ANIMATION
WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 3.10 - January 1999
Building Armatures
I've read Tom Brierton's article "At
Last, Foam Puppet Fabrication Explained!" (Brierton,
2.11) on armature building and foam casting a
few times...
I have a question though. Where is a good place to buy Ultracal 30? I've
heard it's expensive. I've got plenty of regular plaster here at Whitworth
College, but from what I've read, it's not appropriate for putting in an
oven to cure the foam rubber. I've had some communication with other stop-motion
animators (e.g. Webster Colcord), and it seems best to go with GM Foam.
Thanks for your time,
Travis Cutbirth
Tom Brierton answers: Ultracal can be bought at most art supply shops/houses,
but if you still have trouble finding it locally, Pearl Art Supply in Chicago
sells it. Their phone number is: 312-915-0200. There's no problem with putting
an ultracal mold in a kiln oven in order to bake foam. I'm not sure where
you heard that it was bad.
R&D latex used to be the most popular foam, but it is no longer available.
Try Burman Foam. Burman is located in Van Nuys, CA. I've not used GM foam.
(You can also try Kryolan foam.) Most foams come in two, three or even five
parts, and it all has to be mixed up properly for it to cure. The idea is
to whip just enough of the ammonia out so that it'll settle while you're pouring
or injecting it into the mold. None of this is easy, but with practice it
can be mastered. Good luck!
Maurice Noble: Animation's "Old Rebel"
Over the 4th of July week-end, 1997 in
Seattle, Washington, Maurice Noble was one of the many guests of honor
at The
Masters of Animation event. My wife and daughter
had the honor of escorting Maurice around for the week-end, and he treated
us to dinner that Saturday night.
Karl Cohen's interview "Maurice Noble: Animation's `Old Rebel'"
(Cohen
2.12) was quite extensive and very heartening
to see. I find it a bit surprising and disappointing that Maurice isn't
a household name doing American Express commercials like Chuck Jones, but
more articles like Karl's would certainly rectify this.
The hours and hours that we spent talking about his work in the animation
field was priceless, and Maurice is one of the most considerate, kind and
easygoing individuals I've ever been fortunate enough to interact with.
Thank you very much for putting together such a thorough and reverential
article. I'd be interested to hear back from you Karl and perhaps take
a look at your course syllabus and required reading for your classes. I'm
slowly starting a 16mm cartoon collection, with a particular interest in
some of the race and blacklisted films that aren't available or shown in
public. (I've just learned the other day that there were Amos `n' Andy
cartoons produced in the Thirties. Have you seen them?)
Cordially,
Brian Edwards Jr.
How to be Furrific!
First off, thank you so much for your wonderfully
entertaining, informative magazine. I read it regularly, and only having found
it recently, really enjoy browsing your archives.
I came across "How to be Furrific!" (Fleming
3.2) by Bill Fleming about 3D hair, and wanted to
fill in a portion of the "history of 3D hair" he omitted. In 1994,
the SIGGRAPH Electronic Theater showed a short called JuJu Shampoo. It was
created as an in-house project by Metrolight Studios, and it featured 3D hair
generated by Metrolight proprietary hair software, written by Rob Rosenblum.
I was the lead animator on the project, which won a 1994 International Monitor
Award for Developmental/Experimental Animation. The effect of the hair was
pretty remarkable for its time, and the short was included on several compilation
tapes.
Sincerely,
Jeff Hayes
Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor by sending an e-mail to editor@awn.com.
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