Embedded Files
White PETG and PVC pipe - 1800mm x 575mm x 875mm (L x W x H).
SKILLS USED: Solidworks CAD, FDM 3D printing, Projection
The Idea:
Rear projection faces for animatronics have been around for years to mixed reviews - but what if that technology was used for transformations in larger than life characters for theater or night time shows?
This is a very early proof of concept prototype I made to test the idea.
I found a generic expressionless head online that I wanted to use as my projection canvas.
I altered the scale, trimmed excess parts of the head away, and shelled the model out to my desired thickness (3mm) in Meshmixer. Working in Meshmixer here allowed me to keep the original mesh resolution before taking a small section into Solidworks to work on further. (hollow underside seen here)
I then segmented the face into printable pieces. Each square overlaps the others to not let any direct light through any gaps in the finished model. This wasn't a perfect technique and in the future I'd be interested in trying a 100% overlap rather than just a thin band which led to a crosshatch look.
Once I found a small enough section of the full resolution model that Solidworks could handle, I designed the mounting points, helmet attachment, and rear projector mount.
When designing the helmet mount, I thought it would be an interesting idea to add a head tilt. Looking left, right, up, and down could be achieved by the performer - whereas actually tilting would cause stability issues.
A first test of the complete rig with an animated face.
Where I would potentially like to see this idea go in the future:
A major benefit of projected media compared to more traditional means (makeup, masks, animatronic faces) is the rules of reality don't apply and animation is king. For example take Hades from the 90s animated film Hercules - going from an angry bright red with flaming eyes back to a chill blue in an instant is a character beat that would be impossible to pull off otherwise.
Another example is how Bart's face completely transforms when Homer strangles him in The Simpsons. Again this would be impossible to pull off with a practically due to the drastic changes in anatomy in the animation - yet this classic character moment would be a prime use case for a projected face.
Along those lines - instead of a pre-recorded video, I think a unique animation driven by facial capture of the performer in real time would help bring an impossibly large character to life and ground them in reality (while making the most of the "video filter" technology at hand).
A few final notes:
3D Printed tiles are not the way to go for a completely uniform translucent surface (as a proof of concept I'm still happy with it). An improvement here would be a single piece of vacuum formed plastic or perhaps a thin fiberglass layup.
I picked the cheapest projector with optics that were not ideal for the project. A better quality projector with a wide lense and short throw would make the whole rig much more manageable for the performer and would more realistically fit into a character design/costume.
Even then the face is a bit big/heavy to be worn comfortably and performed in. Other alterations would be to swap out the PVC pipe for carbon fiber poles, and possibly pick up off of the performers shoulders/torso (leaning into more of a puppeteered route).
Bonus image:
I'd normally use a lathe and live center in the tailstock to tap things - but I was out of luck at home.
The solution I made to keep things true was:
1) Ratchet strap and podger tourniquet to hold the work.
2) 3D printed sleeve which fit both the PVC pipe and tap diameters keeping them in line.
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