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.
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How can I make my mini-figs move with less resistance? They are so stiff, that when I try to move them I can't control the amount I want to move them, and usually move the arms, or head to fast.
well im definatley not the best animator and this is some thing i have to teach myself to do but the best thing to do is be patient.legos today are made to withstand more pressure and so you have to wear it out a little. usually that means you just "play" with the stiff lego uantil it can be easily moved:cool:
The safest way would be to wiggle/rotate the joints that are giving you trouble. It may take a long time. Spin the minifgures head a lot. This should wear down the plastic some and give smoother movements.
I've used sand paper on the insides of the heads, and on those small knobs on the arms. The downside of this technique is doing it too much. I have some heads I can't use anymore because they're too smooth. The slightest bump moves it, but I'm sure there's some way to fix it.
Well Mason, I have decided to take a dremel tool to my minifigs heads, and sand down the inside of them, worked perfect. As you said the downside is doing it to much, I used a test figure and the first time I made it incredibly loose, it wouldn't even rest on his shoulders 
, but I have found to fix this, just take a bit of stick tack stick it in the inside, like a filler, and mash it down on the neck, you get great result, and can easily still move the head, but keep it still at the same time.
Petroleum jelly works well.
Practice. After animated a while you will learn a lot of new techniques and tricks, trust me. 
Just make sure you do not break the side part of the torso, I accidentally broke one and now the minifig can´t raise the arm.
How can I make my mini-figs move with less resistance? They are so stiff, that when I try to move them I can't control the amount I want to move them, and usually move the arms, or head to fast.
New mini figs offer the best flexibility to the animator and they have very hard to move legs.
For example i have an very old mini fig and it arm it just comes off whenever i touch it.
Most animators prefer to have "stiff" arms and legs in their minifigures. The head should move smoothly, but the rest should be stiff in my opinion. To make the head smooth, use a knife and scrape the inside of the minifigure's neck, until it can move smoothly. If you scrape it too much, put a piece of sticky tak in the head when you animate. That's what we would do.
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