“Persistence of Vision”:

What Is the Persistence of Vision?

 Persistence of vision is an optical illusion where the brain continues to perceive an image
even after it disappears from view, creating the illusion of motion when multiple images are
presented in rapid succession. The human eye and brain can only process about 12 separate
images per second, retaining an image for 1/16 of a second. If a subsequent image is
replaced during this time frame, an illusion of continuity is created.

 In the motion picture industry, animators have combined the basic principle of persistence of
vision with the phi phenomenon, which postulates that showing still images in rapid
succession can create the illusion of movement—as in a flipbook, for example. To this day,
filmmakers rely on these phenomena to create the illusion of motion in animated films.

(ref-chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.brown.edu/Departments/
Joukowsky_Institute/courses/13things/files/10384397.pdf)

How Does the Persistence of Vision Work?

Persistence of vision works by exploiting quirks of the human retina, visual cortex, and sensory
memory. Studies show that visual stimuli linger in a human's perception for a very brief period after
those stimuli end. Some theorists describe these lingering visuals as positive afterimages.
For eg, -The Experiment:

In this experiment, you will be making a thaumatrope. Cut out two discs of equal size. On one of the
discs, draw a picture, try drawing a bird. On the other disc, draw an empty cage. Then glue the two
discs together, making sure that the bird is facing right side up and the cage is upside down when you
glue them together. Punch holes evenly on each side of the glued discs on the far left and far right
sides of the image. Attach a rubber band into each of the holes. Twist the rubber band in between
your thumb and finger, what do you see?

How does it work?

Before cartoons and movies, people used to enjoy simple animation with a thaumatrope. The reason
you are able to see two images merge into one in this experiment is because when you see an image
it stays on your eye for approximately 1/25 of a second. The image stays on your eye because the
brain needs to process it. This phenomenon is known as persistence of vision and is why when you
spin the Thaumatrope disc you can see the two images long enough to become one. This is also why,
you don't see all black when you blink.
How the Persistence of Vision Works in Animation?

The persistence of vision is used in animated films to trick the human eye into seeing moving
pictures. Most film cinematography captures twenty-four frames of film (or the digital equivalent)
per second. However, research suggests that the human eye struggles to differentiate between more
than twelve images in a single second.

This means animators can use one still image for every two frames of twenty-four-frames-per-second
film. The human eye will accept this as believable motion. However, anything fewer than twelve
images per second will disrupt the optical illusion of fluid motion and animations will appear jittery.

To create faster, more fluid motion, animators use one still image for every frame of film. This
effectively places twenty-four separate images in front of the human eye in the course of one
second. This matches the number of images in live-action filmmaking, and it comes across as
completely believable to the human eye.

Ways to create motion with persistence of vision:

 Animating “on twos” — when one image is shown for every two frames at a total of 12
frames per second, it allows for smooth motion
 Animating “on ones” — when one image is shown for every frame at a total of 12 frames per
second, it allows for even faster motion
 It’s not always necessary to draw one image for every frame unless you need quick motion.
Drawing one image for every two frames meets the requirement of the eye to perceive
smooth transitions. You can tell in this example below that animating "on ones" will be much
smoother than animating "on twos."
What is Persistence of Vision - Ones and Twos - StudioBinder

 More frames equals smoother motion

 Anything slower than this (“on threes,” “on fours”), the motion will appear choppy and
interrupted.
 The window where we no longer notice the images as separate images, but instead as one
smooth persistent moving image is the sweet spot. If we can use a frame rate faster than
what we can typically retain, we will trick the eye and mind that the images are in fact
moving.

To understand in depth:

DEFINING PERSISTENCE OF VISION:

How we perceive motion on screen?

You don’t need to be an animator to understand the fundamentals of animation. If you’ve ever
created a flipbook, you’ve used persistence of vision. It is the basis for animation, motion picture
technology and cinematography, going back to the earliest forms of entertainment.

For example, when we watch a movie, it feels like a continuous experience even though the screen is
dark about half the time. Films show one new frame every 1/24 of a second.

PRACTICING PERSISTENCE OF VISION

Using the illusion in animation

Deciding how you want to animate is up to you. Generally higher budgets, like Disney films, will
animate on one’s, while most other films will use two’s. Anime typically uses three's, as they tend to
be lower budget, but the details of the drawings often balances that out.