Single Sheet Animated Paper: Illusion and How To

"Absolutely Genius."

The inventor of this animation is unknown, but it has been featured in a children's book called Gallop! by Rufus Butler Seder at Eye Think.

The optical illusion is prepared on a single frame of paper that is cut into thin lines of specific width. A black piece of paper that has lines cut of equal width is overlaid onto the paper to produce a really cool animation. This is a technique called scanimation.

The videos below will show you two really beautiful presentations by different YouTube users featuring great editing work. They both deserve multiple watches to truly appreciate the animations shown. The music is also great, and the author of this blog post would love to know the artist behind the first video. If you know the name of the song, please do share the answer in the comments below.

Finally, if you have been inspired by these animations, an instructional video from Dude Craft also follows below. Lengthy, but now you've got an idea for an excellent card for your loved one.