It's arbitrary. A regular zoetrope would use 20 frames on a 20 frame disc because the character is following a circular path, but since this one uses a spiral path you can make that spiral as long as you like.

Given the strobing he is doing, I would expect that this SHOULD work with the unaided eye (probably best if the room lights are off, at a guess).

I’ve seen a similar zoetrope just with my eyes once, I assume it’ll be the same here

As I understand this you would need to perfectly sync the camera shutter to the motor shaft (otherwise each animation would not stay in the same place) - so if you were triggering the shutter with the rotary encoder from the motor you would indeed get the same result in camera - I’m not sure what rolling shutter artifacts it would produce in video though.

Depends; if it like, say 10, that’s easy but if it’s like a prime number like 11, then it’s will be absolutely hell to sync them up

Fun fact. you need some form of stopper to the visual information for the persistence of the vision effect to work. If you ever tried staring at a fan before, it looks very blurry, but if you blink really fast, the blurry blades become more clear. Similar effect. without an "Interrupt" it's a blurry mess. the old ones with the slots, use the physical window as the interrupt, a Stobe Light causes a similar effect if it overpowers the natural lighting, as your eyes adapt and your brain ignores the normal lighting... This effect only works in person, as cameras with their Frames per second acts as their own interrupt.

@@masterredwood Having the rotation be stopped 99% of the time and moving extremely fast 1% of the time should give that "stopper" effect. You can already see it in the travel moves of really fast 3D printers which folks describe as "teleportation". One could hypothesize the "teleportation" effect is only there in video from the camera's framerate, but at least for me it works in person too.

@@daliasprints9798 Yeah that would also work. though weight would then become a major factor, as you need it light enough, or the motor strong enough to stop/go rapidly like that.

No, stopping and starting a model like this with steppers isn't practical. For comparison, try looking up how much effort cinema projectors need to do that with a few micrograms of film. A geneva mechanism might come closer, but the movement rate would get dangerous pretty quick,

@@0LoneTech Apparently you've missed what we're doing with modern 3D printers. Stopping & starting something with that inertia that fast, with steppers, is a solved problem.

I have a bit of a hard time wrapping my head around it too 😵‍💫 The latest figure in the chain takes fewer steps before reaching the end point. Then there are some frames in the total sequence (which I think would be a near-multiple of 20) that are used for then”cruncher” to return to the top of its stroke for the next cycle. The total length including the cruncher movement is less than 60 frames, which is why the motions of the crunchers precess (probably wrong term) in a wave around the disc. I _think_ that’s the answer, that (a) there are additional steps in the animation cycle once the figures reach the crushers, and (b) the crusher action moves around the disc as you’re watching it. I could be all wrong but I think at least one key is to include the crusher action in the total cycle.

In real life you can flicker lights perfectly in time with electronics and the same illusion can be viewed in person!

​@@andrewanderson8803 technically ceiling lights already flicker at 60-50fps. thats why anti strobe settings for video are set to that

You don't need lights. Just put black spacers between the elements. Works the same by interrupting your vision. It's how they did it with candles back when they were invented.

Yes, the slits create the strobe effect, no electronics required. I’ve also seen one with flat mirrors in the center, as the wheel turns each mirror lines up with your line of sight at the right time. You just need a shield so you don’t see anything but the reflection in the mirror.

now watch a cartoon in real life without a TV to play the frames quickly for you... not so cool now, is it...

Wasted it on you maybe, but then you wasted your time writing your comment. What were you expecting? A unique theorem on quantum physics and the multi-verse? Or are you easily confused by the thumbnails? ;-)

creating an original implementation of a classic idea and publishing an engaging, concise, well-produced video about it: waste of time posting nasty comments that contribute nothing and entertain no one: ideal use of one's precious time

Suggesting that if people have been doing something for long enough, no one ever again needs to learn how and practice to be able to do it well? Or alternatively, suggesting that if people have been doing something for long enough, it's a waste of time for anyone to do it again? Both are frankly absurd. Learning about how to make something you find interesting and practicing how to do it well are a fine way to spend your time, no matter how many people have done it before or for how many years.

"no one needs to reinvent the wheel!!" There is no need. Only WANT.

I especially prefer to reinvent the wheel when I could buy a better one cheaper and faster.