[tonguesandwich]

All wise ones, show me the way…
Question on talking skull and Props. Interested in the software and hardware(Boards).

What would control a pneumatic prop with lights and sounds?

Poor man

Hardware needed:
Software needed:
Where to buy?

Average Joe

Hardware
Software
Where to buy?

Top of the line

Hardware
Software
Where to buy?

Talking Skull

Poor man

Hardware needed:
Software needed:
Where to buy?

Average Joe

Hardware
Software
Where to buy?

Top of the line

Hardware
Software
Where to buy?

 

[BuriedAlive]

Hmm, I'm only posting what comes to mind. There's a dozen different ways to do each, and I'm sure our peers will share.

What would control a pneumatic prop with lights and sounds?

Poor man

Hardware needed: Homemade PVC Air Ram, washing machine valve, hoses, fittings, etc., simple tape recorder that continuosly runs
Software needed: Depends, if you want to save $$$ you could control it manually by wiring the valve to a switch.
Where to buy? Hardware store, ebay, etc.

Average Joe

Hardware: Air cylinder, air valve, tubing, fittings, etc.
Software: Something like the picoBoo 104 will provide sound and control, or the Animation Maestro or IO Geek. I believe the Prop 1 and VSA will work too.
Where to buy? ebay for cylinders and valves, or one of the fine retailers tied to Haunt Forum (a.k.a. Monster Guts, sorry had to plug my store, or Evilusions)

Top of the line

Hardware: Same as average Joe answer
Software: See average Joe answer
Where to buy? See Average Joe

Talking Skull

Poor man

Hardware needed:Servo
Software needed: http://www.cowlacious.com/ScaryTerry.htm
Where to buy? Above link

Average Joe

Hardware Servo
Software VSA, prop 1, IOGeek
Where to buy? http://www.brookshiresoftware.com/console_overview.htm
http://www.efx-tek.com/

Top of the line

Hardware http://www.skulltronix.com/skulltronix.html
Software: Depends, read website info
Where to buy?http://www.skulltronix.com/skulltronix.html

 

[Otaku]

For the talking skull, definitely the Cowlacious S-T servo driver board. This will get you going with a "jaw-flapper" skull. As Buried Alive pointed out, you can also start with the Prop-1 board and VSA software and get expanded capabilities for multiple servo control.