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ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
Additive Manufacturing Hub case study: Megafun Commisioned to created an innovative animated zoetrope exhibit for the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne, Megafun made use of 3D printing to overcome the challenges the project presented, working with GoProto via the Additive Manufacturing Hub (AM Hub) at AMTIL. Based in Melbourne, Megafun is a designer and project manager of exhibitions and theatre works with more than 23 years of experience in providing creative and technical services to companies, artists and exhibitions around the world. The company specialises in delivering quality theatre and events and creating intriguing and engaging interactive experiences.
Megafun developed a 3D animated zoetrope at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne, based on the Cuphead video game series.
Megafun was engaged to develop, construct and install a new 3D animated zoetrope in ACMI’s permanent exhibition space. For this new zoetrope, Canadian video game company Studio MDHR was approached to provide the characters and storyline from its Cuphead series of games. While the historical zoetrope concept was a slitted drum, this new variation is a 3D animation. A disc spinning at a set speed is illuminated with flashing strobe lighting. Each flash illuminates a slightly new position of the disc as it turns. By aligning objects and characters at just the right spacing with slight adjustments of position, these elements will appear to move – exactly like filmed animation, only in three dimensions.
Design The Cuphead range of characters from Studio MDHR existed only in a two-dimensional form, and it required a skilled 3D artist to develop three-dimensional versions of these characters that could exist in a dimensional world. This work was undertaken by video games artist John Aitchison, who laboriously recreated every nuance of each character. This wasn’t easy, as some of the characters defied physics in their 2D form, so they had to be adapted and adjusted in order to make the transition. The Cuphead characters were created in a 1940s/50s drawing style and incorporate “stretch and squash” characteristics; they also feature elements that are quite fine. These features made the 3D modelling process more complex, and certain features needed to be adjusted to allow for the limitations of the printing process. For example, very fine limbs with large hands can be particularly difficult in the world of 3D models, especially when spinning at 60rpm. Studio MDHR developed the animation storyboard and created a series of images of both the individual characters as well as an overview of the collective characters in the animation, which were passed to John, the 3D artist. He then worked closely with the creators over a period of months to turn the characters into models based on the material provided, the limitations of the modelling/3D process, and in response to feedback from Studio MDHR. Once the individual characters were approved, he laid them out according to the storyboard, taking support structures into account for when the digital version would become physical. Posts of stainless steel 4mm in diameter were used to support the characters, so they had to be designed and modelled to allow for this, with suitable holes into which the post could fit. Once complete, a digital 3D animation of the final zoetrope was created for review and adjustment prior to rendering each character as an individual file. The disc that supports the zoetrope animation was constructed of a high quality aluminium plate. This plate is pressed and then ground perfectly flat to avoid any noticeable movement, then mounted on a quality bearing, and spun with a motor capable of precise speeds and fine control. The plate included a series of pre-drilled holes designed to take the posts that supported the characters. These holes needed to be extremely accurate and could not be placed until the digital animation was complete and signed off.
AMT JUN/JUL 2021
“Initially it was intended to 3D print the supporting understructure; however this proved to be far too costly,” explains Keith Tucker, Director of Megafun. “We did however need it to be highly accurate. The result was to create it with a CNC router using high-density fibreboard in numerous layers. We needed to cut away the interiors to keep the weight down, but it proved to be over 800% cheaper than the 3D option.”
