Just wanted to give an outline of what the user experience could be for Puppet Constructor.
1. Software opens revealing a default “stage”, tools palette, parts library, timeline and part control preview window.
The stage is a window with a swapable background and potentially props for the puppet to interact with. The tools palette includes drawing tools and tools used to connect the puppet parts together directly (hand connects to arm) or animatedly (right arm movement connects to left arm movement).
The parts library contains premade complete puppets, full arms, legs, heads, as well as individual pieces. (could be a hierarchy of pieces that can be added as a group or separately.) To add a piece, you simply drag it into the scene from the library. Parts are tagged as hand, lower arm, leg so that you could right-click on a hand and swap that hand for any other hand, since they have the same tag.
2. Go into test mode to try out the puppet.
Once the puppet is assembled, you click a button to go into “test” mode. (or use a key command) In test mode you’re controlling the puppet - using mouse movements, keyboard controls or combinations of both. The part control preview window - separate from the stage, is a mini version of the scene, but also highlights which piece of the puppet you’re controlling. Could also include a mini version of the keyboard to show you which command keys have been assigned to different parts.
3. Once you’re comfortable controlling the puppet, go into show mode to record your performance!
Timeline has visual representation of recorded puppet movements. Saved movements could be edited, copied and pasted, looped or moved along timeline. Timeline also shows sound wave for imported or recorded sounds. The movements can be multitracked - you can first control the head, then rewind and control the left arm, etc. Individually recorded movements show up as different layers in the timeline.
4. Once you’ve got the show completed, you can export the performance as fla, mov, etc.
Additional notes:
A. Could have a puppet construction wizard, where you are guided through the process of building the puppet through a menu of heads, bodies, arms, etc.
B. The finished puppet itself (without a recorded performance) could be saved in a format to appear in other programs using plugins or a stand-alone puppet player. Examples: Load the puppet as an iTunes visualizer - the body jumps to the music, but you can also control parts yourself. Or your Puppet could appear as an overlay in your video blogging software using core animation. (You know I had to mention core animation at some point… )
