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Amazing Optical Illusion: the 3D Cube - watch closely!!! watch!

5min.com — Watch closely as this cube changes form from 3D to 2D in an astounding 3D camera illusion. Can you get it on your first time watching?

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  • chuckayoub, on 12/17/2007, -6/+101Had to watch this one twice to see what just happened...
    • krinthekuz, on 09/16/2008, -5/+120my problem with this is that he took the "cube" and the "disc" out of the view of the camera every single time he was switching them... which really is not impressive. i do award points for smoothness though. i wonder how many takes it required to get it that smooth.
      • giid, on 12/17/2007, -0/+11yeah after I watched it the second time I was disappointed when the switch seemed to happened off camera
      • spudnic, on 12/17/2007, -0/+1Could ahve palmed the disk and produced the ball on camera, would have at least shown some slieght of hand skill rather than just camera positioning
      • jmp478, on 12/18/2007, -2/+3That's why it's called an illusion.
    • jh5000, on 12/17/2007, -1/+59here is a video showing how he does it (and all of his "tricks")
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1kbbk8CfnQ
      • ThecNiqueMan, on 12/18/2007, -1/+1That pass at 48sec mark of the plastic part was the worst I've ever seen.
      • therightclique, on 12/18/2007, -2/+4a trick is something a whore does for money..... or candy
      • mentor972, on 12/18/2007, -0/+2Yeah, and he sure isn't using a camera phone, is he. What a liar.
    • emehrkay, on 12/17/2007, -6/+2definitely not amazing anymore because of jh5000's link
    • Trax91, on 12/17/2007, -0/+2If you want more of his videos, he got a youtube account: http://www.youtube.com/virtualmagician
    • ShugNinx21, on 12/17/2007, -7/+28Someone needs to tell the guy in the video that camera tricks are not magic tricks or illusions.
      • Mononuclear, on 12/17/2007, -1/+8someone needs to tell Chris Angel and David Blaine the same thing. I hate those guys and their payed audiences and camera tricks. Do some real magic!!
        • KingMoses, on 12/17/2007, -6/+2Just because you're too lazy to figure out how Chriss Angel really does his tricks doesn't mean you have to accuse him of doing camera tricks.
          • Mononuclear, on 12/18/2007, -2/+4I know exactly how he does his tricks. A lot of them are cheap camera tricks.
      • ShrimpCrackers, on 12/17/2007, -1/+9Yes they are magic tricks and illusions. Go to a magic school, they teach camera and point of view tricks all day.
      • watermelongunn, on 12/18/2007, -0/+1True, camera tricks are called "special effects"... but I think it's really neat to see special effects that aren't done in post. Why does everyone have to be a hater?
    • SysStream, on 12/17/2007, -0/+0Looks like Dr Shaikh Musaphar, the Astronaut from Malaysia
    • Dylson, on 12/18/2007, -0/+2WITCHCRAFT!!!
  • dmcbride6, on 12/17/2007, -21/+4How the hell does he do that?
    I think I see where he swaps out the circle for a ball (or rather - where he could swap it out) as he drops his hands below the camera for just a few seconds...but the cube?
    Pretty damn cool trick :)
    • cabronqueseyo, on 12/17/2007, -1/+6At the start, the real 3d box is aligned with the stickers on the ground. He picks up the box while the ground is off camera, and then he puts it back down off camera again, where takes it away from the shot.
  • dmcbride6, on 12/17/2007, -18/+5How did he do that? Pretty damn cool trick!I 'think' he probably swapped the ball with the circle right as he dropped his hands from camera view directly before placing the ball on the ground - but the cube - oh man I have no idea.
    • MindStalker, on 12/17/2007, -1/+6watch again he just throws the cube away after he shows it to the camera the one piece he removed is a prop and only 3 dimensions figure there.
    • ShugNinx21, on 12/17/2007, -0/+8You are a magician's wet dream.
  • Abominous, on 12/17/2007, -12/+22wtf
  • Skanadian, on 12/17/2007, -8/+448OMG SIDEWALK HACK
  • ravamp3, on 12/17/2007, -17/+4that is fresh, this guys pretty talented... hope to see more of his stuff
  • TiggyThaiMein, on 12/17/2007, -66/+8Can we make his accent disappear? BURY ME!
    • vade79, on 12/17/2007, -4/+37I did my part, but i'm only one man.
  • revjustin2, on 12/17/2007, -9/+4Entertaining.
  • AtHomeBoy2000, on 12/17/2007, -21/+84Notice how the camera doesnt show the area where the box was after he picks it up? It's simple. While he was talking closeup to the camera, someone putdown the tape box.
    • signal15, on 12/17/2007, -5/+120Actually, the tape box was always down. In the part where he stands behind the box, there is a 3d box sitting on top of it and blocking the view of the tape box. He picks up the 3d cube, puts it back down. Someone replaces the 3d cube off camera with a single stick coming up from the ground. Camera pans back, then he pulls the stick out of the ground.
      • imightbewrong, on 12/17/2007, -2/+7i think the real box over the tape is right, I don't think someone replaces the 3-d box with stick, i think he tosses the 3-d box out of frame when he goes to put it down right before he bounces the ball. and someone put the stick there when he was showing the 3-d box to the camera.
      • nshady, on 12/18/2007, -2/+1My guess is that the 3D cube collapses to the stick.
        • rarson, on 12/18/2007, -0/+1You can see he kind of tosses the cube, and then the camera pans down pretty slowly, presumably to allow another person time to take the cube away off camera.
      • rarson, on 12/18/2007, -0/+2If you look closely, after the cube is first shown sitting on the ground, as the camera is panning away you can see the the cube pieces look almost twice as thick as the next time you see it. The tape was definitely on the ground the whole time.
    • carleethian, on 12/17/2007, -7/+2genius
    • synce, on 12/17/2007, -7/+4Yep, this was far from amazing. In fact it was pretty *****. First thing I picked up on was that the camera 'didn't show enough.' Something's obviously happening off screen
    • sandburn, on 12/17/2007, -0/+10skeptical cat is not impressed...
    • bonkeykong, on 12/17/2007, -0/+4You mean it wasn't magic?
    • rarson, on 12/18/2007, -2/+5It's a really great trick, and he's got some pretty cool parts to it, like the disappearing stick, but his implementation of it is terrible. You can tell he's switching out the ball, you can tell he's throwing the cube off to the side, you can tell the cube was taped to the ground from the beginning, you can tell the stick is going up his sleeve, etc.

