Simulate a landscape being scanned by a laser

[Jerry Renes]

Hi Hector,

I think I understand what you are saying. I tried something out and I tried to use the same landscape picture which is displayed as a displacement map for the laser. I edited the picture in Photoshop and used the Highpass filter to create the map. Turned out this didn’t really work as I wanted it to work.

Maybe it is an idea to use a slid layer with the fractal noise effect applied as a displacement map? The link below is a little quick test I made. are you looking for something like this?

https://www.renessance.nl/comp1.mp4

[Mark Suszko]

Try to do this first in photoshop to refine the look, then AE or your compositor of choice.

I think it would take a combination of effects stacked together, like the displacement map idea plus perhaps “find edges” and “subtract” compositing mode. Perhaps also just colorizing the under-layer all blue or all red with enhanced edges would be enough. Then create a vertical “slit” with cropping tools to cut thru the normal-looking top layer to the treated layer, in a band that can be moved across the screen using keyframes. Adding a volumetric effect from a plug in like Trapcode’s Shine would simulate lasers scanning thru smoke to show the beam better.

But that’s just a guess. Keep noodling around and you’ll come up with something.

[John Fishback]

Don’t forget sound effects to help sell the idea.

John

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