Here are the moves that our Hero Animatronic iMacs will be able to do:
HEIGHT ADJUSTING JOINT
The Height Adjusting Joint (or ÒHeight JointÓ) will travel through 90 degrees of movement, from straight up to horizontal. This raises and lowers the screen by about 7 inches. Servo Operated, but this is the toughest joint to get to move smoothly and quickly by servo, and we may need to go to cable- or rod-control on it. I will be posting a SERVO vs. CABLE vs ROD test as a QuickTime movie soonÉ
SCREEN TILT JOINT
The Screen Tilt Joint will allow 35 degrees of tilt on the
Flat Screen. Servo Operated.
NECK SWIVEL
The Neck Swivel Joint will allow just shy of 180 degrees of pivoting the entire neck/Screen assembly. Servo Operated.
SCREEN SKEW
The Screen Skew is an OPTIONAL move that would allow the screen to be skewed 45 degrees either clockwise or counterclockwise, for a full 90 degrees of travel. This would be a ROD OPERATED movement, necessitating rod, and possibly, puppeteer removal, and a locked-off camera.
BASE TRAVEL
We will be able to move the base left and right via ROD OPERATION, although this movement will be limited by the width of the pedestal; remember, there may be speakers, keyboard, and mouse (and the wires that go to them) on the pedestal with it.
DVD/CD-ROM TRAY EXTEND-RETRACT
Not pictured here will be the DVD/CD-ROM tray extend/retract function, which will be Servo Operated.
Animatronic iMac #2 (ROD OPERATED):
We will provide a second modified iMac:
What it WILL have:
All the functions of the first modified iMac, except the DVD/CD-ROM Extend Retract Function
Addition of Full Screen Rotate, as described below.
The caveat here is that all functions on this second iMac will be ROD OPERATED, although we are going to try and motorize the full screen rotation.
FULL SCREEN ROTATE
Overhead View: We will be able to ÒtwirlÓ the Screen to imitate a guy spinning around. The base would remain stationary (otherwise, all the power cables would get twisted up!). Now, we might be able to motorize this, and will try, but if that doesnÕt work well, we can always fall back on using a rod out the top.
What the second modified iMac WONÕT have:
the DVD/CD-ROM Extend Retract Function
Servo Operation
For comparisonÕs sake, see the two movies below. The first movie illustrates the kind of moves we are attempting to achieve. This is an excerpt from a Pixar film, with all of the really wacky moves edited out.
http:/www.character-shop.com/imacmoves_files/pixarimacpartial.mov
The second movie is the entire short film, with all the wilder Pixar moves left in. We could almost make a fully rod-operated iMac do most of these moves, but that isnÕt the direction weÕre going in, or have budgeted for.
