HAND ARMATURE

This year, I had some clients asking me to make a hand armature. Earlier this year, I made a TINY hand armature for the Quay Brothers. And last month, I made a real-size hand armature for Kia Motors commercial series.

In the Kia commercials, this hand turns into a puppet and dance. Its fingers move as if they were arms and legs. Unlike the hinge jointed hand I made for the Quays earlier this year, I’ve used ball and socket joints for this one to create humanoid-like movements.

This armature is made based on a real human hand. So its size as well as the positions of its joints are exactly same as the real model hand. While finishing up this project, I once again realized that the human body is asymmetric. When you look at the fingers, you can see that the joints are machined to have curved surfaces. It takes longer time and harder work to machine parts in this way. And tie-downs are hidden in fingertips.

Customized Brass Nuts

This is a picture of customized brass nuts, which are used as supplementary parts for rigging. I usually make my armatures in various materials including alloys of steel and aluminum as well as brass. Some clients specifically order brass armatures.

Brass is highly machinable and offers greater corrosion resistance than steel. It is also easy to braze and weld thanks to its relatively low melting point.

Even with such advantages, however, stop-motionists in some countries have underestimated brass as a material for armatures. They say that brass is weaker than steel and corrodes under alkaline conditions.

It’s true that brass has some disadvantages, but I still think brass is a very good material for armatures. With a brass armature, it is possible to create smoother movements and control tension more precisely than armatures in other materials.

I’m going to write about this again some time later on this blog.

브라질에서 온 컷아웃 애니메이션 – DRUGO

미국의 United Airline 광고 이후 처음으로 컷-아웃 기법을 이용한 멋진 작품을 발견했습니다. 브라질에서 제작한 공익광고인 듯한데, 포르투갈어라서 정확히 무슨 뜻인지는 모르겠네요. 컷-아웃 애니메이션의 제작 경향이 점점 컴퓨터를 이용한 디지털 컷-아웃으로 자리잡는 듯 보여서 많이 아쉬웠습니다. 디지털로 전환하는 게 비용 절감이나 제작 인원 및 기간의 단축 등 효율성 측면에서 낫다는 것은 인정합니다. 그러나 서로 다른 그림자 길이가 주는 자연스러움이나 가끔 프레임이 빠진 듯한 움직임, 그리고 컷-아웃 인형들의 미세한 잡움직임들을 통해 얻을 수 있는 전통적인 컷-아웃의 ‘손맛’, 이런 스톱모션만의 즐거움을 아직까지는 포기하고 싶지 않네요. 이번 <Drugo> 광고는 디지털 컷-아웃이라는 최신 트렌드를 반영하면서도 전통적인 컷-아웃의 장점을 많이 간직한 작품으로 보입니다.

아래의 영상은 Drugo광고의 메이킹과 유나이티드 항공사의 컷아웃 광고입니다. 유나이티드 항공사의 시리즈광고는 뛰어난 완성도의 컷아웃 애니메이션으로 정평이 나 있습니다.

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