      The worst part about the trick, aside from the performance, is the fact that it involves such a large amount of off-camera stuff. Really, I suppose it's no worse than a lot of what Criss Angel does (for instance), but if you're going that route, you need to really perfect the trick to make it look convincing. It's a really neat idea for a trick, but it needs a better performer. And his patter sucked, too.

      I used to do magic. The hardest part about it is the presentation. You have to entertain the audience. Houdini started out doing his safe routines by busting out of the safe within minutes. Nobody really cared. Then he decided to set a screen up on the stage. He would break out of the safe like normal, but then sit there for over an hour. The suspense drove people nuts. They thought he had suffocated. Just before the audience would demand he be checked on, he would reveal himself and they'd go nuts. That's what you have to do. You can't just stand there and verbally spell out everything the audience can already see that you are doing. Not only that, but good patter is also misdirection. Criss Angel is REALLY good at this, because (although I find his "if you believe in magic, it's real" act is incredibly hokey and insulting) he can divert people's attention just by talking.

      With good misdirection, you don't even need to cut the camera away. I know that sounds pretty far fetched, but some magicians have even tried using thumb tips painted red, and nobody noticed.

      Sorry for the long post, but I am pretty interested in illusions.
      • Sil369, on 12/18/2007, -0/+1But can u pull a hat out of a rabbit!?
    • rarson, on 12/18/2007, -0/+3Here's a really good example of Criss Angel using misdirection to pull stuff off right in front of the spectator's face:

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV7pajY0zOk
  • ljohnblaze, on 12/17/2007, -6/+147He's a WITCH! WITTTCHHH!!!
    • AZTriGuy, on 12/17/2007, -5/+38He turned me into a newt!



