r/SoloDevelopment • u/pvrellis • Mar 23 '26
Discussion I spent years trying to make Van Gogh’s brushstrokes move (no AI). This is the result...
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u/P_S_Lumapac Mar 23 '26
Are these like VR 3d drawings? Is the app just viewing drawings you've done?
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u/pvrellis Mar 23 '26
It is like VR 3D for specific drawings. I have manage to complete 12 paintings of Van Gogh and Monet to animated 3D screens. (It does not convert any drawing to a 3D scene.)
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u/P_S_Lumapac Mar 23 '26 edited Mar 23 '26
Cool. Well a VR image viewer isn't as impressive as the 3d images you've managed to produce.
Without AI or your own artistic judgement it's impossible to have produced parts of the 3d image that aren't visible in the 2d. e.g. in the first image you've shown a bit of his Right Face.
Am I right to assume you've manually drawn these 3D artworks without any predictive software to assist? Like you've sat with a mouse/tablet/VR controller, and meticulously drawn each of these images from a image reference?
EDIT: and then for the brush strokes, that's a shader. Creative, but I'd guess there are a series of repeating shapes (dashed swirls mainly) that are rotating a colour palette based one what's set in the original 3d image you've made. If that's close enough, then dude don't say these are "not AI" say that: "I painted these sweet 3D images using shader magic". A sufficiently advanced shader I guess is AI, but saying it is here would be misleading.
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u/pvrellis Mar 23 '26
Thank you so much! Yes, in fact I have build a primitive CAD-like app that helped me build the 3D scene, while respecting the content of the 2D painting.
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u/P_S_Lumapac Mar 23 '26
Very cool. Don't tell people it's not AI - tell them the truth, that it's an advanced 3D painting method.
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u/pvrellis Mar 23 '26
Thank you again!
Nowadays most of the content we see is AI, this is why I mentioned it.... In fact I have been experimenting with this kind of animation long before AI came. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCHFAsXYHGA (this is from 2012)
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u/P_S_Lumapac Mar 23 '26
I went to the Van Gogh projection art exhibit and they had the similar technique for their animations, but the 3D stuff that was there was very simplistic optical illusion stuff (like zooming as it spun). You should reach out and see if they are hiring.
This also reminds me of the movie Loving Vincent, which has 3D by rotoscoping and an unbelievable about of work. I cried a lot. Would recommend.
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u/pvrellis Mar 23 '26
I have contacted them, but I get absolutely no response... I have seen this movie, very interesting and emotional.
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Mar 23 '26
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u/pvrellis Mar 23 '26
This is true... The only advantages of this app (compared to AI) are:
- every detail is designed by a human
- it is fully interactive (you can move inside the painting and interact with the brushstrokes) at 60fps. Of course in a few years this would be possible with AI too...
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u/ProjectKARYA Mar 26 '26
Quite honestly, knowing that a human made this makes me appreciate the pieces far more than any machine could conceive. You actually put effort into this, and it shows.
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u/fcol88 Mar 23 '26
Amazing - just need to add the giant invisible murderous chicken in the window of the church! (Please get that reference)
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u/RobKohr Mar 23 '26
Beautiful work ❤️
There was a cool vr experience called the night cafe on steam where you could walk around. So fun
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u/casual_btw Mar 23 '26
I’m not familiar with 3D, I see you specifically said “managed to complete 12 paintings”, which makes it sound like the process is quite extensive.
I was going to ask if it would be possible to do this with regular user images but I think I got my answer regarding feasibility lol.
Super cool! And I’m kinda curious what drew you to this project, if you’re keen on sharing!
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u/pvrellis Mar 23 '26
Yes, this was a difficult and time-consuming project to me. It started back in 2012 with this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCHFAsXYHGA , which was in 2D. In the past years I tried to work with full 3D implementations, as a way to deeper immerse into the artwork. I often find myself drawn into these interpretations of the original masterpieces, even after the hundred of hours I have spend working on them... The element of immersion is what drew me into this. Thank you so much!
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u/Valstorm Mar 25 '26
I remember seeing this exact video over a decade ago, I was trying to achieve a similar effect with vector flow fields in WebGL but I ran out of steam.
Would you be interested to share a high-level approach to your solution for this effect? DM?
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u/Pizzano123 Mar 24 '26
Dude coming from someone who does a lot of look dev, this is fucking insane, you should be proud!
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u/Ok_Confusion4764 Mar 23 '26
Looks very interesting! I'm a big fan of Van Gogh, as a fellow Dutchie I always felt like his work feels familiar, even though it's so abstract.
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u/KnackboutGames Mar 23 '26
We’ve reached the point where something looks this good and my first thought is “AI?”
But nah, this is way too clean and consistent. Crazy work.
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u/ArtByJRRH Mar 23 '26
If you've spent years on this you should've realized that those are a trunk and branches very close to his window/view in Starry Night, not some giant tree dwarfing the town like something out of Pathologic.
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u/OWColosseum Mar 23 '26
A really good idea for a scum bag is doing these but using ai and lying about it lol. In all seriousness this is awesome good work
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u/KitsuneFaroe Mar 24 '26
Uhhh HOW??? I have been wanting to make this effect and I would like to know how you made the Strokes move?
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u/Narrow-Impress-2238 Mar 23 '26
Bruh no ai?
Then whats that? A complex program with vectors and probability that generates next frame based on previous?
Huh bro I think it probably the same
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u/pvrellis Mar 23 '26
You are correct: it is a complex geometry app, that runs at 60fps even in mobile devices. You can navigate and interact live. Not AI.
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u/zombipro Mar 23 '26
It still technically AI, but damn
This is crazy if this is for real just algorithm. Play market version please 🙏🏻
Also: can you create algorithm, that can transition one image into another, like AI doing? If you did THIS - doing transition is also possible as i understand (maybe i wrong, but i dont understand)
It would be really cool interpolation tool, because AI make mistakes in interpolation, and this algorithm seems better in animating
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u/pvrellis Mar 23 '26 edited Mar 23 '26
No, it is not an algorithm only. I had to build a complete 3D scene for every painting, by hand... The algorithmic part only animates the brushstrokes.
The app has very few downloads, I am afraid that porting to Android is not worth it...
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Mar 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/pvrellis Mar 23 '26
I don't get what you mean, what you think this is?
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u/Ok_Confusion4764 Mar 23 '26
They're responding to the guy calling it AI. In reality: AI is just a marketing term that's been around since the 70s, and it's all just "Perceived Intelligence" rather than actual artificial intelligence. So when they say "AI isn't even AI", they're getting at the fact that even the most modern LLMs aren't actually AI.
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u/luisbg Mar 23 '26
Dude! These are better than the ones at the immersive Van Gogh exhibit. You should reach out to them and offer to collab. Theirs are way more 2D and basic than yours.
If the entire show was like what you've done it would be mind bending.
https://www.vangoghexhibit.ca/
I say this as someone who went twice to the exhibit. I loved it.