# Best animated Skull I have seen



## joshschaf

I saw this in person and thought it was pretty cool. Pricey, but cool. Anyhow I did a quick search and didnt see a thread on it.

http://www.skulltronix.com/

-jds


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## DeathTouch

That almost looks like Dr. Morbius's prop he made for the contest.


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## Dr Morbius

Oh man...I wish there was some way to make a skull that could all that for alot less! hmmmm...


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## Zombie-F

DeathTouch said:


> That almost looks like Dr. Morbius's prop he made for the contest.


I've seen those skulltronix skulls advertised in Haunted Attraction Magazine before. That video is pretty damned sweet. But man, $1099... hardly seems worth it.


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## krough

Dr Morbius said:


> Oh man...I wish there was some way to make a skull that could all that for alot less! hmmmm...


hmmm indeed.


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## Dr Morbius

indeed.


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## ScareFX

It is expensive but I think we might be able to do better price wise. 

I will say that Mike Fox does do a nice creepy VO however.
http://www.custommusic.tv/haunts/VideoClips/seance.html


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## heresjohnny

indeed....
hmmm...


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## Dr Morbius

yes...indeed.


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## heresjohnny

I say.....


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## Dr Morbius

By jove...


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## joshschaf

Well I am working with a few friends to see if we can do it for alot less. The Skulltronix prop has some nice features but lets see what I can come up with.

Give me a few weeks and I will post my progress....

-jds


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## slightlymad

Me thinks I will just stick to my yapper


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## gmacted

The video is unbelievable! At $1099 I may have to buy two ... not! I wonder what type of controller they're using?


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## mrklaw

It looks like it would take 6 servos to do all of the motion that it does.
two for the eyes (vertical and horizontal)
one for the mouth
three for the head (vertical, horizontal, and turning)

I wonder how many servos you can fit in a bucky skull?


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## krough

Well, since I have already done this, I would say 4 standard sized servos is about it, anymore than that and placement is a pain in the $%^. I looked at Fox's site and he mounts his jaw servo outside the cranium. 
1 servo for pan
1 servo for tilt
1 servo side to side tilt
2 much micro servos for eye movement 



I would say yes its doable.


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## heresjohnny

my oh my.....


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## heresjohnny

You know, if we wanted to get really fancy, we could use 2 servos to provide tilt in all directions; one servo to rotate a gimbal, and a second servo to provide the tilt.


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## Dr Morbius

That would still limit the tilts to one tilt at a time, as opposed to tilt/side to side at the same time, as the Skulltronics skull does.


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## SpectreTTM

gmacted said:


> The video is unbelievable! At $1099 I may have to buy two ... not! I wonder what type of controller they're using?


After reading this part



SkullTronix said:


> SkullTronix Talking Skull with Servo board,
> 2 External Scene Lights,
> 2 Power Supplies,
> USB cable,
> Bucky replacement neck bone/mounting adapter, and
> third party animation software license?
> 
> RAPU (Remote Animation Playback Unit) with custom cable: add $330 (see brookshiresoftware.com for details)
> 
> Parallax USB Servo Controller


I'd have to say they are using a VSA set up with a Parallax USB Servo Controller and a PC.


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## Dr Morbius

mrklaw said:


> It looks like it would take 6 servos to do all of the motion that it does.
> two for the eyes (vertical and horizontal)
> one for the mouth
> three for the head (vertical, horizontal, and turning)
> 
> I wonder how many servos you can fit in a bucky skull?


 I took a REAL close look at the skull they use, and it AINT no bucky! The skull is quite large, and must be to accomodate all the servos.


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## krough

Dr Morbius said:


> I took a REAL close look at the skull they use, and it AINT no bucky! The skull is quite large, and must be to accomodate all the servos.


Its a custom skull that they make or have made


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## SpectreTTM

krough said:


> Its a custom skull that they make or have made


In the photo they appear to be made from a dense foam.
you can see that from the texture of the painted heads.

Also in the assembly Page you can see the size of the parallax board. 
From that you might be able to estimate the size of the head.

