Photo Animator

This laser cut photo animator uses just two images in order to create the illusion of movement. Designed and built by a friend of ours called Joe Freedman, he explains that 'the Two Foto Animator is made from cherry and walnut hardwood from Michigan finished with organic walnut oil. Brass fittings are used throughout. All the wood parts are lasercut in my own studio here in Portland, OR. The Animator comes with 3 printed sample cards, 3 frames for making your own cards, and 6 sets of blank cards so you can draw your own great movies. Each Animator includes a custom made metallic paper box with plywood insets.'

The winding mechanism is ingenious and fairly similar to that in a cinema film projector. As you turn the handle, a gear wheel rotates that has a toothed section, and then a section without teeth. So while the teeth engage, it causes the adjacent toothed wheel to turn, which causes the image to rotate, and change to the next image.

Then, when the toothed section comes to an end, the rear part of the two gear wheels come into play, and a curved cut in the smaller wheel locks into place with the bigger wheel, and this keeps the image fixed in the correct position, so it cannot move. Just as this 'holding still' mechanism stops, the next set of gear teeth engage, the the picture rotates again.