Kinegrams

What is a Kinegram?

A kinegram (pronounced "KIN-uh-gram") is a moving picture you can make with paper and plastic. The word comes from "kine-" meaning "moving" and "-gram" meaning "drawing".

The moving picture is made from two parts: (1) an underlying picture with a complicated striped pattern and (2) an overlay of horizontal stripes on a sheet of clear plastic. When the overlay is moved up and down in front of the picture, you will see the motion, such as wheels turning or circles expanding and contracting.

without overlay with overlay without overlay with overlay

The kinegrams found on toys use a lenticular screen instead of a striped overlay. This is a clear plastic sheet with parallel rounded ridges which act like lenses. The motion effect is produced by tilting the kinegram.

Kinegrams are related to Moire (pronounce "MWA-ray") patterns, which are the patterns you see when look through two window screens.

Instructions: How to Make the Picture Move
(without using a computer!)

Step 1: You must transfer the overlay pattern (horizontal stripes) onto a sheet of clear plastic. Click here to get the overlay:


Overlay (600x600 pixels)
Overlay (1000x1000 pixels)

If you cannot print directly onto clear plastic, then you can print the overlay on paper and then photocopy it onto clear plastic.

Step 2: Print the kinegrams on paper. Several kinegrams are shown below.

Important: The overlay must be printed at the same size scale as the underlying kinegrams. If you reduce or enlarge the overlay, you must reduce or enlarge all the kinegram patterns by the same amount.

Step 3: Move the overlay slowly up and down in front of the kinegram and you should see the motion, such as wheels turning, etc. The overlay must be lined up precisely with the kinegram.

Alternative Method: You can simulate the motion effect on your computer without printing. You can use your favorite "paint" program to produce the motion effect on your screen. First, save the kinegram pictures and the overlay pattern into files. Then "copy" the overlay pattern into the "clipboard". Open the kinegram in your "paint" program and temporarily "paste" the overlay pattern on top of the kinegram, and then move it up and down. Do not permanently "paste" the overlay on top of the kinegram.

Sample Kinegram

When the overlay of horizontal stripes is moved up and down in front of this kinegram, the wheels of the car will turn with a spoke-like pattern, and the sun will pulse in or out with concentric rings. You cannot see the wheel's spokes or the sun's rings until you use the overlay.

Making Your Own Kinegrams

You can make your own kinegrams of funny faces, vehicles, abstract patterns, etc. by copying the basic kinegram patterns below and "cutting and pasting" them into a picture, like a collage. You can do the "cutting and pasting" literally with paper, scissors, and glue, or you can do it on the computer in your favorite "paint" program. You can change the colors any way you choose.

If you are using scissors and glue (not a computer) to combine pictures, then be careful to line up the pieces carefully. Most of the kinegram patterns below have a preferred "horizontal" direction, which must match the horizontal stripes of the overlay.

Basic Kinegram Patterns



With overlay: A grid pattern which moves uniformly in a diagonal direction.


With overlay: A spoked wheel which turns.


With overlay: A spoked wheel which turns.


With overlay: Smaller spoked wheels which turn.


With overlay: Concentric rings which expand or contract.


With overlay: Concentric rings which expand or contract.


With overlay: Smaller concentric rings which expand or contract.


With overlay: A pulsing cloud made from the concentric ring pattern.


With overlay: A field of pulsing clouds made from the concentric ring pattern.


With overlay: A spiral pattern which turns or expands or contracts.


With overlay: A spiral pattern which turns or expands or contracts.


With overlay: A pattern of waves moving left and right.


With overlay: A pattern of stripes moving left and right.


With overlay: Rippling water.


With overlay: Flames flickering.


With overlay: A field of flames.


With overlay: Letters which blink on and off.

How to Generate New Kinegram Patterns (Advanced)

Advanced computer users can generate new basic kinegram patterns, either manually or by writing a computer program, using these instructions:

Step 1: Decide on the animation cycle length - how many frames per cycle. The kinegrams on this page have eight frames for the animation cycle.

Step 2: Make an overlay with horizontal stripes in which the distance from the top of one stripe to the top of the next stripe is the same as the animation cycle length. The overlay on this page has black stripes which are four pixels thick separated by spaces which are four pixels thick, for a total of eight pixels, which matches the animation cycle length.

Step 3: Make one picture for each frame of the animation. For example, if you want an animation of a spoked wheel turning, make pictures of the wheel at different angles for each frame.

Step 4: Combine the frames into the final kinegram pattern by taking horizontal slices from each frame and interleaving them. For example, if the animation cycle length is eight:

Keith Enevoldsen's Think Zone