The big advantage is that the Skull might be mostly hollow.
That would give you lots of room for the servos.


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## heresjohnny

Dr Morbius said:


> That would still limit the tilts to one tilt at a time, as opposed to tilt/side to side at the same time, as the Skulltronics skull does.


I must not be describing this correctly, which is not unusual for me. I can see this in my head. Ok, let me try again...

You have a vertical rod attached by hinge on a base that can rotate through a horizontal plane. The hinge allows the rod to swing through 180 degrees, so you have side to side motion. One servo controls the tilting of that rod off axis, the other servo rotates the base. The end of the rod is attached to the top of the skull via a ball bearing. An example of movement would be to tilt the head forward, then roll it over to the side (like we do when we stretch our neck). To perform this turn the base so the rod hinges forward and backward, then tilt the rod forward, the rotate the base 90 degrees.

Does that make better sense?:googly:


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## HibLaGrande

hmmmmm


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## Dreadnight

Indeed...... well, alrightee then.


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## Dr Morbius

SpectreTTM said:


> In the photo they appear to be made from a dense foam.
> you can see that from the texture of the painted heads.
> 
> Also in the assembly Page you can see the size of the parallax board.
> From that you might be able to estimate the size of the head.
> 
> The big advantage is that the Skull might be mostly hollow.
> That would give you lots of room for the servos.


That's a special texture covering, I'm sure the skulls are made of plastic judging by the "Skulls in production" photo.


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## billman

I love how the eyes light up and change colors...How do u think the eyes were done?? kind of looks like a laser with the glow at certain points. Plus you can see the reflection of the covering lens as well..pretty cool..I´d be happy if I could just get the eyes going...


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## heresjohnny

my guess on the eyes are ultarabright LEDs, maybe multiple ones, maybe a multicolor LED. I agree that is an awesome feature.


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## HibLaGrande

Looks like they have plenty in stock.... maybe a group buy... see if we can get them down to 40 or 50 bucks.  I need to get out the legos and do some tinkering.


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## Dr Morbius

HibLaGrande said:


> Looks like they have plenty in stock.... maybe a group buy... see if we can get them down to 40 or 50 bucks.  I need to get out the legos and do some tinkering.


Down from $1099.00 to 40 or 50 bucks? I highly doubt it...Unless you are joking...yes. That must be it. LOL!


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## darryl

Dr Morbius said:


> That's a special texture covering, I'm sure the skulls are made of plastic judging by the "Skulls in production" photo.


If you look really close, you can see the "eyebrow" ridge is molded in. And super cool, it looks like there's a bridge cast in across the top of the skull for the prop board to mount to. Sure this is not your average Bucky!!
Man who posted this?? Just when I was happy to have my Bucky talk someone has to show me this and get me all reved up again!!  Will it never end??? The voices are telling me to spend more money, NO NO NO!!!!


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## joshschaf

my bad darryl! I have an animated skull from Cow and I thought it was great....until I saw this. Now back to the drawing board. I have a servo controller in hand that is capable of doing macros (so I dont have to be tethered like Skulltronix) but having a hard time fitting it in my bucky...so yes they are using their own skulls and it seems to be a bit bigger. Also they have a great neck but its compatible with the bucky skeletons with some minor tweaks.

Ok so servo controls will be the easy part, now how to do a better audio sync is the tougher part...notice how perfectly aligned the sound and jaw/eyes/head movements are.. :-(


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## Beepem

those truly are amazing....*sigh* ill make my own douggie hack on dec 26


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## darryl

Form the Skulltronix's website:
SkullTronix Talking Skulls use sophisticated animatronic synchronization software and hardware and come complete with animation routines that have been meticulously hand-coded to each syllable of the dialogue to bring the character to life with unmatched accuracy and realism! 

I think there's your answer. Who has that much patience???

This is driving me mad. Must have one!!! Going to go now to buy lottery ticket!!


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## Sickie Ickie

*You have GOT to see this!*

http://www.skulltronix.com/DemoVidBig.html

Selling for only $1,099 . ;-)


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## Lilly

Thats pretty cool,
If i had nothing better to do with my money I would consider buying it.


