Legacy FX may have used this method.

[alix965]

It looks incredible and more reminiscent of a prototype car sculpt than a wearable suit, but this is how the professionals do it. I wonder how much the whole process cost from start to finish.

http://www.therpf.com/f24/ubisoft-haze-costume-updated-game-trailer-costume-cameo-27722/

OMG FTW!!!

 

[Ruze789]

That's a traditional clay sculpt method.

I'm pretty sure Legacy uses 3d printing to make their masters.

 

[torsoboy]

The Legacy Effects Spartan suits, if that's what you were hinting at, are all separate components. Undersuit, gauntlets, chest, thighs, etc. Same as us. The Spartan suits were also cast out of foam, and the ODST suits were primarily vacuum-formed. So the "pros" don't stick to one method, they do what works best for the project.

The suit featured in that link is all one piece for some reason, even the cloth parts are sculpted and molded into it. I don't get it because, while the armor components look decent, the "cloth" parts scream "TOTALLY NOT REAL CLOTH" to me.

 

[alix965]

That's a traditional clay sculpt method.

I'm pretty sure Legacy uses 3d printing to make their masters.

It seems to me that the 3d printing would require a LOT of cleaning up to get the finished product. Seems pretty labor intensive as seen in the video of the lifesize spartan disply for e3 video. Even though I'm sure they could afford the labor, the bean counters would surely protest too much.

@Torseboy. Although I agree with the most effecient method theory ie; vacuum-formed ODST's, looking at the pics posted within these 405th pages is evidence that even the 'soft' parts of the armor such neck-collars and sleeves are also molded and cast. so who knows how many parts were made in the same fashion as in the pics In the original links posted.
I suppose that is to cut down on how many pieces of armor actually have to be worn by the individual. Personally I like the idea of suiting up, like some medieval knight about to embark on some heroe's quest, but those Legacy suits are far and away from anything I've seen produced by the amazing and creative efforts of costuming fans.
such as myself. I think that's not from a lack of love and devotion but because of the vast resources available to these production companies and such.

 

[Ruze789]

You can think whatever you'd like about bean counters, but Legacy has said that 3d printing is what they use. Microsoft/ 343i are the ones who are behind the shorts, so we're not talking an indie budget here. This is Microsoft's flagship gaming property.

3d printing discussed in this thread:

http://www.405th.com/showthread.php...h-Armor-In-“Iron-Man-2″-3D-Printing-On-Demand

and this article:
http://www.ecouterre.com/static/17545_iron_man.php

 

[torsoboy]

It seems to me that the 3d printing would require a LOT of cleaning up to get the finished product. Seems pretty labor intensive as seen in the video of the lifesize spartan disply for e3 video. Even though I'm sure they could afford the labor, the bean counters would surely protest too much.

@Torseboy. Although I agree with the most effecient method theory ie; vacuum-formed ODST's, looking at the pics posted within these 405th pages is evidence that even the 'soft' parts of the armor such neck-collars and sleeves are also molded and cast. so who knows how many parts were made in the same fashion as in the pics In the original links posted.
I suppose that is to cut down on how many pieces of armor actually have to be worn by the individual. Personally I like the idea of suiting up, like some medieval knight about to embark on some heroe's quest, but those Legacy suits are far and away from anything I've seen produced by the amazing and creative efforts of costuming fans.
such as myself. I think that's not from a lack of love and devotion but because of the vast resources available to these production companies and such.

Well no one said 3D printing produces a finished, wearable piece. Of course it requires ton's of cleanup. But get a 3D printer to do most of your grunt work so you can spend that same amount of time on other aspects of the production. And those "bean counters" happen to be some of the best special effects sculptors and prop builders in the world, so cleaning up some CNC should be a piece of cake for them...

And I never said that the LE suits were a precise and realistic breakdown of the parts, or whatever it is that you read into my post. I just said they weren't one single piece like the suit in that link is. I said "same as us" to suggest that our suits are probably closer to LE's type of assembly approach than it is to that single-piece suit approach. I am certainly aware that they have several minor components molded into a single wearable unit.

Posts like mine and Ruze's aren't in depth, so there is a lot more to it than we're actually saying.

