grassynoel writes:
I have always wanted to make a 3D Zoetrope since I saw the Totoro Zoetrope at the Ghibli museum.
I decided to try using my old record player and an app on my iPhone called StobeLightTachometer.
Here is my first test using cubes. It shows how I made it using Blender and zBrush. Note I have since learned that the zBrush step was not needed.
I tried another using another character, but my 3D printer wasn't up to the task. She was too delicate. My third test uses James, a character I built in Blender for one of my Children's books (made in Blender and unity). I printed him at the lowest resolution possible just so that I didn't spend a lot of time finding out it didn't work. I printed a disk with slots so that the characters could be printed and reprinted (if they failed) and registered into the slots to keep their distances accurate. It's a good system and one I'd continue to use. Again, the printer's resolution is an issue, with tiny hands snapping off and legs breaking or bending slightly when I removed the printed supports. Any twist or bend at the character's ankles would put wobble or jumps into the animation's smoothness, so I had to be careful.
Here is a link to the book if you're interested:
