Re: Z Position Optical Illusion HELP!

Here's something I posted before that might be useful. I think it's kind of the opposite of what you're doing (it starts with the pieces looking co-planar) but it should give you an idea of the calculations involved:



Start out with all your pieces at z = 0 and your camera on the z axis. Add a slider to each piece you want to reposition. Set each slider to 100. Add this position expression to each piece (changing "cameraZ" to the starting z position of your camera):

cameraZ = -888.9;
zControl = effect("Slider Control")("Slider");
cameraPos = [thisComp.width/2,thisComp.height/2,cameraZ];
(value - cameraPos)*zControl/100 + cameraPos

Add this expression to the scale:

zControl = effect("Slider Control")("Slider");
value*zControl/100

Reposition the pieces by adjusting the sliders. Slider values of less than 100 will move the pieces towards the initial camera position - values of greater than 100 will move them away. After adjusting the sliders, the image should still appear the same until you start moving the camera.



Dan