Go Really, Really Old-School with a Hand-Crank Animation Machine

A few years ago, animator Anna Taberko and Joe Freedman, designer and producer of an early motion picture device known as a mutoscope, came across each other's work, and decided to combine their talents. Much like the more famous zoetrope technique for moving images and the original GIF machine known as the phenakistocope, the classic mutoscope, patented in 1894, could set images in motion, but for only one viewer at a time. Freedman, wanting to expose and prominently feature the cards outside of the box instead of hiding them within the machine, decided to create Desktop Mutoscope. Freedman's hand-crank animation machine, which features several of Taberko's custom hand-drawn animations. is currently raising funds on Kickstarter.

Freedman, who originally designed his mutoscope in 2003, tells Creators that he wants to showcase the magic of moving pictures by making the illusion obvious to viewers. In the past, people would drop a coin in a mutoscope at an arcade and peer through a glass window to see the motion picture. With the Desktop Mutoscope, more than one viewer can watch simultaneously as Taberko's flower animation's unfold outside the box.

Freedman's earlier machine featured only 36 flips, which he says limited the action and smoothness of the animation. For this reason, Freedman turned to 3D printing—the Prusa i3 MK2 printer, to be exact—for the Desktop Mutoscope.

"I saw that 3D printing allowed for an increase in the number of cards available and I had seen Anna's work online for a couple years," says Freedman. "Her images seemed perfect for a mutoscope treatment. Anna had to adapt her artwork to fit the aspect of the cards and adjust the animation to 60 frames."

Taberko tells Creators that her animations were inspired by spring. A resident of Minnesota, where winters are long, Taberko started creating her "flower loops" after noticing flowers growing and blooming after a hard winter.

"I'm also a fan of experimental animation, so I wanted to combine the process of morphing shapes and flowers together," Taberko explains. "These animations all began with me attempting looping animation for the first time."

A lot of Taberko's favorite artists work with loops and phenakistoscope techniques, so she wanted to try it for herself. In some way, Taberko sees these pieces as moving illustrations, because even if they were produced as still prints, one would still be able to see the movement.

To pull the mutating flower animations off, Taberko started by watching a lot of timelapse footage of flowers growing and blooming. At this point, she has watched so many timelapses that the animation style now comes quite naturally.

"Every animation begins with a single asset of a flower, insect, animal, etc.," says Taberko. "As I'm animating, I think about what kind of 'path' the animation evolves through, so that when I compile the individual assets together, the movement is captivating but not busy and confusing. In a lot of ways, the animation evolves organically, there isn't that much planning involved."

Though the duo's Kickstarter video shows Taberko's various animations, Freedman says that people won't be able to swap in the other animations. Part of the build process includes assembling the reels and handles, as well inserting the reels, by hand, which sort of locks the mutoscope into the animation with which it is built.

"The Desktop Mutoscope is still very much a handmade object," says Freedman. "It takes over seven hours to print the parts for each machine. My goal is to try and keep up with the backer's commitment."

Desktop Mutoscopes will only be available for the Kickstarter campaign, though Freedman did say it's possible that a few units will be available for sale after the campaign ends.

Click here to see more of Anna Taberko's work, and here to check out more of Joe Freedman's designs.

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