Digital camo/squares animation help

Hello and thank you for your time and assistance with this i am trying to figure out a simpler way than frame by frame animation to make a digital camouflage effect like in this anime Accel World Infinite Burst its at right around 16:38 episode 2 I am sorry it only flashes by for only a few seconds and i am not allowed to put a URL in this post so you can find it on HULU with a simple search. I did add a screenshot to this post but obviously it is not animated. In the scene you can see the character as if you are viewing him threw his heads up display. Has some animated rectangles sorta morphing into one another.

Gosh, that has got to be the worst description ever of the effect I am sorry if it is a suckie description really not sure how else to describe it. But that is why i am giving the link to the video and episode.

Anyhow I know i can recreate something similar to it with Photoshop and frame by frame editing but there are soooo many add-ons and effects in Davinci Resolve i figure there has to be a way to do something similar without going frame by frame

I am not looking for a tutorial (though if one is out there that would be cool) but looking more for where to even begin looking for it. I have played with contours generator and rectangles of course and a few other sorta kind of effects but just not able to find that sweet spot/

Anyhow any advice or direction is super greatly appreciated and thank you all so much for your time and efforts. Extra big thank you if you actually go out and find the video on Hulu

Sorry, I haven't checked the video, therefore my opinion might sound rubbish to you.

Assuming you want a very large amount of square moving on the Z axis. I would try a mix of Particles and Shapes. Start with the particles only and make sure the result is right what I need and them work on the square adding some complexity, numbers, lifespan, velocity and all.

I haven't tried anything on my end but I can prety much see it's possible.

I don't have Hulu so I'm just spitballing here. Maybe this is a nice start?

Code: Select all

{
   Tools = ordered() {
      Background1 = Background {
         Inputs = {
            GlobalOut = Input { Value = 100, },
            Width = Input { Value = 64, },
            Height = Input { Value = 64, },
            ["Gamut.SLogVersion"] = Input { Value = FuID { "SLog2" }, },
            TopLeftRed = Input { Value = 1, },
            TopLeftGreen = Input { Value = 1, },
            TopLeftBlue = Input { Value = 1, },
         },
         ViewInfo = OperatorInfo { Pos = { 165, 16.5 } },
      },
      pEmitter1 = pEmitter {
         ID = 2,
         Inputs = {
            Number = Input { Value = 48.8, },
            Lifespan = Input { Value = 15, },
            LifespanVariance = Input { Value = 15, },
            VelocityControls = Input { Value = 1, },
            Velocity = Input { Value = 0.01, },
            AngleVariance = Input { Value = 360, },
            RotationControls = Input { Value = 1, },
            RotationZVariance = Input { Value = 180, },
            SpinControls = Input { Value = 1, },
            Style = Input { Value = FuID { "ParticleStyleBitmap" }, },
            ["ParticleStyleBitmap.DropToolsHere"] = Input {
               SourceOp = "Background1",
               Source = "Output",
            },
            Region = Input { Value = FuID { "AllRgn" }, },
            ["ParticleStyle.SizeControls"] = Input { Value = 1, },
            ["ParticleStyle.Size"] = Input { Value = 0.62, },
            ["ParticleStyle.SizeVariance"] = Input { Value = 0.5, },
            ["ParticleStyle.SizeOverLife"] = Input {
               SourceOp = "pEmitter1SizeOverLife",
               Source = "Value",
            },
            ["ParticleStyle.FadeControls"] = Input { Value = 1, },
            ["ParticleStyle.BlurOverLife"] = Input {
               SourceOp = "pEmitter1BlurOverLife2D",
               Source = "Value",
            },
         },
         ViewInfo = OperatorInfo { Pos = { 330, 16.5 } },
      },
      pEmitter1SizeOverLife = LUTBezier {
         KeyColorSplines = {
            [0] = {
               [0.0259067357512953] = { 0, RH = { 0.157167530224525, 0.235224586288416 }, Flags = { Linear = true } },
               [0.419689119170984] = { 0.705673758865248, LH = { 0.288428324697755, 0.470449172576832 }, RH = { 0.465990845406142, 0.788648301582386 }, Flags = { Linear = true } },
               [0.660535374239057] = { 0.85820886762006, LH = { 0.621117443670737, 0.944666090228612 }, RH = { 0.790961406660235, 0.57213924508004 } },
               [1.05181347150259] = { 0, LH = { 0.921387439081413, 0.28606962254002 }, Flags = { Linear = true } }
            }
         },
         SplineColor = { Red = 192, Green = 128, Blue = 64 },
         CtrlWZoom = false,
      },
      pEmitter1BlurOverLife2D = LUTBezier {
         KeyColorSplines = {
            [0] = {
               [0] = { 0.5, RH = { 0.3, 0.5 }, Flags = { Linear = true } },
               [1] = { 0.5, LH = { 0.7, 0.5 }, Flags = { Linear = true } }
            }
         },
         SplineColor = { Red = 192, Green = 128, Blue = 64 },
         CtrlWZoom = false,
      },
      pRender1 = pRender {
         Inputs = {
            _MotionBlurWarning = Input { Disabled = true, },
            GlobalOut = Input { Value = 100, },
            Width = Input { Value = 1920, },
            Height = Input { Value = 1080, },
            ["Gamut.SLogVersion"] = Input { Value = FuID { "SLog2" }, },
            OutputMode = Input {
               Value = FuID { "TwoD" },
               Disabled = true,
            },
            ["MaterialID.MaterialID"] = Input { Value = 1, },
            ["ObjectID.ObjectID"] = Input { Value = 1, },
            Input = Input {
               SourceOp = "pEmitter1",
               Source = "Output",
            },
         },
         ViewInfo = OperatorInfo { Pos = { 495, 16.5 } },
      },
      Filter1 = Filter {
         Inputs = {
            FilterType = Input { Value = 3, },
            Input = Input {
               SourceOp = "pRender1",
               Source = "Output",
            },
         },
         ViewInfo = OperatorInfo { Pos = { 660, 16.5 } },
      },
      Blur1 = Blur {
         CtrlWZoom = false,
         Inputs = {
            Filter = Input { Value = FuID { "Multi-box" }, },
            XBlurSize = Input { Value = 9.4, },
            Passes = Input { Value = 8, },
            ClippingMode = Input { Value = FuID { "None" }, },
            Input = Input {
               SourceOp = "Filter1",
               Source = "Output",
            },
         },
         ViewInfo = OperatorInfo { Pos = { 880, 16.5 } },
      }
   }
}

