Bricks in Motion
We are a friendly filmmaking community devoted to the art of stop-motion animation using LEGO® and similar construction toys. Here, you can share your work, join our community of other brickfilmers, and participate in periodic animation contests!
A place to discuss, share, and create stop motion films.
Ad
You are not logged in. Please login or register.
I really am a babe when it comes to making sets. Do you have techniques or any websites to go to? I really need help. Thank you to everyone who helps me.
It's very helpful to take inspiration from around you--look at objects from real life, movies, etc. you'd want to use in a set and think about how best to recreate them in LEGO.
Another great source of inspiration are brickfilmers/LEGO Fans who are very proficient at building detailed sets/creations. People like ANP/Squid, Paganomation, Mobdeli, and Fallentomato/Nightly News at Nine, to name a few, have built some very detailed and amazing sets for their films, and looking to them for inspiration can really help. Similarly, looking on websites dedicated to LEGO creations (e.g. The Brothers Brick) can also be very helpful and you can often pick up some great building techniques that can help your set look better.
Last edited by Mr Vertigo (February 11, 2013 (04:33pm))
There's not really any clear thing to just make sets and props nicer. You just need practice.
I used to be a rather sad builder, but I then started uploading my creations and talking about building with other LEGO fans. I was encouraged to build better things all the time since it was fun to do so, and I started getting good.
It's also pretty nice to just look at the creations made by other people.
Go to someplace like Flickr, find anyone how likes LEGO, go to their favourites, and look at all of the gloriously built mocs there. It can be quite inspirational, and you can pick up on a few good methods.
Also, sorting your bricks generally makes it easier to build things.
1) Build a lot!
2) Read BrickJournal for inspiration.
3) Go to brickset.com, look at instruction booklets, and learn the techniques used by The Lego group.
4) Go to http://bing.com/images, look at architecture and interior design of specific buildings. Be specific. Type "dining room regency period" or "rustic cottage", "industrial furniture", "monochromatic living room", "victorian era", "Georgian era", etc., as examples to pinpint the look you're seeking.
5) Don't fear taking things apart and trying to find different ways to build something.
6) Learn the proportaions of Lego. Knowing, for instance, that layers of lego bricks with side studs with 2 plates in between layers maks it possible to open a whole world of SNOT (studs not on top) building.
These are the things that at least got me out of amateur status. I can see how I've improved since I re entered the lego world in 2008.
Thanks! You've all been very helpful so far! Especially you HoldingOurOwn!
Everything he says is good except for bing 
Please just use google... (Or flickr, or deviantart, or, god forbid, Instagram.) Sometimes I just go on these Flickr groups and sit for hours admiring all the stuff.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/legominifigfurniture/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/legofurniture/
Something that might also be an interesting source of inspiration are wwebsites that are intended for real interior design. Like ApartmentTherapy, or the Ikea Magazine. Taking inspiration from real life will get you very far.
Also, a good way to get into designing lego furniture is, watch some video tutorials, and learn building techniques through those. BrickBoys518 has a good set of tutorials.
Also please note that not everything in a set needs to have a function. If you would like to put a piece of modern art on a wall, then by all means do so, if it goes with the rest of the set.
I think that if you are very creative, and have an artistic eye, the sets and props you wish to make will have a very good outcome. For me, when it comes to building, I usually look at other peoples lego creations, which inspire me. Also having a good imagination and lots of reading may help with buildimg sets.
What I've been trying to do, and I certainly have plenty of room for improvement, is look at real world examples of what I'm trying to build. First if there might be any sort of detail on the wall, like a fancy window, or a brick design, shelves, or just some sort of color detail. If you watch a lot of brickfilms, you'll notice the best sets never have walls of just one color, there's always at least a stripe of a different color or something. What really sets a set apart though is detail. Again, look at real world examples of what your trying to build, and find as many little details as you can; look at what's laying on the ground, sitting on a table or shelf, the smaller less obvious pieces of furniture. Try to figure out how to build these details in LEGO, and add as many as you can without the shot looking to busy. And always keep animation in mind; if you think you might bump it with your hand, you probably will; always find a way to lock things down, no one likes bumped props. 
My number one tip for set design: tile a lot.
Some people don't like the smooth clean look as they think it doesn't look "LEGO", but I readily disagree. The clean tile look makes for the best sets IMO. If you want to make a desk, tile it. If you want to make a bed, tile it. If you want to build a car, tile it. Just make sure it's smooth. The obvious exceptions to this would be the ground... because if you tile it, it's going to be hard to animate on. This being said, for MOCs I actually prefer tiled floors even.
Another good tip has already been mentioned by topit, which was to watch tutorials on YouTube. Try Jaystepher's stuff or just search around on YouTube for designs you like. Also, browsing Flickr groups is a great way to find inspiration and set ideas. Make an account on Flickr and start favoriting and compiling a list of nice looking sets.
Lastly, just practice. Start building sets, even if its not for an animation. If you don't like the way it looks, try to do it differently. I absolutely hated my first sets that I was planning on using in my "Don't Blink" video. I just hadn't tried hard enough yet, because the sets you see in the video are about 100 times better than my original concepts.
Everything he says is good except for bing
Please just use google... (Or flickr, or deviantart, or, god forbid, Instagram.) Sometimes I just go on these Flickr groups and sit for hours admiring all the stuff.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/legominifigfurniture/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/legofurniture/
...or Bing. And not everyone uses Google. I never use them as my search engine.
Also, tiling vs exposed studs (or a mix) are all up to the tastes of the creator I like tiled because it gives things a modern look, but I'm not going to cover all my baseplates with tiles.
Last edited by HoldingOurOwn (February 13, 2013 (11:06am))
Well, I suggest picking up the "LEGO ideas book" from Barnes and Noble, its great and shows you plenty of neat tricks for building things. Also, MOC pages is a great website
Well, I suggest picking up the "LEGO ideas book" from Barnes and Noble, its great and shows you plenty of neat tricks for building things. Also, MOC pages is a great website
What's Barnes and Noble?
PushOverProductions wrote:Well, I suggest picking up the "LEGO ideas book" from Barnes and Noble, its great and shows you plenty of neat tricks for building things. Also, MOC pages is a great website
What's Barnes and Noble?
It's a bookstore chain.
Chiro wrote:PushOverProductions wrote:Well, I suggest picking up the "LEGO ideas book" from Barnes and Noble, its great and shows you plenty of neat tricks for building things. Also, MOC pages is a great website
What's Barnes and Noble?
It's a bookstore chain.
It must be in America or other parts of Canada because I've never heard of it.
Everything he says is good except for bing
Please just use google... (Or flickr, or deviantart, or, god forbid, Instagram.) Sometimes I just go on these Flickr
No, don't use Google. Use any of the other resources above if you don't like Bing. Bing's searches yield better results than Google anyway. And Google doesn't care about your privacy.
Here's an idea - use whatever damn search engine suits you.
Here's an idea - use whatever damn search engine suits you.
That's a good idea.
Here's an idea - use whatever damn search engine suits you.
Ah Sean, you and Just Kidden never fail to make me laugh. 
Posts [ 18 ]
