kaleidoscope

Kaleidoscope

Copy the effect in references/reference.mp4 onto the user's image.

The effect

• The photo fills a square frame.
• It splits into a 2×2 grid, then 4×4, then 8×8. At each step the tiles glitch: they jump, swap and flicker for a few frames.
• The tiles come back together as the whole photo, turned a quarter turn further than before.
• Then it repeats, so the end of one turn matches the start of the next and it loops cleanly. Two turns take about 8.6 s.

Steps

1. Watch the reference before building anything. Pull frames with ffmpeg (ffmpeg -i references/reference.mp4 -vf fps=4,scale=320:-1 frame_%03d.png, or a contact sheet with tile) and look at them with view_image, so the pacing and tile steps match.
2. Use the image the user names or attaches. If there isn't one, ask which image to use. Don't pick one yourself.
3. Build it as a freeform motion graphic. Load tella-motion-design first for the shared rules.
4. Preview the result and compare it with the reference: grid steps, glitch length, the quarter turn, and a seamless loop.

Making it your own

• Fewer or more turns change the length.
• Faster tile steps make it more frantic; slower ones make it calmer.
• A different final grid (for example stopping at 4×4) gives a chunkier look.