[EDIT: sorry, just noticed Sander pretty much had the same thing!!! You can ignore this one]


Same here...no access to Hulu... Based on the description and screenshot, I'm going to say the usual thing....particles. Have a square (or rectangle) as a bitmap input, add a pTurbulence, set the pRender to 2D and then at the end use a filter set to Sobel (this will make the squares seem to merge etc).

Of course you can get much more fancy with the movement etc.

quick example:

Code: Select all

{
   Tools = ordered() {
      Background1 = Background {
         Inputs = {
            Width = Input { Value = 100, },
            Height = Input { Value = 100, },
            ["Gamut.SLogVersion"] = Input { Value = FuID { "SLog2" }, },
            TopLeftGreen = Input { Value = 0.333333333333333, },
            TopLeftBlue = Input { Value = 0.498039215686275, },
         },
         ViewInfo = OperatorInfo { Pos = { 538.667, 37.0606 } },
      },
      pTurbulence1 = pTurbulence {
         ID = 8,
         Inputs = {
            XStrength = Input { Value = 0.05, },
            YStrength = Input { Value = 0.05, },
            ZStrength = Input { Value = 0, },
            StrengthOverLifeLUT = Input {
               SourceOp = "pTurbulence1StrengthOverLifeLUT",
               Source = "Value",
            },
            Input = Input {
               SourceOp = "pEmitter1",
               Source = "Output",
            },
         },
         ViewInfo = OperatorInfo { Pos = { 714.667, 89.7879 } },
      },
      pTurbulence1StrengthOverLifeLUT = LUTBezier {
         KeyColorSplines = {
            [0] = {
               [0] = { 0.5, RH = { 0.3, 0.5 }, Flags = { Linear = true } },
               [1] = { 0.5, LH = { 0.7, 0.5 }, Flags = { Linear = true } }
            }
         },
         SplineColor = { Red = 192, Green = 128, Blue = 64 },
         CtrlWZoom = false,
      },
      pEmitter1 = pEmitter {
         ID = 1,
         Inputs = {
            Number = Input {
               Value = 0,
               Expression = "iif(time==0,600,0)",
            },
            Lifespan = Input { Value = 1000, },
            Style = Input { Value = FuID { "ParticleStyleBitmap" }, },
            ["ParticleStyleBitmap.Animate"] = Input { Value = 2, },
            ["ParticleStyleBitmap.DropToolsHere"] = Input {
               SourceOp = "Background1",
               Source = "Output",
            },
            Region = Input { Value = FuID { "RectRgn" }, },
            ["ParticleStyle.SizeControls"] = Input { Value = 1, },
            ["ParticleStyle.Size"] = Input { Value = 0.559, },
            ["ParticleStyle.SizeVariance"] = Input { Value = 0.3386, },
            ["ParticleStyle.SizeOverLife"] = Input {
               SourceOp = "pEmitter1SizeOverLife",
               Source = "Value",
            },
            ["ParticleStyle.BlurOverLife"] = Input {
               SourceOp = "pEmitter1BlurOverLife2D",
               Source = "Value",
            },
            ["RectRgn.Width"] = Input { Value = 1, },
            ["RectRgn.Height"] = Input { Value = 0.559, },
         },
         ViewInfo = OperatorInfo { Pos = { 600, 97.0606 } },
      },
      pEmitter1SizeOverLife = LUTBezier {
         KeyColorSplines = {
