next question... darts and how they work?

[Goochman]

Okay so I've realy gotten the hang of working with the foam as far as cutting and glueing, now I'm trying to figure out how darts work. I understand the concept, you cut a v shape and you get a curve. What I'm trying to learn is how to angles and depth affect the curves? Is there a good link anyone has that they can share on this?

 

[Melonpool]

I think it's just something you have to experiment with, I know that I was intimidated by them at first, but now I can look at a shape and figure out where the darts need to go about 90% of the time. With refinement, I can usually get them in the right place eventually.

I know this isn't much help, but I suggest getting a cheap piece of foam and doing some experimentation. Also, the Foam Book has some pretty good explanations of what basic darts do.

 

[Goochman]

I know this isn't much help, but I suggest getting a cheap piece of foam and doing some experimentation. Also, the Foam Book has some pretty good explanations of what basic darts do.

that's good advice, I got a few cheap pieces that I've been playing with. I was sort of torn on getting the foam book, I've heard mixed reactions about it. Do you really think it's worth it?

 

[Melonpool]

In that respect, it's pretty good -- but that's about 4-5 pages of good material out of a 100-odd page book. And it's pretty basic. There's also a lot of bad advice in there too (using spray adhesive to glue foam instead of contact cement).

The one big plus in the book is that it doesn;t show you how to build any specific puppets -- it basically teaches you the skills necessary to tackle your own projects. For that, it's a good book, but if you're already well on your way, you probably don't need it.