Watch: Artwork On Fine Pitch LED Morphs To Logo When Sensor Triggered

October 19, 2018 by Dave Haynes

This is a cool little concept from the digital creative shop Fusion CI Studios – a morphing animation on a big screen, triggered by a sensor.

The idea, in this case, is artwork on a fine pitch LED display that looks like artwork in a lounge.

My command of motion graphic design tools is non-existent, but I think these sorts of animations can be done, relatively easily, when you have talent, experience and the right plug-ins.

It’s more the concept I like, of a static visual slowly shape-shifting into something very different. This would work nicely in a reception area or VIP lounge of a lux hotel. It would burst into flames in a busy area like a mall or airport, because the file would constantly triggered by passersby.

West Coast-based Fusion seems to specialize in interesting visuals, like this waterfalls effect in a bar at a Catskills, NY casino.

  1. Stevie Max says:

    Hey Dave,
    Here’s a little thumbnail on how this effect was created here at Fusion, for our fellow ‘geek’ readers who may be curious! We wouldn’t call it easy… and we WISH there was a plug-in for this kind of effect, wouldn’t that be grand?! Maybe we should create one, to avoid all the heavy lifting for others who want to go down this path…
    Based on client meetings, we were inspired to develop a new technique – innovative transitioning between static art images. The transitions themselves had to be as stunning as the art, and they had to grow ‘organically’ from the art itself. Our creative director, Lauren Millar, wanted to see each art piece transform into liquid paint, and then gracefully flow and mix and swirl, ultimately mixing with the next art piece, finally flowing into static positions to complete the transition. And so a whole new era of visual effects development was born here!
    Fusion’s R&D team, led by Mark Stasiuk, were inspired to create the transitions with computer-generated fluid simulations. They used aspects of the imagery in the art as proxies for fluid properties. For example, gradients in luminance were used as proxies for fluid pressure gradients that drive flow, and hues in the art imagery were used as proxies for fluid viscosity that resists flow (can you tell Mark has a PhD in Fluid Dynamics : )
    Because each color in the image has unique color properties, that color behaves like a fluid and interacts at its margins with surrounding pools of color, forming complex, highly organic color flows, evolving naturally from the original art piece.
    Since this method is image-based, it naturally allows color-fluid “force fields” to be layered in just the way you composite images, and the flow forces can be controlled with compositing-like tools. For example, color correction, such as gamma adjustments, heightens motions. The potential controls and resulting motions are endless, so the R&D team came up with a wide palette of color flow styles, allowing Lauren to select and mix and achieve the right motions for the installation.
    This remains a very active area of research at Fusion CIS. The latest exciting development allows this process to be interactive! Since the simulation methods rely dominantly on 2D image manipulations, they can be executed in real time and made interactive (so triggered by human movement… or anything you want).
    We’re also exploring methods for making the color flows fully 3D, so the fluid flows will appear to be layered back into the depths of the screen, creating a very cool 3D effect!
    There you have it! Easy peasy, Dave : )) Thanks for your interest!

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