            [0] = {
               [0] = { 0.5, RH = { 0.3, 0.5 }, Flags = { Linear = true } },
               [1] = { 0.5, LH = { 0.7, 0.5 }, Flags = { Linear = true } }
            }
         },
         SplineColor = { Red = 192, Green = 128, Blue = 64 },
         CtrlWZoom = false,
      },
      pEmitter1BlurOverLife2D = LUTBezier {
         KeyColorSplines = {
            [0] = {
               [0] = { 0.5, RH = { 0.3, 0.5 }, Flags = { Linear = true } },
               [1] = { 0.5, LH = { 0.7, 0.5 }, Flags = { Linear = true } }
            }
         },
         SplineColor = { Red = 192, Green = 128, Blue = 64 },
         CtrlWZoom = false,
      },
      pRender1 = pRender {
         Inputs = {
            _MotionBlurWarning = Input { Disabled = true, },
            Width = Input { Value = 2560, },
            Height = Input { Value = 1440, },
            ["Gamut.SLogVersion"] = Input { Value = FuID { "SLog2" }, },
            OutputMode = Input {
               Value = FuID { "TwoD" },
               Disabled = true,
            },
            ["MaterialID.MaterialID"] = Input { Value = 1, },
            ["ObjectID.ObjectID"] = Input { Value = 1, },
            Input = Input {
               SourceOp = "pTurbulence1",
               Source = "Output",
            },
         },
         ViewInfo = OperatorInfo { Pos = { 879.333, 94.0303 } },
      },
      SoftGlow1 = SoftGlow {
         CtrlWZoom = false,
         Inputs = {
            Filter = Input { Value = FuID { "Fast Gaussian" }, },
            Input = Input {
               SourceOp = "pRender1",
               Source = "Output",
            },
         },
         ViewInfo = OperatorInfo { Pos = { 1080, 97.0606 } },
      },
      Filter1 = Filter {
         Inputs = {
            FilterType = Input { Value = 3, },
            Input = Input {
               SourceOp = "pRender1",
               Source = "Output",
            },
         },
         ViewInfo = OperatorInfo { Pos = { 1095.33, 159.485 } },
      },
      Merge1 = Merge {
         Inputs = {
            Blend = Input { Value = 0.22, },
            Background = Input {
               SourceOp = "Filter1",
               Source = "Output",
            },
            Foreground = Input {
               SourceOp = "SoftGlow1",
               Source = "Output",
            },
            PerformDepthMerge = Input { Value = 0, },
         },
         ViewInfo = OperatorInfo { Pos = { 1198.67, 94.0303 } },
      }
   },
   ActiveTool = "SoftGlow1"
}

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BrFRhs ... drive_link

Well I hope you guys can copy and paste this link to see what i am talking about (Forum Moderators this is kind of silly to have these restrictions... oh and you CAN edit your ini files)

Anyhow thank you guys alot for this info I am a bit of a n00b when it comes to the particle systems in DR but I will see what I can figure out what you showed me though is very close but not exactly what i am looking for anyhow for what its worth if you can see the video clip i saved on google drive maybe you can direct me closer to what i am doing

again thank you so very much I am at the very least not having to do this frame by frame
Thank you again