I made a new version of my caveman action figure. This is the first figure that has ball joints only. I am quite happy. The figure is the easiest to assemble and very sturdy. It is also easy to swap parts. I used this figure for a stop motion animation. The parts shown here were used to create different gestures and emotions.
Here is the stop motion animation to test the sturdiness and articulation of my 3D printed action figures. The animation is rough and just a series of action sequences but I think it gets the point across.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7srVQd8yYX4
I did have to do quite a bit of touching up in Photoshop but this was due to my lack of photo shooting skills/ insufficient camera equipment. Basically the camera would move ever so slightly with every picture I took making the background extremely wobbly. So in order to not get viewers seasick I had to remove the backgrounds from all the pictures of the figures and reinsert them into a steady, empty background picture I shot before starting the animation. I also used Blu-Tack to keep the figures from moving when posing their limbs. However they would have achieved 90% of the poses without support of any kind.
Some poses were later touched up digitally but again not for lack of sturdiness/ articulation on the figures part but simply because I screwed up the animation somewhere and it was easier to fix a single frame in Photoshop then redo the whole animation sequence.
The figures appear rougher in the animation then they are when you hold them in your hand. Taking close ups of 5.5 inch figures makes every surface scratch really stand out. However I think it works for the animation giving the figures more of a handmade/ clay like look.
Great work and fantastic video you made there Hauke. Must have taken a lot of time and effort!
Toytime