      I got better...
      • thetanman, on 12/17/2007, -5/+1I hit reply to write that. I need to go watch that again.
    • Creamedweasel, on 12/18/2007, -0/+3Burn her!
    • xruntime, on 12/18/2007, -2/+1You mean a wizard, seeing that he's a guy (or at least I think he is)?
    • adivz, on 12/18/2007, -0/+1I bet he's Slytherin. What's he doing posing for a Muggle video?
  • stelriah, on 12/17/2007, -9/+149he's french. that's how he did it.
    • CrimsonFate, on 12/17/2007, -11/+17He would have surrendered long before mastering the process.
    • WebCester, on 12/17/2007, -1/+4He's Swiss actually. And not from the french part…
  • getrealjoeruss, on 12/17/2007, -11/+2Guy smiles like Paris Hilton.
  • jacobu9, on 12/17/2007, -15/+5Even if a real wizard performed actual magic in a video and posted it on digg, there would still be a bunch of morons in the comments claiming to know how the trick is done, after their first viewing no less!
    • spyrochaete, on 12/17/2007, -4/+6Frodoshop!
    • yournightmare, on 12/17/2007, -3/+11Sorry, but I haven't seen ONE of this guy's tricks that weren't easy to figure out. It doesn't take a G.E.D..
    • stfucupcake, on 12/17/2007, -4/+2you callin me a moron?
    • MerryMortician, on 12/17/2007, -1/+6we are the moron's and YOU believe in wizards?
  • greyrat, on 12/17/2007, -9/+40Meh. You know it's bad when *I* can tell when the switcheroos are occurring. It's especially bad when he looks off stage left for the cube replacer...
    • gtluke, on 12/17/2007, -6/+1yup, his shifty eyes give it away
    • AtHomeBoy2000, on 12/17/2007, -6/+1Ding ding ding! THat was a HUGE tipoff to me.
    • Dotcommer, on 12/17/2007, -0/+1SOME ONE SHOOT THE CAMERA MAN. JEEEESUS CHRIIIIST!
  • happywaffle, on 12/17/2007, -4/+11I figured it out on the second play-through. Where the camera's pointing is very important.
  • gothsquirrel, on 12/17/2007, -14/+7You people "think" he switched out the ball and the cube. Of course he did, stop looking at digg in class and pay attention to you 8th grade geometry teacher, morons. It is an awesome video tho.
  • decker12, on 12/17/2007, -4/+86Very cool.. the guy has a creepy serial killer smile though, and his promise of "See you next time" sounded very ominous..
  • MDKAOD, on 12/17/2007, -8/+20The props move out of frame a couple of times. This isn't an illusion. The guy is using the limitation of the camera frame to make his "trick" work. Switch out the ball at the bottom of the frame, toss the cube off frame to the right when panning back to the tape on the ground. This is lame.
    • ShugNinx21, on 12/17/2007, -0/+4The 2 dimensional cube with the stick is an optical illusion. The fact that he preforms his "trick" by moving the camera is not illusion. If you try to replace misdirection by purposely moving a camera so you can work your magic then you aren't performing a magic illusion.
      • Gizza, on 12/18/2007, -0/+1I agree. If you can't do it in front of a live audience, then its not really an illusion. Anyone can swap thing out, out of view of the camera.
  • blackmage439, on 12/17/2007, -6/+1Amazingly retarded video, but the concept is fascinating. I had trouble understanding what he was saying half the time. I really wish they had gone into more detail about the circle next to the box. By the time I realized it appeared 3D, he took it away...
  • jimmypopjr, on 12/17/2007, -6/+1At 20 seconds in you can see him toss the cube a bit, hard enough that it wouldn't be in the shot when the camera followed, which means someone put down the tape while the area was out of camera.
    • MindStalker, on 12/17/2007, -1/+5Actually the tape was always there, the cube was lined up to cover the tape just perfectly for the shot.
  • myempyrean, on 12/17/2007, -9/+0photoshopped.
    the cube was never actually 3d (at least the one you see for the most part), the one that was actually 3d (where he picked it up) he throws it away after out of shot. the illusion comes from that 1 straw or whatever he has thats lined up with the tape
  • bcardarella, on 12/17/2007, -10/+14Here's my guess: he has three cube props: the actual cube, a single white stick that was either standing behind the actual stick on the cube or placed when the camera panned away and the taped cube that was already laid down... the angle from which they are taping the 2D cube was obscured by the actual cube.
    When the camera pans away the first time he picks up the 3D cube and puts it back down. As soon as it is put down someone grabs that 3D cube. So when the camera pans back it appears to still be there. The angle of the camera makes the 2D cube look 3D.
    That single stick is the only 3D part now. That's why he can put his hand behind it. You'll notice that the very top of that stick looks a little off (because it actually isn't connected to anything)
    So to me this basically looks like a bait & switch. The camera panning away is the only reason it works. Any other theories?
  • roffelmeh, on 12/17/2007, -8/+2looks fake.
    • szmigiel, on 12/17/2007, -1/+3what looked fake? the box or the tape of the ground? did the rubber ball look fake? or the disk?
    • TheSnuffster, on 12/17/2007, -0/+3I'm guessing you don't fully understand what "optical illusion" means...
    • bonkeykong, on 12/17/2007, -0/+2I think he used Photoshop
    • Vapor17, on 12/17/2007, -0/+2 it wasn't fake, that was real magic
  • Nougat, on 12/17/2007, -5/+3The thing is off camera for long periods of time. It's a neat camera trick, but that's all it is.
    • briantech, on 12/17/2007, -3/+5Yes, you are correct, all it is is a trick. I think we're all aware its a trick. What, were you hoping it was real magic?
      • Nougat, on 12/17/2007, -0/+3The point I was making is that it's not sleight of hand, it's a camera trick. Much like David Blaine and his levitation trick, where they cut the shot to him being lifted by a crane to make the viewer think it's more than it is.
      • Mononuclear, on 12/17/2007, -0/+1If I want to see camera tricks I can go to the movies. Magicians are supposed to be able to do magic live in front of people.. not rely on moving out of camera frame or using camera cuts.
  • davet111, on 12/17/2007, -3/+11At the begging of the trick the cube is already lined up with the tape on the ground. he switched the disk out for a ball off camera. then he never put the 3d cube back where it was. he just threw it off camera. and then all that was left was the tape on the ground.
    not a very good trick, because it requires a camera to restrict your viewing.
  • splendid, on 12/17/2007, -5/+2He never puts the cube back on the floor, instead he passes it to someone else. Presumably the same person who stuck a flat image of a cube to the ground whilst carefully leaving 1 remaining edge of the cube standing out of the ground e.g. the only edge still in 3D.
  • ZTYKA, on 12/17/2007, -5/+8The cameraman was the magician. Plenty of magicians can swap the ball for the paper without having to hide below the camera's view. Initially surprising, ultimately lame.
    • ShugNinx21, on 12/17/2007, -0/+3Who would digg this guy down? Swapping out the balls off camera is in no way Slight of hand, or magic for that matter. It's not even ***** clever.
  • over900000, on 12/17/2007, -3/+2Here is the original author's page
    http://www.youtube.com/virtualmagician
    He has a lot more cool videos.
  • Niubai, on 12/17/2007, -4/+5Amazing ? It's plain silly , he just switched the disc for a ball and dropped out the 3D cube with the 3D fake cube already on the floor.
    • ubergeek09, on 12/20/2007, -0/+1The ball isn't the illusion it's supposed to be 3d.
  • IllBeBack, on 12/17/2007, -6/+3I want my 5min back.
  • domness, on 12/17/2007, -6/+1I'm scared about when he will see me again next time with his rapist face.
    But still, the trick is ace. I didn't really understand what i was looking at the first time but now I kinda get it haha.
  • digitalagent, on 12/17/2007, -6/+2Only one leg of the cube is actually real. The rest is tape. He tosses the cube aside right after showing to camera.
  • kalleanka, on 12/17/2007, -4/+3No one put down tape when the camera was out of the area. The tape was there all the time. However, the box was never put down there. Look again, he holds the cube, but you never see it been placed down on the ground. His hand and the box is out of the camera. He actually tosses it away, and when the camera one second later shows that area you see the tape on the ground.
  • albiniak, on 12/17/2007, -4/+2combine this with the darth beggar guy on the front page, and i'd donate a quarter.
  • jayliquori, on 12/17/2007, -7/+1The trendy handheld web feeling of it makes it more believeable.

