Ear Mechanism For a Fantasy Creature

Dodger_Dude1Dodger_Dude1 ✭
in Puppets
Howdy,
I am an avid maker and author. I am in the process of trying to make a mechanized puppet out of an ethically sourced taxidermied soft-mount fox. Hmm--taxidermy and mech--I know, it's a bit of a long shot. If all goes to plan, it will be one of the creatures from the book I am writing. More than anything, I'm excited to try something I haven't done before.

The Problem:
I've got a good idea on how to do the neck, tail, and leg mechanisms, and have already started fabrication--but for the head, I am planning on only mechanizing the ears (sadly, the eyelids and lips wouldn't do well being mechanized), but I am stumped. The problem is, I am not sure how to orient/make the mechanism in the ears so that they move naturally. Do they pivot from the central base of the ear--do they pivot from the inside edge? What angle should the pivot be in reference to the skull? I've looked at lot of reference videos of foxes, and cannot seem to get a clear idea on the anatomy of a fox ear--and how to make that mechanism. Are there any of the online courses you would recommend that may cover a similar process or any other resources that would help me understand how I could make this mechanism? I hope I explained the problem well--let me know if pictures or further information is necessary. 

Thanks for your help,
Cheers,

DodgerDude

Best Answer

  • Alexander HAlexander H ✭✭✭
    Answer ✓
    I had a look at this video for reference:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AaIM4KP8do

    I only watched it for a couple of minutes, so I can't say it's too accurate, but I made this basic diagram on how I see it working.


    To me, it looks like the majority of the motion comes from the blue path. It doesn't rotate on the center point of the ear; instead, it seems to "swing" back and forth, around a pivot point (the blue circle) which I would say is about at the furtherst point back of the ear, where it meets the skull.

    The red path seems much more subtle, but it looks to me that either independently, or while the ear is following the blue path, it also rotates back and forth a little.

    If that's a little fuzzy (heh) still, I can see how I go doing a simple animation to demonstrate it?

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