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## Beepem

i love those things, they seem to be much larger than a bucky skull too, you couldnt fit all of the servos and such into one, i mean THEY HAVE EYEBROWS! which is kinda weird but seriously those are sick.


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## DeathTouch

I want one..or two...


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## Front Yard Fright

yeah i've seen this before... they are soo cool!
and ONLY 1,099!?!?


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## strange1

That was great, I love it.
Wish I had one.
A lot of ideas on how to scare the snot out of someone with it just entered my twisted mind.


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## Merlin (The Quiet One)

Yeah, that's nice! Altho way outta my price range.


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## Dr Morbius

There is a thread about this already,
http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=2857&highlight=skulltronix although I agree, it does kick ass. Too expensive, but kickass.


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## Zombie-F

There already be a thread for this guy, so I'll just be merging the two.


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## Sickie Ickie

Now if only you could do that with Ugly Betty's mind and Pamala Anserson's Body!


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## Phoenix

OK, we I've got one of these baby's I bought one after calculating how much it would cost me to make one and unless you know exactly what you are doing $1000 dollars will look cheap by the time you have equalled this. (btw I know exactly what I am doing as I'm a controls engineer)

As well as the 6 servos you need for the motion and the ultra lightweight not foam) skull it takes to keep the weight down, there is a rather fiddly mechanism for the eyes and and you need to devise a circuit and protocol for the multicoloured eyes and fit said circuitry inside an 'eyeball' and make the whole lot not look like something from the borg.

The skull has a lot of cool design features that are not instantly apparent unless you have a lot of experience with servos, for instance the servo power down circuitry will save you a lot of burnt out servos

The programming is done via VSA and yes the speach synchronisation is laborious however, put one of these next to a sound activated system and you will see the effort is well worth it. 

At $1000 not to everyone's budget, but if you want a great centrepiece prop then there is no alternative.


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## ScareFX

Did you get the Rev3 version Phoenix?


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## Phoenix

yup


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## ScareFX

Phoenix said:


> yup


Nice! The skull really looks great. Congrats on the purchase. You have a plan for use?


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## Phoenix

Yeah Im thinking of a take on the fortune teller routine get the victims to sit at a table and do a seance thing and use some pneumatic cylinders to levitate the table


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## ScareFX

Phoenix said:


> Yeah Im thinking of a take on the fortune teller routine get the victims to sit at a table and do a seance thing and use some pneumatic cylinders to levitate the table


Excellent. Looking forward to seeing it in action. Post some pics and video on your progress. BTW, welcome to HauntForum. You should introduce yourself in the Welcome Room. Good group of folks here.


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## Brad Green

Phoenix, did you just get the basic package or did you need any peripheral items to go with it? I know (kinda) that you need something to run the sequence in addition to the skull, but is anything else needed? I quess what I'm driving at is just how close to "plug-n-play" is a Skulltronix unit? I juuuuust about have my wife talked into one, and I don't want to hit her with a bunch of additionals later on!


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## Phoenix

It took me about a month to get my wife into the idea 

Its completely plug-n-play, you get the skull cable PSU, VSA software (to run the sequence) and a routine, load up VSA, plug the USB cable in, load your routine into VSA and hit return, sound will be played through your PC speakers so you will need them but otherwise its good straight out the box.

The only thing you may have to do is set your com port number.

The package has changed for REV 3 you no longer get their handmade lights but you can opt to buy the DMX lighting package, costs more but is a lot better, the handmade lights were just a single LED the DMX ones are 83 leds and can light the skull from a greater distance, plus with the DMX lights you get a USB/DMX converter which will allow you to connect any DMX hardware (lights foggers etc).

