Having completed the line layouts it is time to add colour. Not one of my strengths. For this reason I keep my eyes open for colour schemes that I like and put scans or clipping of then in my notebook. The one above is something I spotted in the magazine Digital Artist. I pick out three or four colours from a scheme then add them to my page as coloured rectangles. As a side note after I completed the model I realised that yet again I'd used orange as the base colour. Note to self - don't use orange for a while!

I create a new layer in Illustrator for the colours.I have a layer above this for the lines and numbers. Having the colours on separate layers lets me quickly flip the colours on and off so that I can quickly change between colour and mono versions of the model.

Once I've got the colour added to the model I print out the parts sheets on my cheapo printer (It's and Epson Stylus S20) then carefully score and cut out all the parts.

Once I have the bits all cut out I put the model together, taking photographs as I do so. This works as a test of the model and gives me a set of photographs which I use in the instructions. I usually have the laptop open by the camera. Any mistakes I spot at this stage I correct directly in the file.

Depending on the time of year/time of day I use either studio flash or daylight. In this case I used natural light. I set the camera up on a tripod in our conservatory and took a set of photographs showing the model being put together.

 I run the pictures through PhotoShop to trim them down an reduce their size. I then place the pictures in the instruction document in Illustrator and write up the instructions.

That takes me to the end of the process. All I need to do now is upload the file to the website and let people know it's there by writing a newsletter.

I realise there's a lot of information covered in this description. I'm planning to go into more depth on individual aspects of the process in future editions.

I hope you've found this introduction to the process of creating a paper animation interesting.

The prototype model is complete and the parts have been layed out on the computer. Now to make it repeatable. To help with constuction, I add add numbers to various tabs. For numbering, I print out two copies, one on paper., one on card. The card is used to make a new model, I cut out all the parts and glue them together. As I make the model, I write down what connects to what on the paper plan.

I also mark out any small changes that I think need to be made as I go along. In the picture above the arrow and the '+2' remind me to move the rectangle left by 2mm.

Some of the parts aren't lined up with existing parts. For example, the feet glue to the top of the box at a slight angle. To mark out where the glue area goes I assemble the model, draw round the feet then pull the model apart. Sometimes at this stage I'll measure up where the parts are placed but with this model I put the marked up box top into the scanner.

I import the resulting picture into Illustrator, line it up with the box top outline and trace round the red lines showing where the feet go.

Once the model is fully numbered it is time to add some colour.

After completing the first draft it's time to commit the designs to a digital format. I use Adobe Illustrator to do my page layouts and to design the parts. At this point I have a working model made from card with some of the parts on the computer and some of them existing only in cardboard form. I do the transfer in a couple of different ways. If the shape is simple, for example a rectangle or the sides of a box, I measure the parts and then, using the grid in Illustrator, recreate the parts direct. If the shape is more complicated, like the legs in the tortoise, I'll flatten the parts out, pop them in the scanner, import the file into Illustrator and trace round them. (Let me know in the comments or by email if you are interested in more details on these steps and I'll do separate tutorial.)

The first part to be transferred in this model was the neck slider. This is fairly straight forward as the shapes are all made from rectangles. I just measure and transfer. I was going to put a kind of triangular section on either side of the neck slider for added strength but this would have been over-engineering. It works just fine as it is.

I made a few small changes to the head. There is is an insert with a slot in it used to drive the head back and forth. I shortened the sides on this so that the part is recessed by about a millimeter. This stops the edge of the slot catching on the edge of the cut out in the slider tube. I also made the curved ends slightly longer. This helps to keep the neck centred in the slider tube when it is out at full stretch.

When I put the original base together I had had real problems actually threading the rocker part into place through the hole in the front of the box. To overcome this I decided to have an open base. This is a design I use quite often anyway for purely aesthetic reasons. The reason I'd gone for a full base was so that I had somewhere to glue the rocker. Ha.

The new design works reasonably well, though I still have to thread the rocker into place before I glue down the large flap on the base.

This type of design is one that I can transfer to the computer without using the scanner. Lots of parallel lines, rectangles and a little but of Pythagoras. Job done.

Those are the main parts of the model complete. When I held the tortoise body into place I realised that I'd have to extend the upright on the rocker a bit further. I did this by adding a 10mm tab, simply glued into place on the end of the upright.

I completed the last of the parts by adding the legs and gluing the tortoise into place on the box top. Press the button on the front and the tortoise pops her head out of her shell. In the next stage I'll need to mark on the body where the legs fit. I'll also have to add markers on the box top for the feet.

Next step: Completing the layout and adding colour.

I started this model with just the idea that I wanted to do something with a tortoise. I really like the shell and the fact that they pop their heads in an out. I had three initial thoughts.

1/ A tortoise stuck in a high place, looking over the edge. The curved motion of the neck could be interesting but the morbid theme might be too dark for some people. (For the same reason, I decided against the model of a tortoise spinning on its back waving its legs in the air that I've had in mind for a while now.)

2/ Two tortoises alternately poking their heads out of their shells. I like the idea of a mechanism where one turn of the crank moves one tortoise and the next turn moves the second one.

3/ A tortoises pokes her head out of her shell and munches on a lettuce leaf. I'd call it "A Leisurely Lunch" I have a couple of different ideas of mechanisms for this, both of which might be tricky but would be interesting to do!

As I want to document this project from start to finish I've decided against these last two as well. I know from past experience that tricky mechanisms can be time consuming. I quite often get half way through a model then put it to one side for weeks or even months while I think of an elegant solution to a tricky problem. I really want to produce a model from start to finish so I'm going for something fairly simple. In the end I've opted to produce a model where a simple press of the button on the front makes a tortoise pop out of her shell.

I tend to work out most of my designs in my head. I don't often draw them out though I will cut out shapes and see how they move together.  In this model, I decided to use a rocker to move the tortoise head in and out of the shell. I had in mind something like the above where the the upright piece with the double ended arrow will slot into the neck and move it back and forth. The right hand end of the rocker will act as a button, the left hand end will have a coin weight to return the button to position. I actually made the tortoise shell and tortoise first then worked out the dimensions of the box and made the test base shown here. You can see where the upright is actually too short so I've extended it by adding a length of card. I quite often do this, making small modifications to prototypes by gluing bits on or cutting bits off. Although these prototypes can be rather tatty, they're a good source of measurements for transferring part designs to the computer.

 The box and the tortoise fit together like this. The feet will be glued to the box top. The upright from the rocker fits into a slot in the neck.

Having got all the parts of the base in the right place with appropriate holes cut and parts either extended or cut back as needed, the whole lot is then transferred to the computer. Using a ruler I go over the prototype and measure up all the bits using the model itself as a place to take notes. 

The next stage will be the finalisation and measurement of the tortoise parts. I started with a rectangular tube to slide the neck in and out of but having cut away loads of the tube I need to rethink the design on this part.

In which I discuss the process of creating a new paper animation from start to finish...