Should I use a realistic eyeball look on a puppet or the simple white with a black dot look. What the school of thought on this ?

Andy

We have discussed this before and I would think that it depends on what you are going for. Sometimes the typical white eye/ black pupil looks very comical or cartoon like where a white eye with a painted or acrylic iris looks more doll like. Then on the other hand a white eye/acrylic animal eye will give a completely different look. I've heard big eyes for baby characters and smaller for adult characters. Black beaded eyes give a more sincere look. So I guess it just all depends on what kind of eyes your character looks better wearing.

I've heard big eyes for baby characters and smaller for adult characters.

That probably has to do with dimensions. There is a reason why babies, kittens, etc are "cute". It's that the proportions are larger in the head and eyes, and that this difference makes something seem cute (ok, I forget why exactly, but the basic idea is that younger animals have larger heads and eyes in comparison to the rest of the body). It should be explained somewhere in a decent psychology textbook.

Thanks for the help. I have been spending a lot of time make some animatronic eyes for a new robot. I'll post the results when I've finished.

Thanks,
Andy

Thanks for the help. I have been spending a lot of time make some animatronic eyes for a new robot. I'll post the results when I've finished.

Thanks,
Andy

Oh goody! can't wait to see some pictures.

That probably has to do with dimensions. There is a reason why babies, kittens, etc are "cute". It's that the proportions are larger in the head and eyes, and that this difference makes something seem cute (ok, I forget why exactly, but the basic idea is that younger animals have larger heads and eyes in comparison to the rest of the body). It should be explained somewhere in a decent psychology textbook.

It's not a psychology textbook, but Preston Blair's book "Advanced Animation" has a good explanation:

That's a great description, thanks for posting it Andrew! (Note to self: find that book and read it!)