Get the most out of the Designing your own hoop POV patterns with these tips.
What is Persistence of Vision (POV)?
Persistence of Vision is an optical illusion where perception of an image continues after the image is no longer there. LED hoops use this trick to hack the mind into seeing fun patterns and images. Using the Designer feature of the AF phone apps, you can create your own images that can be seen as hoop moves. In this article you'll learn how to maximize this effect and amazing your friends!
Creating eye catching POV images
There's a limit to how much can be perceived by the brain using POV effect. High contrasting pixelated images such as 8-bit video game graphics are easiest to see. A black background behind the image will help it pop. The optimal size for for POV images ranges from about 10 x 10 LEDs to 30 x 30 LEDs. Images larger than this start to becoming more difficult for the brain to perceive.
Adding a company logo
If you're performing at a corporate event, adding the company's logo to your hoop could be a great way to take it up a notch. Since logos are generally simple in design, they tend to work well as POV images. The logo will also usually show up in pictures taken of you performing and leave a lasting impression.
To add a logo, first obtain an image file for it. You can save logo images directly from the company's website, or you can often ask for the companies logo image package.
Next, we load it into the Designer and resize it down to around 25 x 25 pixels (LEDs). This is the size of the Astral logo in the above picture. Set the canvas size in Designer to your designed size first, then load the image in. The app might ask you if you want to make the canvas bigger. Select "No". This will resize the logo to your desired size. Some editing might be necessary after resizing to give the smaller image a clean look. Make sure to color the background black while editing the image.
If you're handy with graphics using an image editor such as Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator can help with resizing and cleaning up the image. The opensource editor GIMP is another good option.
Creating images for photo and video
You can have a lot of fun with photo shoots of the Atomic V AF hoop. The picture of Astral Hoops Sponsored Artist Izabelle The Amazing is just one example of what is possible. For this picture we used an image size of 100 x 120 LEDs, then slowly lowered the hoop in front of the camera while taking a long exposure picture. Exposure times of 0.5 to 1 second work well for this. Turn off POV stabilization in the app's Settings to prevent the image from turning with the hoop. This will help you line up the image for the camera.
Note, large images are great for long exposure photography and videos, but can generally not be seen by the eye through persistence of vision effect. For some fun with video trails using your phone, check out the Luminancer app for Android and iPhone.