlooked.

With our system, we can also link lighting changes, electrical devices, pneumatics and solenoids to exact frame counts or timecode. Forwards and backwards. We can link to song time codes for music videos or music queues.

If animation is to be mixed with live action, this matching is again vital. We connect with Dragonframe. We can scale moves and resize objects. We can scale time as well.

Don't get fooled. If the camera is not linked to the motion control, the takes won't seamlessly match.

Another Armature?

Tue, 09 Jul 2019 16:50:06 GMT

10 Advantages of FeatherWeight Armatures

FeatherWeights weren't designed as a product for sale. I created these for myself, what I wanted in my armatures with options not readily available. I've used metal armatures and they're great, but had limitations I wanted to get around. If I don't sell one FeatherWeight, that's fine, but I'm making them available for like minded puppet builders.

1: Weight. These are light as a feather, 1/3 the weight of aluminum. For green screen work, I can easily suspend the puppets.

2: The wire doesn't need to be adjusted or tuned, the flexibility is always the same, consistent. I use heat shrink tube to tie multiple wires together when needed and this can be built quickly.

3: The Nylon/Carbon Fiber mix is strong with a tiny bit of flex. My 3 axis clamps are similar to cement, but lighter. You can undo at a moment's notice and change new wire to fix or change the length.

4: Foam can easily be super glued to plastic parts for quick, steady building.

5: The feet, body and FeatherWeight heads (Sold separately, seen here) all have 6-32 Tie down ability.

6: The hands have magnets for props or climbing.

7: They include extra clamps for wings, tails, saddles, riders, etc, depending on the model.

8: Heads can be quickly detached for costume changes, storage and alterations.

9: Wires will eventually break, and depending on your build, joints can be repaired and the puppet is not lost.

10: If required, eyes pop out, or be held by their own wires, so Tex Avery can come alive.

Scott Ferril Ponitificates

Frame Accurate Motion Control

It's not always pretty, but necessary.

Another Armature?

10 Advantages of FeatherWeight Armatures