Stop Motion Puppet Pt. 1

Creating the Armature

This Instructable will be a step-by-step guide, in four parts, on how I am making my first stop-motion animation puppet. Since this is my first attempt, I'm not sure how well it will work. If it works, GREAT! If not, then we will have an instructable on how NOT to make a stop-motion armature.

I will be photographing and documenting each step as I go along in hopes that I will have an in depth guide on how you can create your own armature for your own projects.

The materials used in this project are extremely basic crafting supplies and should be available at most (if not all) craft stores including Michaels, Hobby Lobby, and even WalMart.

Their are many ways of creating a stop motion armature. You can create one completely out of armature wire, which I think would be the easiest method (correct me if I'm wrong), you could make or buy ball-joint armatures out of aluminum and steel. This method is used by professionals as well as hobbyists, but requires more patience and craftsmanship if you wish to make one and quite a bit of money if you want to buy one. The method I'm using seems to fall right in between these two methods. The tools used pretty much everyone either has or has access to, and its a relatively easy build.

Step 1 Draw Your Model

First thing you need to do is draw your model life sized. Whatever it may be. In this case it is going to be a scale model of a human.

Coming from a fine art background, I know that the "ideal" human figure is 7.5 heads tall. Meaning that if our model is going to have a head 1in. tall, the overall figure is going to be 7.5in. tall.

You can search online for human proportions and find reference photos to help you out. I used this one to help guide me.

Comments

[JerBear]

Awesome! I'm making a little movie with my friends, and there's a scene that will involve a stop-motion cat monster. I'll post the link in the comments when I'm done! this instructable was really helpful!

[atiluluyuce]

Wonderful instructable, this is very helpful, thanks for creating this tutorial. Can't wait to read the other parts.

[Jaller...]

Cool! I really hope the other three parts will be on the site soon! P.S. 5/5 stars and added to favorites!

[Gjdj3]

This is really cool. I'm excited to see the other 3 parts!

[jtobako]

Most of the stop-motion armatures I've seen have used multiple strands of wire because a single wire has a shorter life/fewer bends before it breaks.

[jessyratfink]

Yay! I can't wait to see the other parts to this. Very neat. :)

[GorillazMiko]

Great job, the photos are great! I hope to see more from you!