I just finished this model of the Prehistoric Terror Bird Diatryma. Fans of Ray Harryhausen might notice a bit of a resemblance to his model of the Terror Bird Phorusrhacus from the 1961 film MYSTERIOUS ISLAND.
(http://i482.photobucket.com/albums/rr183/LewyTanner/DSC06302_zpsk2tubakm.jpg)
(http://i482.photobucket.com/albums/rr183/LewyTanner/DSC06307_zpsyuqm5zzw.jpg)
(http://i482.photobucket.com/albums/rr183/LewyTanner/DSC06313_zpspbe8tcb0.jpg)
(http://i482.photobucket.com/albums/rr183/LewyTanner/DSC06312_zpsc4vcp6wk.jpg)
It consists of a wire armature and is built up with craft glue, cotton, Elmer's glue and acrylic paint. the feathers are made from painted felt and craft fur.
(http://i482.photobucket.com/albums/rr183/LewyTanner/th_Diatryma_zpsvoatlvsy.mp4) (http://i482.photobucket.com/albums/rr183/LewyTanner/Diatryma_zpsvoatlvsy.mp4)
I hope you enjoy the pix and the video.
It is both cute and fierce!
You Sir, are an amazing artist! Also, even though your video was short, it is good to see the lost art of stop motion animation being used.
thm
Love the bird, but the video is great! How long does it take you to do 8 sec. of animation? Did you use an aerial brace to do the jump?
Thank you, Ludi, Horror Man and Mike.
Mike- the animation of the model itself was relatively easy, and took about 2 hours. But the chroma keying of the background was a real time eater! I had to go back and re-do every frame, blanking out the green screen behind the model to insert the forest jpg image. Some of the green from the screen actually reflected on the bird's beak and made part of the beak disappear! I had re-draw the beak frame by frame to restore it. I was also able to blank out the wire I held off-frame that suspended the model as it jumped into the shot with a tool in the HUE program that gets rid of anything the camera picks up that you don't want with the part of the keyed background that was obscured.
I hope that at least some of what I typed made sense.
I watch the 8 sec. over and over! :)
Are you strictly amateur, or have you ever done any animation that was even remotely commercial?
Ever thought of using a large photo (on set) for a bkgnd? Have a poster size one done at a print shop? Might be easier than fooling with the chroma key.
All of the animations I've done in the past have all been on an amateur basis.
Many, many years ago I had a super 8mm camera with stop motion capability. This was back in the day when you took your finished 50ft of film in a cartridge to a camera store or a drug store to be developed after 3 weeks! Even though there were many flaws in the animation, it was such an incredible thrill to see these figures come to life. There was no checking the previous frame(s), no onion skin image from the previous frame (that this program has), when you realize how blind stop motion animators were flying back in the day in adjusting an calculating movements for each frame, their achievement seems even more astounding.
I hadn't done stop motion in over 30 years until I got this program. It's a hell of a lot of fun, but it's loaded with many crutches simply not there in the old days.
As far as using a backdrop, there is a problem with focusing the model and backdrop and the model's shadow on it. I have very limited space- this is all taking place on top of a desk with the desktop computer occupying half the space on it.
Yeah, a small space does limit the kinds of set-ups you can do. Your stuff looks great, though, even with the jumpy mat line.
I used to do a lot of (very) short animations, back in my late teens/early 20s. I had a camera with a single frame button and I would do "pixilation" type stuff and Norman McLaren style animated people. An old G. I. Joe was the closest thing I had to a puppet, though, but you couldn't make it walk, so it wasn't much use.
I have never seen a Hussmann creation I didn't think was absolutely top-notch, but this one is gob-smacking to the nth degree for me. I've always had an interest in creatures of the past, but particularly in the great birds (a Victorian poem, "Ode to the Roc", has these lines: "But first I sing the nobler traits of birds preceding Noah--That meat-eating clan whose meat was Man! Dinornis, Apteryx, Moa!") The writer didn't have exactly the right birds, but the lines always made me grin! Anyhow, your Diatryma is a wow. I'd have sworn those were real feathers--I figured you knew a moulting parakeet and a finch or two. Painted felt and fur, though. You are a modeling genius, I have no doubt. Seeing your Terror Bird and your animation has MADE MY DAY!
Quote from: typhooforme on July 28, 2016, 09:54:42 PM
Seeing your Terror Bird and your animation has MADE MY DAY!
Love the way the toes move when he walks! It's that attention to detail that makes good animation!