Hettmer FX - Stop Motion - Miscellaneous Armatures

Ajax

This 13" tall puppet was created for music videos. The real head will be made by Ron Cole and will have internal mechanisms to handle facial expressions and the like. The left foot is a toothbrush, so it looks very different from the right.

Timecrow

This is a "budget" armature for a student in L.A. The rolling shoulders stepped up the compexity a bit, and the ankles are ankles so they need to be sturdy, but the remaining B&S joints are simple.

Tree Person

This character will always be seated, and has one arm embedded in a tree.

My Approach to Armatures

An armature should be made so the animator doesn't get distracted from the performance because they're fighting with the armature.

So when I'm in the design phase with a client, I strongly recommend having the "base" of the armature be jointed - legs and hips for sure,and preferably the spine as well. B&S arms and what not are defititely nice, but when you're on a budget (and who isn't) you compromise. I figure it's much easier to deal with the springiness of wire in upper extremeties when you know the base is solid and easy to pose.