Nimble Animation Stand
An Open-access Portable Multiplane Animation Stand.
Year: 2023
Role: Industrial Designer
Type: Research Project in collaboration with Animate Materials Workshop
This project with the Animate Materials Workshop called for designing, testing, and fabricating a portable multiplane animation stand for artists with any level of animation experience to create temporary animation setups in a variety of locations, being ideal for artists who don't have a dedicated studio space or those who want to try fieldwork animation outdoors.
Background
Traditional under-the-camera animation stands are large, expensive, and difficult to move. DIY solutions, while more accessible, are often bulky, rigid, and hard to disassemble or reconfigure.
To make multiplane animation more accessible and mobile, the Animate Materials Workshop developed the nimble multiplane—an open-access prototype that can be built in a local digital fabrication lab or makerspace
The Challenge
To design an accessible, user-friendly, and modular multiplane animation stand that can be manufactured in a local makerspace, offering artists an easy-to-assemble, highly portable setup for both studio and outdoor shooting, thus lowering the barrier to entry for multiplane animation.
Self-made animation stands by artists predominantly being large armatures requiring a full studio space.
Developmental stages of project iterations.
Following the successful refinement process, four nimble multiplanes were produced for the workshop, and the final design files were made open-access for public manufacturing.
Portable Multiplane Stand Vector File
A set of laser-cutting files for easy fabrication
Assembly Instructions
1 page of easy to follow instructions to produce your own multiplane stand.