A zoetrope is one of several pre-film animation devices that produce the illusion of motion by displaying a sequence of drawings or photographs showing progressive phases of that motion. A similar type of animation is stop-motion.
This light zoetrope is a series of two dimensional “frames” which are joined by a central hub. The hub is rotated on its axis slowly and the frames are lighted one at a time from an above light source. Each frame shows slight progression from the last frame, giving the illusion of motion.
This Project
I began this project wanting to animate something complex in an unconventional way. I settled on a back flip because of its 2 dimensional motion and its identifiable profile. The main points of designing this project were the hub, the frames, and the light source.
The hub began as an easy design. It was just a wheel with 60 slots all around it which would fit the frames. The slots were perfectly vertical, and the frame connectors would be tilted so that the above light source would land on the face of the frame. This would make it incredibly difficult to manufacture the frames. It was suggested that I instead angle the slots and laser cut the frames and connectors. The motor was chosen to spin at 60rpm so that the animation would last about one second, and the mount was designed around the motor, and would be wired with a battery and a switch.
The frames were the most time consuming portion of the project. Slowly, each frame of a real video of a back flip was screenshot. The screenshots were uploaded into SolidWorks and traced with a spline. Then the connector was added. After doing this for 60+ frames, each one was added to an assembly in order to make a drawing to send to the laser cutter. The most difficult part of the frame design process was maintaining proportions and fluidity between frames.
The light source it just a flashlight, but the delivery of light was tricky. A thin sliver of light was required to light only one frame at a time. I tried cutting a hole in cardboard and shining the light through it but the light diffused too quickly. After some tinkering, I learned that if the slit has a ling height, the beam remains fairly constant at any distance. I then modeled a holder for the flashlight which implemented a narrow slot with a significant height.
Once everything was designed, I took to manufacturing. All the 3D printed items were easy to make, however the frames offered a struggle besides scheduling time at the laser cutter. The first batch that was cut was too small, about 2 inches tall. They were fragile and did not extend far enough from the hub to be properly lit. The second batch was roughly twice as big and offered better spacing for lighting.
In the week or so leading up to assembly of the final product, I was very nervous it would not come out right and I would need some serious design changes. However, it came out looking good. The first part of the back flip (before the tuck) everything animated quite smoothly. The second half of the back flip (the rotating body) did not come out so well. I think this is because those frames are so wide that the frame in front of them blocks some of the view. It still looks good and I am proud of it. The link below will bring you to a brief YouTube video showcasing the final product.
That final video is amazing! I am really impressed by the almost 3D look of the animation. Its so mesmerizing to watch. I also really like how you documented photos from every step of the process
That looks so cool!! I appreciated the way you documented all the steps leading up to the final product, that seems like a ton of work. Very impressive!
I was so excited to see a video of your final project and it is way cooler that when I was picturing, you can tell a lot of thought went into you final project, it is really great. Good job!
The animation is really fluid in the video and I can hardly tell when it starts. Also, the animation looks pretty complicated since it is someone doing a backflip. You did a great job at keeping consistent proportions and that really helped your piece.
I’m very impressed with how much work you put into this and how well it turned out! The backflip animation is super smooth, I know you weren’t able to fit all the frames to get the flip all the way around, but it turned out great regardless
I like the preciseness of this project with all the machining and printing that you did since it leads to a very clean final product. Despite being small it the video makes it seem quite big in comparison.
I thought your project was very ambitious to create a 60 frame animation in our limited time, however you executed it extremely well and the animation turned out amazing!
I’m so impressed on how this turned out! Your animation looks amazing and I love that you made the person doing a backflip. I watched the video several times because it looked so cool!
Admittedly I was looking forward to your project quite a bit during the class where we presented. But now I completely understand why finishing it took you a little longer. The work required for this project was clearly immense, especially how you slowly traced each frame into a vector. I am so impressed by the final outcome, it reminds me of a fragmented memory of a toy I had when I was really little. Overall your project is really impressive, like something you would see in a museum.