I was thinking about making a stop-motion film, but I am not sure where armatures (skeletons for your models) can be purchased? Or is there a simple way of making one? I'd be grateful for any help.

funky, you should be able to purchase one from an art shop. I have seen plenty of them. A bit vague if you like, but you can get them at Tate modern if you can get there easily, they always have loads. Hope this helps.

Really? must be a good art shop... shaun and the ewe, are you sure you weren't seeing wooden art dummys? If so then those will not work as armatures... they will not hold a pose and are not very flexible.

Armatures... if your film isn't too complex or long then you can easily make them yourself... All you need is some wire and epoxy putty. Here is a good tutorial...
http://joshuamosley.com/tutorials/claymationArmature/armature.html
if I can make a suggestion though... it says use 14 gauge steel wire... don't use that... it will be too thick to move...
make sure you use 14 gauge ANNEALED alluminum wire (that is caped because it is important)
then you just put some epoxy putty for bones and you should have a nice armature...

If you want to buy one, they can get pricy, I have an armaverse I use for Twigs, in Beaver Creek, I have had it for two years and it has worked great. It is not the best armture out there, but it is the cheapest "ball and socket" armature and it works fine for me. here is a link to there site http://www.armaverse.com/

if you have any more question, please ask.

I think SATE must have meant those wooden dummys - I went to the Tate Modern a while ago, and I say loads of dummys but no armatures.
I've just been looking at that wire armature tutorial you posted a link for - what's magic sculpt? Is it like air-drying clay? Also, what's epoxy putty? I've never heard of these thing before.

i don't know what magic sculpt is, but I use epoxy putty... It is the stuff that plumbers and handymen use to fix stuff, it is like a putty, you knead it around a bit and mold it to what you want, then it drys rock hard, it gives you a good solid structure, There was a great thread on here somewhere about armatures, let me find it.
Where are you from?
There are different brands different places, I am from the US, I use either Loctite brand or might putty.

Alright this has some good tutorials http://www.wallaceandgromit.com/forum/read/13220/4/1

On that thread you posted, someone says that Fimo is a good alternative to epoxy putty, if it's easier to get hold of. I have some already - do you think that would do? Also, if you're just using plastacine for the model, is it OK to just put the plastacine staight onto the armatury once the putty/Fimo is completely dry?
Oh, and I'm from the UK.

Hmmm... fimo is a polymer clay, so you will have to bake it, It would not be as good as an epoxy, I know there is a brand of Epoxy Putty in the UK, I don't know I would ask...... um.... I think I remember from another thread that crackingtoast used it on his armatures... you could try askin' him what an english brand is.

and yup, you can just put it straight on, but, I put some cloth tape on the armature so the clay sticks better.

I'm going shopping at the weekend, so I'll have a look around. Thanks very much, Ian! And good luck with finishing off Episode 5 of Beaver Creek.

Oh right, sorry, I thought you meant the wooden ones. They hold poses quite well though. I think I did see an armature once, although it was a one off art shop. Just try looking, search your area, art shops and see if they sell them.

Ian - I was just reading the wire armature tutorial that Nofby posted on here: http://www.wallaceandgromit.com/forum/read/13220/4/1
It says something about tie-downs, which I think is screwing your puppet to a surface? If you wanted the puppet to walk around, you wouldn't need tie-downs, would you? I have also found a good arts and crafts shop near me which sells some alluminium wire, and apparently we already have some Milliput, which is the English version of epoxy putty, so all is going well so far! I've come up with a few characters, one of which will definately need an armature as it stands upright. Another character I thought about having was a fox - do you think it would be easier to make it without an armature and have it on all fours, or have it standing upright aswell?
Thanks very much!

If it's going to be on all Fours then I don't think you'd need an armature. But if it's going to stand like a human then it should have one.

Thanks Shaun The Lamb!
Does anyone know if JLipSync is a good lip-sync program for stopmotion at all? I watched this video (here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=2LEFIGEf74U) on how to use it, and it look quite good...

Yes I Love It, it Works Well

no no no no no no no no no no non no no no.... no.... if it is made of clay and you are using lights, and you want good animation, then every character needs an armature. and no, I have never used tie downs, I have never felt they are necessary.
and yeah, miliput sounds familiar, I have heard people on here talk about that before, so it is the right stuff.

Right! Everything Needs An Armature

Ian - was the no no no no no part in response to 'is JLipSync any good'?

No It Was A Reply To STL Saying "If it's going to be on all Fours then I don't think you'd need an armature,"

yeah, what he said, I have no idea about JlipSync

Like I Said I Think Jlipsync is good

You can get high quality armatures pretty cheap on this site- http://www.animationsupplies.net/ .

but the only ones on that site that are cheaper than armaverse are the wire ones, and you can make that kind, you wouldn't need to spend 40 pounds on it.

Oh, sorry- I've just noticed the prices are in dollars- oops.

How much would it cost to make a fully animatable puppet from scratch? Is there a cheap way to make a rubber puppet? I'm a computer animator, but I'd like to do stop-motion if the materials weren't expensive...

How do you cover the armature with clay? when I tried, the clay just broke at the joints.

what kind of clay are you using?

sculpey bakeable clay.

There's accually a pretty good tutorial on how to make a ball and sockey JOINT. It shows just how to do 1 joint.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH9Pc70nDRg

Oh. sorry. Socket.

use picture frame wire, bionicle parts or you can make ball joint armatures easilly you just need metal beads strong thin metal tubing and wire

good luck

hey waldo use fimo but make sure they are very firm