    All trickery. the amazing thinks you can do with Adobe software.
  • JonProphet, on 12/17/2007, -0/+4That guy gives me the creeps.
  • merrickx, on 12/17/2007, -4/+1There's a 3d cube and the tape cube on the sidewalk. At the right angle it looks like one cube. He picks up the 3d cube but if the camera had shown the whole thing you would have seen the tape cube on the ground. When he puts the 3d cube back down he actually gives it a little toss before the camera pans down to the tape cube. Now all of a sudden the cube is flat... because he tossed the 3d one out. When he grabs one of the legs of the cubes it looks digitally altered. I don't think there was a leg at all. It's pretty clever, though. It's like those 3d drawings the one guy does with chalk.
  • stealthrocket, on 12/17/2007, -1/+3It was pretty poorly done. You can clearly tell the ball is in his right hand while he's showing you the flat disc in his left. He even puts the ball down with his right hand. And yeah, he looks off camera at his helper when the cube switch happens.
  • cryptomystic, on 12/17/2007, -1/+2I'd be more impressed if the camera wasn't constantly panning away from cube and the pavement so I couldn't see what was going on. Lame street magic, give me Derren Brown.
    • x0mb13, on 12/17/2007, -0/+1i used to subscribe to this guys podcast but all his "magic" is all like this, just usually involves more than one camera, extras, and some opportune camera shakes. lame. but cooler than me.
  • qwertycopter, on 12/17/2007, -2/+1His name is Marco Tempest and you can see all of his videos here:
    http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?p=r&user=vir ...
  • MacTyler, on 12/17/2007, -8/+0You guys do understand that the cube isn't real, but instead drawn on the video afterwards right?
  • GeekyGerge, on 12/17/2007, -2/+26PedoSmile!?
  • imightbewrong, on 12/17/2007, -2/+1this is a good trick, the ball is a total red herring but who cares, when he puts the cube down after holding it in the air he must have tossed it out of frame-but it really doesn't look like it.
  • thadrine, on 12/17/2007, -5/+5Right before he throws the ball away you can see a really good screen cut, where they taped the 2D cube to the ground.