The VSA software can be programmed with your own routines using a WAV or MP3 sound file

If you do buy it, tell Jerry Bryan recommended you


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## halloweenguy

*Got mine Wooo Hoo*

I got mine today... Its even better in person.I hooked it up and was very impressed with the fluid movement of the skull. The voice track and programming it came was amazing. I can't wait to get started on creating my pirate routine for halloween 2007. The VSA software seems pretty easy to setup and make changes. I did also buy the DMX lighting package. These LED spotlights can do 16 milloin colors stobe effects, and are very bright. This is my first entry to DMX stuff...but this setup allows me to expand to dmx fog machines, lasers etc...

Sure its a pricey, but after you start to reverse engineer it I'm sure there is at least $500 in parts alone. then add countless hours of modeling, mold making, and programming. It doesn't look like you would save much money doing this on your own. I'm sure I would have burned out a few pricey servos just thru trial and error.


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## Phoenix

I'm playing with some self build DMX switch packs which will allow me to convert all my existing lighting and foggers to DMX, cost about $30 for 8 switches, next years haunt will be pretty much 100% DMX


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## halloweenguy

Phoenix said:


> I'm playing with some self build DMX switch packs which will allow me to convert all my existing lighting and foggers to DMX, cost about $30 for 8 switches, next years haunt will be pretty much 100% DMX


Phoenix where did you find the info for the self build DMX switch pack??? Can you pass that info along?:xbones:


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## ScareFX

halloweenguy said:


> I got mine today... Its even better in person.I hooked it up and was very impressed with the fluid movement of the skull. The voice track and programming it came was amazing. I can't wait to get started on creating my pirate routine for halloween 2007. The VSA software seems pretty easy to setup and make changes. I did also buy the DMX lighting package. These LED spotlights can do 16 milloin colors stobe effects, and are very bright. This is my first entry to DMX stuff...but this setup allows me to expand to dmx fog machines, lasers etc...
> 
> Sure its a pricey, but after you start to reverse engineer it I'm sure there is at least $500 in parts alone. then add countless hours of modeling, mold making, and programming. It doesn't look like you would save much money doing this on your own. I'm sure I would have burned out a few pricey servos just thru trial and error.


Congrats halloweenguy! Can't wait to see your pirate routine for this year. Keep us posted.


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## Spider Rider

Mike and Jerry accepted an invitation to be on our morning show in Sacramento at the T.V. station I work at last Halloween. Jerry told me the R&D costs which I can't remember exactly but it was huge like 10 to 20 grand.

I couldn't make it to their charity haunt last year but it is a must do this year. It is very impressive stuff. I was running through a long list of things belonging to my wife that I could sell so I could get one, but chickened out.


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## halloweenguy

*from the horses mouth*

Hey guys I just found this on the Halloween forum....

SkullTronix - from the horse's mouth

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi all,
There's been a few posts regarding the SkullTroniX product and I'd like to clarify a couple of things. First, I design and build them by hand. All the plastic is custom made in one-off silicone molds. There is no economy of scale.

When I started designing this product I was hoping for a sub $500 product. That didn't work out. The electronics parts alone cost over $300 per skull. Labor is still at about 30 hours per skull. Add all the other business overhead and you can see that the price is very reasonable.

Rev 3 is a much better product in terms of design and performance and the new DMX lights blow away the ones I used to make myself. I hope you'll take the time to watch the videos at http://skulltronix.com.

I am truly committed to this product for the long term and I'm developing a few new products that I hope will scare the bejeezuz out of your little haunt victims.

Mike Fox's voice and animation add realism and a professional touch that is impossible to find in any other animatronic I've seen for sale. His services are worth the price, and that cost is also reflected in the price of the product.

I'll be bringing the product to HauntX (in the Reynolds Advanced Materials booth)and at Transworld (in the Hot Blood booth). I can answer all your questions there or via email to [email protected].

Please be sure to support ScaryU.com, the nation's only Haunted House School.

For those of you in Europe or the UK, we now have a repair and sales facility in Manchester, UK. This should save some on the import cost.

Thanks for allowing the post.

