Art, video & music

Multiplane occlusion turns a static city photo into an animated timelapse

David East split a static city photo into depth plates—background, midground motion, and foreground masks—so trains, ferries and water move behind bridges. Gemini 4 Argon taught them the technique and built the timelapse to demonstrate it.

Made with

Gemini 4 Argon

Role

Builder at Google Labs

Posted

21 October 2026

David East@_davideast

Multiplane occlusion. Use this technique to create an animation from a static image.

Split the image into depth plates:
- Empty background stage. City w/ vehicles erased
- Midground motion layer. Trains, ferry, water...
- Foreground masks. Bridges that motion passes behind

Gemini 4 Argon actually taught me this technique and built this whole timelapse to demonstrate.

21 Oct 2026View on X