    Not so much magic trick as it is CAMERA MAGIC.
    • leftler, on 12/17/2007, -0/+1No cuts, this guy prides himself on doing camera magic with no edits. go watch his other videos on youtube.
    • br0ken1128, on 12/17/2007, -0/+1I can pull this same trick off with no screen cuts.. all I need is someone I know handling the camera, a flat white disc, a real white ball, a real 3d cube and a 2d sticky version .. as well as someone off camera to put that 2d version in place at the right time..
  • biff198, on 12/17/2007, -4/+5It's not that hard to figure out. A real cube was placed in front of a cube drawn on the ground (minus that one side) in such a way that it perfectly covers the 'flat' cube. This magician uses amateur techniques (such as completely removing the objects from the camera's view). When he does this with the disc, he drops a ball out of his long sleeves (another amateur technique). He then grabs the real cube, and when he goes to set it down, you see his arm move quickly, as he's actually tossing it out of the way, revealing the fake cube on the sidewalk. The piece that was removed could have easily been set up to stand there until he removed it.
    • br0ken1128, on 12/17/2007, -0/+1it's possible that the cube was on the ground to begin with but I don't think so .. the one part of the cube that he picks back up later would have to be perfectly aligned with the camera perspective in order for that to work and with him picking it up and putting it back down, I don't see how he could unless it was luck..

      I think when the object goes out of view, someone quickly moves it and drops down the 2d version quickly
  • NJPENSO, on 12/17/2007, -3/+3Wow you guys figured out the trick! Now shut up, we know it's not really magic.
  • zzzpoohzzz, on 12/17/2007, -4/+5can we please stop the explanations?
    we dont have to read the same thing over and over...
    you understand the trick... doesn't mean you have to post it (again)
  • Lugano, on 12/17/2007, -2/+1All I saw was a guy who had a vertical stick on the ground that lined up with the camera made it look like it was part of the rest of the "cube" then when he puts his hand "in" the cube all he is doing is putitng his hand behind that stick. When he removes the stick he basically removes the only part that isn't table and then pulls up the tape. Eh...not very impressive.
    • screwattackthis, on 12/17/2007, -0/+0Watch again. In the begining of the video, his entire body is behind the cube.
  • Zoshchenko, on 12/17/2007, -9/+8Oh my God....a magic trick...let me explain how it was done...let me prove that it wasn't REALLY magic...no supernatural forces intervened! Why do people on Digg not understand what an illusion is all about. Do you pick apart the individual notes where you hear some music? Do you explain what kind of brushes or paint an artist used when you see a painting? And what about movies...do you believe the makers of I Am Legend actually went forward in time to film NYC in the future? If not, where's the explanation??? Tell me how it was done!
    • riah, on 12/17/2007, -1/+3Dude... we are geeks. We thrive off knowing how things work.
      • rmccs0x, on 12/17/2007, -0/+1a camera trick is a magic trick. whatever tools are used is irrelevant, its still a magic trick/illusion.
    • ShugNinx21, on 12/17/2007, -0/+1It wasn't a magic trick. It was a camera trick. If he would have used slight of hand on camera to switch the ball and disk and not used the 3d cube at all as well as not remove the stick it would have been a cool magic trick.
      • br0ken1128, on 12/17/2007, -0/+1When you say camera trick it sounds like you're suggesting an edit or something like that, I don't think that happened at all .. the ball swap and the 3d cube being replaced with a 2d cube was just all done off camera .. but in real time.. no camera edits
    • TheYar, on 12/18/2007, -0/+0The description promised "amazing" and "astounding." Diggers are pointing out that isn't true.
  • Gumby_Mac, on 12/17/2007, -0/+1If i give him a quarter will he go away?
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