Not sure whether to add things to my entry in the forum or in this blog… Here is a repeat of my last forum post for blogcentric.
Just wanted to add some thoughts about Puppet Constructor that didn’t fit into the 800 character limit. A number of these are unessential but I wanted to get them down and see what people’s thoughts were.
Inverse Kinematics
I mention in the description that the puppet parts would be “flexible and stretch” - IK would allow realistic movement with joints. But because I think it would be better to have the puppet’s movement be “cartoony”, it’d be cool to have the parts have the option to stretch as well.
Related Movements
I’m sure there’s a real term for this in animation, but basically this would be the ability to link the movement of two or more non-connected parts. Example 01: When the mouth opens you could make it so the eyebrows move up a bit. Example 02: Moving the left arm moves the right arm in a mirrored version of the left arms movement. (essential for having the puppet do the macarena)
Collision detection or Layers
Would the parts bump against each other or would they overlap? Both?
Multiple Mouse Support
Borrow a 2nd mouse from a friend - or dig up that “hockey puck” mouse you hated. Plug them both in and control different parts of the puppet at the same time. (is this even possible?)
Export to Flash
Completed animation could be exported to flash.
Sound Input
Parts react to sound input from microphone (which can be recorded and added to the soundtrack). Loud sounds make the part move further in predetermined direction. Example 01: mouth opens as you speak. Example 02: Hips move along with Shakira.
Control keys
Control which parts you are moving with the mouse from a keyboard shortcut. Example 01: Holding down the ‘L’ key while moving the mouse moves the left leg. Holding down the ‘R’ key while moving the mouse moves the right leg. You could walk the puppet by alternating the ‘L’ and ‘R’ keys while moving the mouse.
Gravity
Move the hand and the rest of the arm dangles like a real puppet. (could be turned on or off)
Motion Looping
Once a movement has been “recorded” allow it to loop or reverse loop. (great for repetitive dance moves - “the bump”)
Stylish Whistling Dog Puppet with RSS Newspaper Desktop Game Launcher and Organizer Thingy
Whistling Dog Puppet (in a well organized outfit) reads RSS feeds from a newspaper while shooting your icons from it’s desktop launcher. Just joking!
More thoughts to come. Any one else have ideas?
