One fan of theDemon’s Soulsremake has used their talents in augmented reality work to add some impressive animations to the box art design. Augmented reality covers a wide variety of visual effects for media including virtual creatures superimposed onto real-world settings as seen in games likePokemon GOandJurassic World Alive. Many large companies see the financial potential in AR technology, withMicrosoft recently signing a deal with the US Army to provide AR techduring a ten year time frame that is estimated to be worth around $22.9 billion.
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Although Reddit user Dion42o hasn’t put billions of dollars into theirDemon’s Soulsbox art animations, the result is still very cool to look at. Dion42o’s efforts inject some life into the box art image, and now the iconic blank slate player character of theSoulsseries stands before a castle with flame urns actively crackling. Wisps of smoke and fog also swirl around the player character and the angry souls before them. Some other impressive touches are an extra digital layer of arrows in the foreground and the ability of the player character to turn as Dion42o pivots the game box.
Dion42o claims that the summary of effects only took them two days to complete and anyone with some knowledge of the AfterEffects and Photoshop programs can achieve a similar result. These impressive 3D effects are apparently achieved through a process of layering 3D and 2D images and then filming the movements with a camera capable of capturing 3D effects. They are more complicated than anAR Instagram filteror old DVD cases using lenticular printing to create the illusion of a moving image, but all of these processes share similar image blending techniques.
ThisDemon’s Soulsbox art transformation is just another example of the many visual techniques available to creators as AR technology becomes more common. Besides Microsoft’s deal with the US Army, the company also recently revealednew AR technology called Microsoft Meshthat boasts the possibility of real-time shared experiences between people anywhere using hologram and mixed reality tech. Creative individuals like Dion42o will probably find new ways to utilize this AR tech if it ever releases, but cost will certainly be a factor as a reported price for a Mesh HoloLens headset is $3,500.
