technique · 1 recipe
Projection Mapping
A projected image lands on an actual or simulated surface so its geometry, occlusion and illumination remain visible.
Selected recipe
Projections
This is the default recipe for the Surface Projection Mapping family.
Free short AI video prompt
A starter line you can copy. The full timed recipe, still-image and production prompts are on the shot card.
Prompt rule: Project onto actual or simulated surface geometry from a defined projector; honor incident angle and line-of-sight shadows.
Projections: A projected image lands on an actual or simulated surface so its geometry, occlusion and illumination remain visible. Keep the subject readable; motivate camera and light.
Technique guide
- When to use
- Reach for Projections when you need this effect: A projected image lands on an actual or simulated surface so its geometry, occlusion and illumination remain visible.
- How it works
- Project onto actual or simulated surface geometry from a defined projector; honor incident angle and line-of-sight shadows.
- Common mistakes
- If the result does not follow this rule, it is not this technique: Project onto actual or simulated surface geometry from a defined projector; honor incident angle and line-of-sight shadows. Do not change multiple variables at once so the effect becomes unreadable.
How to read this page
Projection Mapping is one technique in Optical Effects. The definition states the single mechanism the frame has to show. The technique guide covers when to use it, the steps, the usual mistakes, how it differs from the neighbors, and what a successful take looks like.
The clip above is one reading, made with a third-party video model. Another model, or the same model on another day, can land on a different frame. It is an example, not a promise that a prompt will match it.
The free short prompt is a starter sentence. The shot card is the timed recipe: scene, start and end frames, action, light, and color. Three sample cards are free on the site. The rest are part of GrokCine Pro. A second name for the same shot keeps its own URL and points back at this definition.
When you write a prompt, keep the one mechanism in the definition, then name the subject, the motion, and why the light is there. Do not stack a neighboring technique into the same sentence. If the name or the example is wrong, send this page's URL from the contact page.
Recipe
8 seconds · single take
A war-room thriller, 1944: in the Admiralty's blacked-out plotting room, projected tide contours climb a blank plaster relief of the invasion harbor while a staff officer's hand crosses the projector beam.
Shot cards
The full recipe for Projections is a shot card
The full recipe for Projections is a shot card. The start and end frames, timed action, lighting and color specs, a camera parameter table, copy-ready still-image and video prompts and negatives are open to GrokCine Pro members on the web.
Related families
- Lens Flare
Lens FlareStray light inside the imaging optics creates source-dependent ghosts or veiling glare that changes when the source is blocked. - Double Exposure
Double ExposureTwo image records coexist within the same frame through a controlled blend, instead of trading places as a transition. - Split Screen
Split ScreenTwo separately photographed or generated image fields are visible at the same time within one composed frame.
More in Optical Effects
References
Sources we studied for this technique. External links; we don't embed them.
Articles & definitions
- Wikipedia: Projection mapping
Wikipedia · Web
Projection mapping projects images onto irregular 3D surfaces so the image follows their geometry.
Videos
- Street Fighter: Chun-Li sculpture projection mapping
@Genki_JPN · 2025-06-14 · X
Projection-mapped sculpture.
- BLINK Cincinnati: American Building projection mapping
@BLINKcincy · 2024-09-25 · X
Projection mapping on a building facade: images follow windows and ledges.
- Wall sculpture built for projection mapping
@pedrokozovits · 2022-12-14 · X
Sculpture built as a projection surface; the light wraps its relief.