Jerry Jewell, Owner
SkullTroniX
916 600-2295


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## Richie

I wanted to purchase one of these last year, especially after seeing revision 3's additional axis movement. Unfortunately the old price of $800.00 was really pushing our limit not mention they are now roughly $1,100.00. They are just to far out of our reach to afford. The kids would have been floored by this amazing prop. I'm hoping sometime in the future, before you stop making them, we'll be able to own one. Truely, the most amazing animated skull ever created. Keep up the wonderful work!


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## Spider Rider

Here's the T.V. interview, I just noticed they'd placed it on the skulltronix website.

http://www.skulltronix.com/SacCompany.html


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## Sickie Ickie

Cool! Thanks for sharing!


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## Richie

I wish I knew what they make that skull out of, it always appeared very light weight to me. Right now I'm resculpting my bucky skull to have a similar look as the Skulltronix. I've always favored that wonderful sinister look they achieved. Also resculpting the cranium part. After I make a new mold, it'll have a much larger interior for all the electronics. I just have to determine what I ultimately want it cast in because that will determine the materials the mold will be made of. 

I was thinking perhaps going with a latex outer skin and then use expandable foam core. If I go that route, a mold using Ultacal 30 would be great.


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## halloweenguy

Richie said:


> I wish I knew what they make that skull out of, it always appeared very light weight to me. Right now I'm resculpting my bucky skull to have a similar look as the Skulltronix. I've always favored that wonderful sinister look they achieved. Also resculpting the cranium part. After I make a new mold, it'll have a much larger interior for all the electronics. I just have to determine what I ultimately want it cast in because that will determine the materials the mold will be made of.
> 
> I was thinking perhaps going with a latex outer skin and then use expandable foam core. If I go that route, a mold using Ultacal 30 would be great.


Richie, It Looks to me you are on the right track with enlarging the Bucky Skull...It's larger skull and lightweight design is what gives the Skulltronix its room to get "full range" motion. and it exceptional quick response without any bounce at the end of its travel. Tip: Your servos will last longer without all the excess wieght and you may not even have to counterweight it.

I'm sure you know already that you will have grind on the bucky to get most of the non supporting wall thickness way down.

I would send Jerry Jewel an email on his Skulltronix site, and ask him what type of materials he uses for casting and mold making. He is a very nice guy and it wouldn't suprise me if he just flat out told you.


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## halloweenguy

*Setting the record straight*

I would also like to add that I know Jerry personally, and those that read his post recognize that he freely gives away many details about his version of the talking skull, along with advise of his early attempts of what worked for him and what did not. I am very sure he is not trying to protect his business (other than trade name) nor feels threatend by folks trying to create and market animated bucky kits. He is more interested in selling a complete "turn key" shows to professional haunts than to sell kits or sub assemblies.

I do know for a fact he has already sold out his entire planned production run for 2007 give or take 2 or 3 skulls. Heck these things literally sell themselves

Jerry added his 2 post here at my request...I told him about the great work being done on these bucky skulls and he mentioned to me that he got started hallowing out bucky skulls in his early design stages of Skulltronix. He gave his advice on the subject and everyone is free to take it or leave it ??? 
I just got to say it challenges my sanity why someone would choose to snub someone offering help

His second post (again at my request) was to assure folks he has no intention to sue anyone. I am not sure how any of this crap got started, or how things turned so nasty??? I do know by reading the now closed thread Jerry never propagated any of this law suit stuff!!!

I think we can agree these are two very different markets...The Bucky kits being directed more to the skilled hobbiest and home haunter types.


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## gmacted

Thanks for the clarification on Jerry's stance Halloweenguy.

I, for one, like this forum due to the fact that it's a friendly place for home haunters.

I would love to go out and buy the Skulltonix product, but I just can't justify the cost for the ~20 - 30 TOTs I get every year.

I do, however, enjoy the various reactions I see from each and every TOT when they visit my house. I try to create an atmosphere that the kids will remember about their childhood and I think a talking skull would do just that. That's what makes Halloween special for me.

Lets not forget, it is about and for the kids (I'd like to think that I'm still a kid at heart).


