There’s no doubt in asserting that people tend to connect with movie characters. Be it Batman, Avengers or the deadliest dinosaurs of Jurassic World; these characters manage to create a space in audiences’ life. By introducing them on special events, the makers enhance the USPs of these characters.
The dinosaurs from the Jurassic franchise has given rise to popular dinosaur culture and increased the demand for animatronic props in the market. Animatronic dinosaurs have become a real thing. You can simply slip into a costume and move, look and sound like a real dinosaur. And everything is possible with animatronic technology. From riding T-Rex costume to scary Velociraptor costume, you can any and possibly every dinosaur costume today powered with animatronic technology.
How Professionals Make Animatronic Dinosaurs?
While many try to follow DIY tutorials to make a realistic dinosaur costume at home, not everyone can get the genuine feel of animatronic dinosaurs that professionals make. Below is the process companies use to make dinosaurs with animatronic technology.
Design
One of the significant parts of making a costume is to prepare its design. A complete draft is prepared that includes the correct measurement of legs, tail, body and head. The art and designing team are responsible for creating a draft design for the costume.
Mechanical Framework
Once the design is ready, the next process is to make a mechanical framework. It is used to create the bones of the dinosaur so that it can be moved flexibly with animatronic technology. All the electronic and animatronic devices are installed in this phase.
Shaping
The shaping process involves using sponges to cover the steel body part of the costume. Sculpturing is used to shape the outfit to give a final and realistic look. The sculpturing is done according to the body proportion of the desired dinosaur.
Muscle Texture
The realistic appearance of the costume majorly depends on the muscle texturing process. The sponge pieces of the costume are painted with large soldering irons. When the hot iron melts the sponge, the costume will get a raw and rough texture.
Grafting
When the muscles are formed with texturing, the next step is to adds covering of silk on the sponge to give a life-like appearance of dinosaur skin. Silk stocking also adds the required flexibility to the costume.
3D Printing
Detailing is important for a realistic costume. 3D printers are used for skin detailing. No one carves the skin with knives for a realistic dinosaur costume. There are special 3D printers that are efficient and time-saving to carve impeccable details on the skin.
Animatronic technology has brought dinosaurs to life. Offering you some triggers and steering to control the movement and sound, animatronic dinosaurs are used for both entertainment and education purposes. Majorly these costumes are used in themed parks, supermarkets, science exhibitions, etc., where people can interact with others as a dinosaur.
Making a professional animatronic dinosaur is no mere walk in the park. It takes a lot of efforts and dedication to create a realistic dinosaur costume.
The above mentioned were the steps followed by professionals to create animatronic dinosaurs that you adore today.
