Thread: Need Help/Advice (and possibly volunteers)

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Hi everybody. I was watching my two year old run around the house last night blasting out noises from her little toy trumpet and it got me thinking . . .

I want to take some of my bluckies and put together a 3 or 4 skelly band!

If I can, I would like to have the "band" playing '40s big-band music and jazz. I would like the bluckies to move their hands/arms as though they are playing the instruments. It would be great if they could be timed, or follow a beat. I would be excited if they could also sing -- or perhaps have a blucky dedicated as the crooner.

So, that would mean a trumpet player who moves the trumet up and down as though it is being played. A bass player wo can strum the strings and, maybe, slide his other hand like he was fingering chords. One other horn would be nice, but I don't know if I want to go with trombone or sax. Probably the sax, since it's a popular instrument and, like the trumpet, I would only need to make the blucky sway the instrument up and down. Finally, I could throw in one more instrument, or I could make a nice skull mic and dress a blucky up as a singer.

Now, I have NO IDEA how to do any of that. I've never animated a single prop before and I don't even know where to begin. I also don't have months and months to sit and program detailed timelines for animatronics. (Remember, I'm a father of four and our youngest just started teething.)

If it could work, I think I'd be happy with some motors that are cued by audio sensors. When the music plays, they start using their instruments. (If only life were that simple.)

Of course, I don't want to spend a lot of money (no more than $200 for the whole thing -- but I already have the bluckies). At this point, I have a little under 300 days to put this together, so I'm open to suggestions and itchin' to get started!!

Looking at equipment I already have, I should mention I currently own a 16 Channel LOR system.

I'll take a stab at this , just to see if I can steer you in the right direction, I know you will receive TONS of ideas on this. I think the 1st thing to do is figure out exactly what you want to do. The motions you describe could probably all be done with wiper motors. If I remember correctly the LOR can be configured to use sound to turn on a reley then starting a motor. I would double check the LOR site though. If you want it to be synch'd , motion to sound then VSA is a good tool for this. Markgoodson made a real nice skeleton playing an organ, he has posted that here on the forum, Haunted organ is the thread I think. Depending on the weight of the bluckies and type of motion you are looking for will determine whether you can use servos or get away with the wiper motors. Again I think you need to figure out exactly what you want then proceed from there. It will save a lot of money in the long run. If I can help I'll be more than happy to. this sounds like a kick ass project !! Hope this helps!!

My first thought is to build a sort of cam shaft with rods (below) and/or cables (suspended) moving them around at intervals. Won't give you the timing to the music or the complex hand movements your looking for, but should be pretty simple to build and run.

Originally Posted by bfjou812

I'll take a stab at this , just to see if I can steer you in the right direction, I know you will receive TONS of ideas on this. I think the 1st thing to do is figure out exactly what you want to do. The motions you describe could probably all be done with wiper motors. If I remember correctly the LOR can be configured to use sound to turn on a reley then starting a motor. I would double check the LOR site though. If you want it to be synch'd , motion to sound then VSA is a good tool for this. Markgoodson made a real nice skeleton playing an organ, he has posted that here on the forum, Haunted organ is the thread I think. Depending on the weight of the bluckies and type of motion you are looking for will determine whether you can use servos or get away with the wiper motors. Again I think you need to figure out exactly what you want then proceed from there. It will save a lot of money in the long run. If I can help I'll be more than happy to. this sounds like a kick ass project !! Hope this helps!!

Okay, in trying to figure out how to do this, which would be a better set-up?

1. Secure the blucky to the ground via rebar or pipe so that it can stand up, then rig hard-line, say 2mm metal, rods to hands for motion? (Like a muppet)



or

2. Rig each blucky like a marionette from above, with wire coming down to control hands/head/arms etc.

If you use fishing line and they weren't too close to the audience then the lines would be hidden. Put them in a "bandstand" and use a piece of black cloth draping over the top front to hind the motors or pulleys for the audience. Just a quick thought.

Personally I like the rebar method. You could hide the connecting linkage by using the insturments or use a small pulley set up with some fishing line. But Growler also has a very good idea.

Playing around with Google Sketchup to show my idea for the trumpet player and his movement.

Boney Island did a large number of scenes like this (including a band similar to the one you described) using the marionette/FCG method
YouTube - Boney Island Yard Haunt 2007
there's more videos in the "related videos" if you click to see it on youtube.

That said, I would personally go for a more direct and servo-driven approach for the majority of the movements.

TK421, From your sketch it seems that it could be done. You said you are using bluckies, blow mold, right? The rotate of the torso could be achieved by hiding a servo in its hips and running linkage up through the spine to a section that was cut at the waist maybe. The arms would have to have the joints at the elbows secured together and maybe a servo or wiper motor in the chest connected to a cam set up in the shoulders. It might work !! I think I have one around here , I'll see if I can come up with something.

The bluckies are pretty flexible on their own. I think if I rig up a FCG system it would work out pretty good.

At least that would give me simple movement. Maybe rigging one movement to each motor, and then put that motor on its own channel thru LOR.