A Space for the Inquisitive

Whenever I talk with young artists and engineers interested in dimensional animation, the lack of publicly available information about the art and craft, particularly for animatronics, is a clear obstacle for them. Even the animation team I'd recruited and started mentoring recently, a very talented group of artists, got gipped out of much of the training I'd intended to provide as a result of Covid-19 impacts. There just aren't many experiened practitioners of high-end figure development to pass along tribal craft knowledge.

The sheer expense of building dimensional figures is enough of a barrier of entry - I don't believe that basic, non-proprietary concepts need to be a secret. So as long as I'm working independently, I'll post aspects of design that seem pertinent to those with an interest, and will field questions and inquiries as best I can.

Toward that end, I'll be starting a series of blogs. It'll take a while for them to acquire critical mass while I try and simultaneously make a living, so please be patient with me. I'll start out with an exercise in animatronic design. If there is enough interest I'll continue posting and will branch out into other subjects related to dimensional character animation, like interactive design, robotics, general art and technology research.

If there is an interest or a question on a specific subject please let me know and I'll work to roll it in. I'd also really like to create a forum for those with a career interest in dimensional animation and ideas to share with others, so if you'd like something posted here, let me know. I'll give you the by-line and add my own comments as appropriate.

I have another domain, i2ianimation.com, that currently is just posted with a duplicate of this website. If there is enough interest and material, I can eventually turn that site over to DIY, blog and educational matters if it seems useful.

Knowledge is power. We all deserve all the power we can get. Let's see where it takes us.

Best, 
- Darrin


Blog Categories


Animatronic Design

Design processes, tricks and traps, exercises, historical notes and questions answered




Interactive Design

Ideas covering a broad spectrum of interactive forms and applications


Robotics

exercises and posts of industry advances with analysis from a dimensiuonal animator's POV.


DIY Animation

i2i Creative is planning to develop a DIY animatronic platform. This will chronicle the system as it evolves.



Art & Reference

Aesthetic and reference topics that apply to the art and craft of character animation and storytelling.


Technology

Interesting technologies old and new - anything that seems interesting and isn't already over-saturating cyberspace




...I'll be busy for a couple weeks on other projects. Will be back soon.