And I don't think you give LE enough credit. They are what Stan Winston Studios turned into after Stan Winston died. They are professional costuming and prop builders and special effects specialists. They did Alien, Terminator, Iron Man. They know their stuff top to bottom, inside and out, better than any of us amateurs probably will ever know without being professionals ourselves. So What I'm saying is that they know how to best put together a suit for whatever purpose that suit needs to have. Foam armor covering our Spartan stunt actor is probably so she doesn't get injured when being flipped over. Vacuum-formed pieces for ODST is probably because of the number of costumes they had to make in that short of a time (I forget the amount of time they had, like 2 weeks?).

 

[Brandon McClain]

http://www.fastcompany.com/1640497/ironman-2s-secret-sauce-3-d-printing

You can end up with a a perfect and flawless finished product, its just a question of which machinery you use.

 

[I am Fuzzy Bear]

http://www.fastcompany.com/1640497/ironman-2s-secret-sauce-3-d-printing

you can end up with a a perfect and flawless finished product, its just a question of which machinery you use.

i. Want. One. Now.

 

[Hugh Holder]

We have a few of those machines here at Lockheed. The bigger one has a build speed of 4 in/hr which is pretty crazy if you know anything about 3d printers/rapid prototyping. Part of my job is to clean up the geometry of a 3d file so the guy running the equipment doesn't have to. The build space is big enough so that we can actually design and print working aircraft parts. It's amazing.

I'd love to get access to one, but we're constantly running them and feeding material even through the weekend, haha.

 

[I am Fuzzy Bear]

How much does one of those things cost anyway?

 

[Hugh Holder]

Low end 3d printers, as in the ones made for personal desktop use, start at $9,000 and go up. But even with the cheapest ones after taxes, shipping, and 'hidden' costs for things you really can't avoid buying you're looking at spending upwards of about $17,000 at least. So pretty much a car. You can lease them too for about the same as a car payment monthly. Though you'll also be spending close to $800+ for your material costs, which typically get you only 30 cubic inches of material. So even if you build your 3d models ultra thin you are still very limited on real life parts. For me, the costs are just to high and making awesome stuff from my computer is heavily outweighed by the sheer $$s I'd be throwing into it. Which is why very few people are doing this out of pocket and not utilizing a company with huge overhead somewhere along the way.

 

[Tactonyx]

The costume looks great, but I think the rubber cloth looks hoky. Great suit, too bad the game sucked.

 

[alix965]

WOW...Nice stats. Thats some great info for some one who likes to drink other people's milkshakes!

 

[Hugh Holder]

WOW...Nice stats. Thats some great info for some one who likes to drink other people's milkshakes!

"Say it like its your sermon."

Well, I had to do the homework for the last company I worked for that was interested in picking one up. Just like every new technology everything will eventually drop price-wise, at least a little. And although rapid prototyping has been around for quite some time the introduction of personal prototyping equipment targeted at small business is relatively recent.

 

[IRON M1GHT]

Rapid prototyping, aka 3d printing was probably used for the smaller parts but the larger stuff like helmets chest plates etc. were likely done with a CNC machine, do to the cost factor, the plastic for rapid prototyping machines is very expensive, compared to the urethane foam or what ever they would use for CNC, I was going to make some stuff on the rapid prototyping machine I have access to until I was told I would have to provide the material :rolleyes

 

[tubachris85x]

Ugh, its a nice suit, but everytime I see them, I can't possibly fathom how bad they are all sweating in them...I don't get why they sculpted the cloth parts and casted the entire suit in latex. Hot has hell...

 

[torsoboy]

Ugh, its a nice suit, but everytime I see them, I can't possibly fathom how bad they are all sweating in them...I don't get why they sculpted the cloth parts and casted the entire suit in latex. Hot has hell...

Costumes in movies serve a different purpose than the costumes we build.

Costumes in movies often don't survive in tact because the actors in them are moving around and doing what needs to be done for a shot. So the props and costumes get damaged or broken a lot. Costumes in movies only need to last for however long they're filmed. As a result, they aren't used or worn for extended periods of time like ours are. If they are shooting 3 minutes of footage for a particular cut, then the actor probably isn't wearing the suit for hours and hours on end. When you see 10 minutes of footage, it's been shot over several hours at least, and the actors take breaks and at least partially de-suit in some instances like this.

OUR costumes are an entirely different beast. We build them for longevity and for comfort. A good number of Halo costumes you see around here don't include a proper/accurate undersuit (be that for lack of necessary skills, time, money, or even just to improve comfort). For a movie, every single aspect of a costume has to suspend disbelief. So that includes putting details where most of us wouldn't bother putting them. You may not see 50% of the details, and some details may not even be in any of the film, but if they aren't there, you'd miss them.

