Stop-Motion Armature Machining: A Construction Manual

An informative book for beginners to machining an armature and deals solely with the different types of joints involved with Stop Motion work and why they are chosen. I suggest reading up on machining or have a book dealing with machining on hand in case things get too technical. Overall the author provides insight into the types of materials and ways to help machining easier, especially if the metals are hard or soft. I do wish I had spent the money to get this earlier as the tips on drilling aluminum would have probably saved my drill from burning out.

This book explains how to machine the most common joints. Detailed instructions accompany shop drawings for each joint type. The author also covers advanced universal joints. The book assumes you have access to a lathe and mill. I believe the author uses Sherline equipment to demonstrate his work. Recommended for anyone who is interested in creating professional-quality armatures and also wants to learn machining basics.

First I'll state that as a shop manual the information contained within this book is great and indispenable. The author cleary describes the processes and tools needed to build stop motion armatures. What is disappointing is the quality of the book itself. I have a few books for which I have paid fifty dollars for (The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation, Ray Harryhausen: An Animated Life, Industrial Light and Magic: The Art of Special Effects) and I have never had buyers remorse. The same cannot be said here. The cover belies the interior quality. This book is approximately one quarter inch thick with poor quality paper stock which I can only describe as better than a childs coloring book. All of the photographs are black and white. Many are extremely grainy with contrast that is too high and resolution so poor that it is hard to see what is being described accurately (See figures 2-10, 3-4, 3-5, 3-10, 4-9, 4-10, 4-13 as examples). Not what I expected at this price point. The same information also applies to Stop-Motion Puppet Sculpting. I strongly suggest you either buy used or take what I have written into consideration before purchasing new.

If you want to build armatures, this is a go to book. Lots of tips and info. Still, building armatures is not easy and takes some time to master.

This book is not bad. If you are into old school animation. It is a profesionally leveled book with lots of insight into building armetures and machining. For me it is a bit to precise to the subject area but a perfect one for anyone in stop motion . I would give 5 star

Based on the other reviews I was hesitant to purchase the physical book and I'm glad I listened. It's definitely not worth $50, but I feel okay about it at the Kindle price. Be aware, this book is very short, I was kind of surprised when I reached the end. That being said, it will take me a while to really digest and understand the content so it's good for a reference manual. Based on the concerns other reviewers noted about the photos in the printed book I wanted to mention the photos were very clear in the digital format. That being said, I wish some of the hand drawn diagrams were at a higher resolution. I found the explanation for the different types of joints to be very helpful. I'm pretty new to all this (been trying to build an armature for 3 months now) and despite my online research have not come across any other source that details these various joints and how to build them. It definitely has me thinking about different ways I can tackle some challenges. An additional thing I really wish this included was a generic armature schematic with measurements and the types of joints at each location. Another book I have "Stop Motion: Craft Skills for Model Animation" by Susannah Shaw contains one such diagram, but unfortunately the resolution is too small to be able to read the measurements. The main takeaway I got was the need for more machining equipment if I really want to take this seriously. For now I'm just going to continue with my inaccurate use of a dremel and hand drills.

This book is a little pricey but for what you learn is priceless,my Stop-Motion Armature have gone to the next level.As we all know,a good Armature is well over 300 dollars,just for one,So you do the math.

Great intro to building armatures. Goes over the machining in great detail. Awesome for a beginner machinist like myself. Great job.

Não é um passa a passo ilustrado ou algo do tipo. Por ser antigo, em preto e branco, as imagens comprometem a leitura.

A bit old school

Missing easiest ways with almost no tools to make a good armature. This ways almost need full equipment. But if youre looking for something professional and you got the money, yes it is a good book. Missing pictures, too much script. Thats my opinion.

Good mechanical insight