--- title: The street Art Myth explained url: "https://www.shapeshiftermedia.com/articles/the-truth-about-street-art-floor-graphics-murals/" type: "product-page" language: en publisher: Shapeshifter Media summary: Large format street art can only be seen by a camera. Here is why ... keywords: - 3d - chalk - street art - street drawing - floor - pavement updated: "2020-11-14" --- # The street Art Myth explained *For one eye only ...* Large format 3D street art and street paintings created by highly talented artists are both beautiful and stunning. That is - if you look at a photo or through the camera. Whenever we stumble upon photos of so called street art or 3d chalk drawings on the web we feel like we're seeing something that is both incredibly stunning and kind of - unreal. Unreal? Unfortunately yes. Large format 3D chalk drawings cannot be perceived by a human observer on the same ground level. They are meant for the camera only. Let's hear independant 3d street graphic artist Julian Beever talk about the **limitations of traditional 3D street art** in the video to the right. And afterwards, let **Shapeshifter Media provide you with solutions** to deal with those limitations. ### Criteria for successful floor designs ![](/mediax/images/pages_misc/94/street-art-3d-chalc-drawing.jpg) public 3d street art chalk drawing We love painted 3D street art and we admire the talent and creativity of the artists. Yet, for a 3D design on the floor or any other surface to become a successful commercial application, Shapeshifter Media makes sure that the common limitations of streetart are overcome and the following criteria are met : - must actually be visible for all target audiences and certainly the human eye - must be applicable in reasonable or even critical time frames - must work on all surfaces and in all weather conditions - must not force you to restrict access to the used surface area - must be accessible without destroying the artwork - must be removable residue-free at any time - should be 100% reproducible for use at multiple sites - should be movable and re-usable (paramount for road events) ![Setup for a 3d street graphic through the camera lens](/mediax/images/pages_misc/94/3d-chalc-drawing-setup.gif) ### Street art today #### Made by looking through the camera lens Today's 3d street art is created by manually setting up an inital outline for the artwork on the floor at a single site. This requires either a whole team of people of which one person would constantly look through the camera and instruct the others on how to align the outlines to the camera view - or a constant going back and forth for an individual artist. The outline is then filled with details which once again, must strictly be aligned to the the camera lens. The overall process from start to finish takes several days for a single site, must be carried out in dry weather conditions and access to the area must be fully restricted at all times. ![](/mediax/images/pages_misc/94/3d-street-art-human-field-of-view.jpg) The human eye can only focus on a certain area ### Bad news - we have two eyes A photo camera has one single lens - it can only see in 2D. No stereoscopic information can be captured with a standard photo. A human observer on the other hand is looking at the 3d street art with his two eyes, thus seeing the street and the environment in a stereoscopic manner. With is single lens, the camera will "flatten out" whatever it captures and puts everything on a two-dimensional plane, which is then seen on a two-dimensional photo print or - a two-dimensional computer screen. Everything seems to appear right. Our eyes in contrary can only and will always focus on a certain limited area of whatever is front of us and give us a three-dimensional impression of our surroundings unless, we close one eye. As a result, people standing on the same ground level on which a large 3d chalk drawing is painted will **not see the dramatic 3D effect of common street art, the way it´s presented through a photograph with a special lens, at all**. ## Solutions ### Shapeshifter Media provides 3D floor applications for all scenarios that provide the desired 3D effect for the human eye #### 1. 3D street art landscapes for both the camera and the human eye For very large floor areas that should be fully covered with 3D effects, we provide special 3D scenes that are precisely calculated with our own software, so both the human eye and any camera can fully enjoy the 3D imagery. #### 2. 3D event floor graphics A special mode in our software allows for the creation of event-specific 3D floor scenes that are perfect for photo shootings and can cover multiple surfaces at the same time, thus enabling giant 3D scenes even in narrow spaces. #### 3. Eye-friendly 3D FloorPosters All of our 3D FloorPosters for advertising, signage and safety measures are calculated to perfectly match the human eye, thus giving you the expected 3D look at all times. #### Professional solutions and examples for all scenarios See how our clients successfully use our 3D FloorPosters with over 100 examples in our [3d floor gallery](http://www.shapeshiftermedia.com/gallery/floor-graphics/) ### Comparison chart Classic Street Art Shapeshifter 3D landscapes Shapeshifter 3D event graphics Shapeshifter 3D FloorPosters applicable indoors by restricting access to the entire area ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) applicable outdoors only in dry weather conditions and by restricting access to the entire area ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) applicable on all surfaces ![](/style/img/icon_false_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) applicable in small spaces ![](/style/img/icon_false_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_false_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) observers can follow creation of image ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_false_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_false_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_false_20.gif) installation staff artist team anyone anyone anyone time for installation several days per site a few seconds a few seconds a few seconds usable in all weather conditions ![](/style/img/icon_false_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) walkable shoes will rub off paint ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) movable ![](/style/img/icon_false_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) re-usable ![](/style/img/icon_false_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) cleanable ![](/style/img/icon_false_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) removable must scrub floor and clean off residue instantly instantly instantly 3D look for camera ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) 3D look for human eye ![](/style/img/icon_false_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) similar multi-site use ![](/style/img/icon_false_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) additional content (branding, website, qr-code etc.) ![](/style/img/icon_false_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) ![](/style/img/icon_true_20.gif) --- Source: https://www.shapeshiftermedia.com/articles/the-truth-about-street-art-floor-graphics-murals/ Publisher: Shapeshifter Media, Hamburg, Germany - https://www.shapeshiftermedia.com/ Contact: https://www.shapeshiftermedia.com/contact/