In addition to all that, the foam is necessary for stunt purposes. If you watch the short film, the actor gets flipped around and lands pretty hard. No stunt actor in his or her right mind would take that in fiberglass. So they make the whole thing foam to reduce the possibility of injury. Also, the actor was running pretty hard too. For the amount of detail on the suit that had to be preserved during shooting (remember, suspension of disbelief), there would be no way the actor could perform that way with fiberglass castings or even vacuum-formed pieces without substantial engineering prowess. So in order to have all the details and to allow the actor to perform the way he/she needs to perform, the foam castings are the best choice. They allow flexibility because they give, and the actor doesn't have to worry about damaging it while they perform.

So try not to think of it in convention / party costuming terms. Movie costuming is pretty different from what we do. The fundamentals are the same, but the execution and purpose behind it make it a different beast. Of course the actors are going to get hot and sweaty, but rest assured they aren't trapped in it for hours and hours.

 

[ArktosPendragon]

Costumes in movies serve a different purpose than the costumes we build.

Costumes in movies often don't survive in tact because the actors in them are moving around and doing what needs to be done for a shot. So the props and costumes get damaged or broken a lot. Costumes in movies only need to last for however long they're filmed. As a result, they aren't used or worn for extended periods of time like ours are. If they are shooting 3 minutes of footage for a particular cut, then the actor probably isn't wearing the suit for hours and hours on end. When you see 10 minutes of footage, it's been shot over several hours at least, and the actors take breaks and at least partially de-suit in some instances like this.

OUR costumes are an entirely different beast. We build them for longevity and for comfort. A good number of Halo costumes you see around here don't include a proper/accurate undersuit (be that for lack of necessary skills, time, money, or even just to improve comfort). For a movie, every single aspect of a costume has to suspend disbelief. So that includes putting details where most of us wouldn't bother putting them. You may not see 50% of the details, and some details may not even be in any of the film, but if they aren't there, you'd miss them.

In addition to all that, the foam is necessary for stunt purposes. If you watch the short film, the actor gets flipped around and lands pretty hard. No stunt actor in his or her right mind would take that in fiberglass. So they make the whole thing foam to reduce the possibility of injury. Also, the actor was running pretty hard too. For the amount of detail on the suit that had to be preserved during shooting (remember, suspension of disbelief), there would be no way the actor could perform that way with fiberglass castings or even vacuum-formed pieces without substantial engineering prowess. So in order to have all the details and to allow the actor to perform the way he/she needs to perform, the foam castings are the best choice. They allow flexibility because they give, and the actor doesn't have to worry about damaging it while they perform.

So try not to think of it in convention / party costuming terms. Movie costuming is pretty different from what we do. The fundamentals are the same, but the execution and purpose behind it make it a different beast. Of course the actors are going to get hot and sweaty, but rest assured they aren't trapped in it for hours and hours.

This quote is great and explains a lot of important points, but it doesn't really apply to what Tubachris said. He was wondering why in the world would they cast the cloth parts when there is no obvious reason why. I don't see any reason besides pure simplicity of having it all one suit.

 

[torsoboy]

Knowing more about the industry, you can realize that what I said can apply to every aspect of a costume if you don't take everything word for word. Now I wasn't speaking metaphorically, but you really can apply it elsewhere quite easily. I feel I was answering his question in a general sense.

It's like trying to understand how a car works part by part. You have to be able to understand the whole thing, otherwise you're going to be asking tons of "but why????" questions and not getting vey far. Answering in a general sense makes it so it apply to everything.

 

[alix965]

I think Torsoboy put it things into very clear perspective. These suits involve contracting a sculptor to spend x number of hours on a suit of armor that has to fall within a finite budget. So a suit that can be slipped on and off would cut costs on all aspect of displaying this suit either in film or in promotional appearances. Where you would spend a few hours putting on individual pieces, a custom fitted foam suit could just be slipped on. Instead of a costumer with clothing tailored and armor vac/sculpted and accessories added, you have a sculpted suit with a minimum amount of handlers. I'm sure no matter the level of detail the latter would be less expensive.

I would also add that aside from purpose, the armor seen within this forum have a certain amount of love and attention to detail that someone who is under time constraints or has another project scheduled, may or may not overlook. There is a certain level of love and care shown in all of the things I've seen here. It may be to claim bragging rights, or a mild case of perfectionism, or perhaps because the creator of the thing will also be the person wearing/carrying/displaying it as well.

I personally thing it's the latter.