Ted-Ed on Anamorphism

Here's a TedEd video, released just today (January 24), based on work of Fumiko Futumura, one of my collaborators.  The video is just under 5 minutes long.

The mathematics of sidewalk illusions - Fumiko Futamura

Let’s Begin…

Have you ever come across an oddly stretched image on the sidewalk, only to find that it looks remarkably realistic if you stand in exactly the right spot? These sidewalk illusions employ a technique called anamorphosis — a special case of perspective art where artists represent 3D views on 2D surfaces. So how is it done? Fumiko Futamura traces the history and mathematics of perspective.

Making this little video took a lot of thought and collaboration (just like drawing your own art goes better if you put a lot of thought into it).  Dr. Futamura described the process back in July, 6 months ago, when she was pitching her script to the guy in charge of the Ted-Ed team.

How the process works, I send him this script and they edit it and send it back, so I'm sure it will sound and flow much better. Then I edit that, and we have a back and forth, then they send it around to animation studios and someone decides to take it on. I don't know if we have a choice in the matter. We can give suggestions on how they could animate the math portions, but the rest is their call. Then it goes through a final look over then it's put on the web! Exciting! It will take 3-5 months. Pretty cool!