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## darryl

Ditto to all said. I don't understand the hype?? Aren't we always flattering other haunters like Pumpkinrot, Terror Syndicate, etc. by making our own version of their props to fit our own taste and budget? Heck, I thought I was the only one trying to make one of these skulls until everyone came out of the woodwork when the Parrallax/VSA thread started.
Anyways, my 2 cents. Everyone please keep up the good work and let's all scare the poop out of the TOTers this year!!


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## Dr Morbius

I should clarify things as well. First I have nothing but respect for Jerry and his projects. I truely do thank him for making a the 2nd post allieviating any rumors about law suits...which BTW was only brought up by one person on the forum, NOT JERRY, and his advice is sound, which I mentioned before. 
My grief comes not from the posts, but from the e-mails I have been getting about this. You wouldn't believe some of them. "How dare you infringe...", You have some nerve..." etc. It just got to me is all, and when the subject came up again on the forum, I just lost it. Anyway, the thread is now closed, so hopefully this subject will be allowed to dissapate into the ether.


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## halloweenguy

Just for reference I thought I would pass this on... here is another talking skull. You be the judge???

http://www.ghostride.com/products/animated_skulls/talking_corpse.html


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## Richie

halloweenguy said:


> Just for reference I thought I would pass this on... here is another talking skull. You be the judge???


I think they just reduced their price from about $1,800.00 for the skull to maybe $1,400.00.


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## Daughter of Darkness

*I want one!*

Hey all,
I was reading this thread and laughing about the few who said they are having trouble getting the wife to agree to buying a SkulltroniX, LOL.
I Neeeeed one of these, and have saved about five hundred bucks toward the cost. Unfortunately unforseen bills arrived around tax time and I wasn't able to get one. Hopefully next year, I'm obsessed. Selling my motorcycle to get some more money as well. Why the heck am I single, haha?

Very upset when I took my boris out of the box this last Halloween and he crapped out on me ,arggggh  Was hoping to do the poor-woman's-talking skull deal with it, oh well.

Back to the drawing board


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## Sickie Ickie

DOD, are you familier with Cow's talking skull kit?


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## Daughter of Darkness

Hey Sickie,
I think I saw it a long time ago, I shall go take another look  Thanks
I have been wanting to get the cave eyes ......


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## TwistedDementia

First off all due props to Jerry. I'm buying one next year if thier still available just to support his inovation cause I allready spent my $ on this years props. I've been working on a animatronic skull on and off for 3 years now and getting near completion. I used the Realistic Rotting Skull instead of the Bucky. There's a lot more room in the brain cavity for servos and guts and it's lighter. I'm also using HDPE plastic sheeting to make mounts and platforms for the internals, it's pretty strong a lot lighter than metal. The biggest task was finding the right ball swivel for the mount so it can have the most movement with minimul slack. I'm using VSA for controll, it's very easy but requires time.


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## JohnnyL

Will they do a group buy?


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## Daphne

Hey Sickie, what is COW? 

This and the other Skulltronix thread was extremely interesting. I'm sad to say I have no idea what alot of it meant. The concept of my putting a kit together would probably be hilarious, I couldn't even follow the discussion ha, ha. 

I do wish there was a significantly cheaper alternative to Jerry's product though. Don't get me wrong, what he has is absolutely fantastic and I would love to have one but it is unfortunately out of my price range. Dr. M's was also very cool, I'd love to have that one too.

Gotta look up VSA... You program it with your computer but do you have to have the computer hooked up to run the prop though or is that just to program it? Sorry I honestly have no idea.

Also, can you make eyelids open and close also? Granted skulls don't have them but if put a mask on over this, you'd want that. On the other hand, I remember ScareFX (I think) talking about having motors and such outside the head so they don't overheat but everything appears to be crammed in the heads here.


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## Sickie Ickie

Heyya Daphne. 

I was refering to the Cowlicious Talking Skull Kit. http://www.cowlacious.com/talking_skull_products.htm

Spend some time looking around the site COW. It's very interesting.


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## Daphne

Thanks Sickie! I knew you could fix me up with a link! He does have some interesting stuff. The Elvis coffin is hilarious.


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