Any animatronic head tutorial?

Do you have animatronic head/mask?


  • Total voters
    8

AbitTheGray

New Member
Hi everybody,
maybe I am blind but I could not find any tutorial for animatronic head in Important Costume & Prop Links.

Does anyone of you know about / made tutorial or made your own animatronic head and can give me some tips?
Last option for me to buy it if anyone have friendly price because as student my income is (currently) low.

Some story behind (no need to read this paragraph).
I have 20,000 USD ToBuy list and I decided to get the head first because at school (equivalent to High School) before graduation we have "last ringing" to get money for graduation party. Last ringing is way to get money by walking in city dressed in costumes (something like Halloween which we do not have). On the list there are multiple items from AVP - Predator costume (animatronic head, working hand computer, combistick, disc, animatronic canon and helmet with laser), Xenomorph costume (animatronic mouth, i have more predator-like shape, most time it will hang from ceiling in my room), Xenomorph egg (animatronic opening), Facehugger (mainly to place inside the egg). I also want to buy VirtualReality (probably HTV Vive) and make simple AvP game with predator using VR (I have some ideas in my head and some written, when I move to state when most of it will be written I will post it here on predatorium).
 
There have been a handful (more like 2 or 3) of people here to make them, however none of them truly mimic the movie in quality thus far.

Yeah, I know that costumes for cosplay are different from those for movies as I saw in some behind-the-scene videos. They use multiple costumes to act as one which is not working with cosplay so we have to make some compromise.

I saw some videos using 4 servos total - 1 for each tooth. I don't need to move them in more then 1 axis - open and close. There may be way to move them without servos (because I want them to move with my jaw).
 
I was not referring to a difference in cosplay and the movie, as with enough time and dedication you can get immensely close to the actual thing.

However regarding the important Costume and prop section, You may find the search tool a better aid regarding animatronics.
Peletta made a good point, you may want to check out the "top knot build" as I believe alphatech made a functional (or near functional?) Mechanical rig that flexed the mandibles when he opened his own mouth.
 
Could simply do a mouth piece inside a predator mask. With wires attached to the mandibles allowing it to move in and out.. Really simplifies everything.
In my opinion if you can execute it just as well without the mish mash and extra hassle then it's a job well done.
 
Having been a member here for a number of years I've seen this question come up time and again. Having never seen it satisfactorily done I've come to the conclusion that there are probably people out there with the engineering skills, the inclination and the technical knowledge to pull off a working mandible system but they simply are not interested in cosplay and prop building and are unlikely to come here and help you do it.
 
The reason most animatronic rigs as LuniticNic so eloquently phrased it... "none of them truly mimic the movie in quality thus far."is because no one is willing to make a foam latex Predator mask. Now there is good reason, they do not withstand the test of time, tear easily and are a bitch to cast. (You actually have to bake them. Nothing moves like foam latex. A friend has cast a few masks in balloon latex and they offer a little more flexibility. Another factor, most masks are sculpted in such a way as to make movement of the upper fangs almost impossible. Trust me, I know. I am and have been seemingly thee go-to-guy for animatronic masks since this was called the Hunter's Lair.

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Hi everybody,
maybe I am blind but I could not find any tutorial for animatronic head in Important Costume & Prop Links.

Does anyone of you know about / made tutorial or made your own animatronic head and can give me some tips?
Last option for me to buy it if anyone have friendly price because as student my income is (currently) low.

Some story behind (no need to read this paragraph).
I have 20,000 USD ToBuy list and I decided to get the head first because at school (equivalent to High School) before graduation we have "last ringing" to get money for graduation party. Last ringing is way to get money by walking in city dressed in costumes (something like Halloween which we do not have). On the list there are multiple items from AVP - Predator costume (animatronic head, working hand computer, combistick, disc, animatronic canon and helmet with laser), Xenomorph costume (animatronic mouth, i have more predator-like shape, most time it will hang from ceiling in my room), Xenomorph egg (animatronic opening), Facehugger (mainly to place inside the egg). I also want to buy VirtualReality (probably HTV Vive) and make simple AvP game with predator using VR (I have some ideas in my head and some written, when I move to state when most of it will be written I will post it here on predatorium).


Greetings everyone,
I know a lot of people who wants their predator head to have "ANIMATRONICS" in it and if you guy'S are really eager to learn the techniques then i would suggest you go at the Source of where the first PREDATOR was created witch is STAN WINSTON SCHOOL of arts..... here is a FREE little chapter by the well known animatronics "Craig Caton-Largent" teacher Build an Animatronic Head: 2 - FREE CHAPTER | Stan Winston School of Character Arts . As i am going to enter a Membership in the next months with this school of arts.. You will have also a 3 days TRY membership where you can learn freely every aspects of the predator....I really hope this helps new members to learn how to make a good and official animatronics predator.

Fly safe!
 
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I'd love to see a head with moving jaws.

As for foam latex, yes it's AWESOME, I have a Planet of the Apes Gorilla Solider costume and the face is cast in foam latex the movement is lifelike. But it's super fragile.
 
Sorry for the thread necromancy, but does anyone have any more pictures of movable mandables with servos? I am trying to puzzle some stuff out but do not want to reinvent the wheel.
 
Sorry for the thread necromancy, but does anyone have any more pictures of movable mandables with servos? I am trying to puzzle some stuff out but do not want to reinvent the wheel.

Hi, seeing as you woke me from the dead, I'll answer best I can. I honestly don't know. But since this thread started the StanWinston School of Charactor Arts an online school that sells lessons of all kinds special effects is in full swing and do an animatronic lesson. You pay for the lesson and they drop the video into your account where you can watch it until your heart's content. So if it was me thats where I'd start.
 
Hi, seeing as you woke me from the dead, I'll answer best I can. I honestly don't know. But since this thread started the StanWinston School of Charactor Arts an online school that sells lessons of all kinds special effects is in full swing and do an animatronic lesson. You pay for the lesson and they drop the video into your account where you can watch it until your heart's content. So if it was me thats where I'd start.

I am looking at the 350 dollar deal for a years service, but I am a month or more away from getting there. I am just trying to see what I can come up with on the cheap that others as well as me might not have to pay for.

Regardless all roads point to Stan Winston Studios.
 
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