#FLASHING LIGHTS VIDEO EFFECT SERIES#

Propeller of a Bombardier Q400 taken with a digital camera showing the stroboscopic effect The stroboscopic effect also plays a role for laser microphones. DVDs and Blu-ray Discs have similar functions. Compact discs rely on strobing reflections of the laser from the surface of the disc in order to be processed (it is also used for computer data). The stroboscopic effect also plays a role in audio playback.

#FLASHING LIGHTS VIDEO EFFECT SERIES#

In the case of motion pictures, action is captured as a rapid series of still images and the same stroboscopic effect can occur.Īudio conversion from light patterns The same could be applied at other frequencies like the 50 Hz characteristic of electric distribution grids of most of countries in the world. The same effect occurs if the object is viewed at 59 flashes per second, except that each flash illuminates it a little later in its rotational cycle and so, the object will seem to be rotating forwards. Sixty-one flashes will occur before the object is seen in the same position again, and the series of images will be perceived as if it is rotating backwards once per second. If the same rotating object is viewed at 61 flashes per second, each flash will illuminate it at a slightly earlier part of its rotational cycle. Furthermore, at a frequency of 60 flashes per second, persistence of vision smooths out the sequence of flashes so that the perceived image is continuous. For example, an object is rotating at 60 revolutions per second: if it is viewed with a series of short flashes at 60 times per second, each flash illuminates the object at the same position in its rotational cycle, so it appears that the object is stationary. This may be a ' strobe light' that is fired at an adjustable rate. Stroboscopic principles, and their ability to create an illusion of motion, underlie the theory behind animation, film, and other moving pictures.Ĭonsider the stroboscope as used in mechanical analysis. Adjusting the strobe frequency can make the droplets seemingly move slowly up or down. When viewed under a strobe light with its frequency tuned to the rate at which the droplets fall, the droplets appear to be suspended in mid-air.

When viewed under normal light, this is a normal water fountain. It accounts for the ' wagon-wheel effect', so-called because in video, spoked wheels (such as on horse-drawn wagons) sometimes appear to be turning backwards.Ī strobe fountain, a stream of water droplets falling at regular intervals lit with a strobe light, is an example of the stroboscopic effect being applied to a cyclic motion that is not rotational. The stroboscopic effect is a visual phenomenon caused by aliasing that occurs when continuous rotational or other cyclic motion is represented by a series of short or instantaneous samples (as opposed to a continuous view) at a sampling rate close to the period of the motion. Depending on the frequency of flash, the element appears motionless or rotating in reverse direction

Flashing lights video effect