[Amazing that people are spending so much time and effort on creating these simple (presence) illusions. This story, which includes a collection of examples, is from My Modern Met from last year; more recent coverage and examples are in the Huffington Post, and there’s lots more on Tumblr. –Matthew]
Incredible 3D GIFs Created with a Simple Visual Effect
Posted by Pinar on February 15, 2014
Animated gifs seem to be everywhere these days, but some gif creators are taking the visual experience of viewing quick clips of silent motion to another level. By carefully adding a couple of solid-colored (typically white), vertical lines to the moving images, an incredible three-dimensional effect is created. As characters and objects move into the foreground, they seemingly extend beyond the barrier of the image.
The solid, dividing strips serve as visual markers for the foreground. Once anything breaks out in front of them, blocking the view of the white dividers, the viewer’s brain immediately translates this as a three-dimensional scene. The best 3D gif creators take note of this effect and tend to choose scenes from movies and clips from videos in which something is initially in the background and makes its way into the foreground, whether it be a person, animal, monster, or projectile object.