Lenticular Techniques News

TECHNIQUES, continued

Color

The use of color can help add to the depth of a scene. Darker colors tend to recede into the background, while brighter colors tend to "pop" off the page. By using the contrast between these two principles, you can plan your art for greater effect.

For example, even without the lenticular 3D effect, the Lenstar logo jumps off the page because it is so bright against a field of duller, darker bricks. The same can be said for some of the debris bricks that have a very bright highlight on them. Because the highlight is so much brighter than the objects behind them, they "jump" off the page.

In the real world, objects tend to appear less saturated as they get farther away from the viewer. By utilizing this principle, you can enhance the illusion of objects that are at extreme distances.

Note to the Interlacer: Once we were satisfied with the view files and the depth they were achieving we worked to create even a deeper 3D illusion by adjusting the colors. The brick wall and the foreground flying bricks were lightened. By doing so we found that the brick wall lost a bit of its definition. Texture maps were applied to the wall to gave back the detail. The final 41 view files were created.

Layout

The layout of the scene (where objects are placed and their orientation) has a tremendous impact on establishing depth for your lenticular scene.

We put our character into a very dynamic pose by having him burst through a brick wall. This also gave us some great options for adding depth to the scene through flying debris, the logo, and the character's cape.

We started with a flat wall that gives a good "base" for the scene to build on. We have a hole in the wall, showing that there is more of the "world" behind it. This helps to give the wall some depth as well and not appear as flat. It was further enhanced by the bricks pushing outward in the direction of the impact in the wall.

We then placed our character as if he was bursting through the wall. The overlapping elements of the character's body, cape, and the wall all add to the feeling of depth in the image. In the foreground, we add some large elements to draw the eye of the viewer: the logo and several larger bricks.

We then added random bits of debris from the wall at various depths from the foremost brick objects, all the way back to the wall. This gives the viewer many different references to depth and helps to provide the illusion that this is not merely a few layers of images, but that the viewer is looking into a three-dimensional environment.

Finally, we added a frame around the edge that is at the same "depth" as the key plane. This gives the viewer a direct point of reference for the depth of the entire image.

Note to the Interlacer: The addition of the frame was a great idea. During the action proofing stage we were pleased with the progress of the lenticular 3D but still felt that something was missing and the frame was it. Because the frame would be at the key plane it helped greatly with depth. The foreground elements benefited mostly. Notice how the Lenstar logo and the top right and bottom left bricks appear to be floating over the frame!

more lenticular techniques this way!