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Finished video

Hiroshige ukiyo-e print turned into a 3D brand film

A 30-second portrait video, made as an attempt to animate Japanese art with today's technology, that splits one Hiroshige print into layers, rebuilds it in space and enters a street of Edo cotton wholesalers

Narration and on-screen text are in Japanese. The sections below describe the video in English.

Brand film
30 sec
Portrait
In-house sample | Source image: Utagawa Hiroshige, "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo: Cotton-Goods Lane, Ōdenma-chō" (collection of the National Diet Library, public domain)
Published Oct 13, 2026

How it was made: One ukiyo-e print was cut into layers for the women, the row of shops, the ground, the distant view, the pillar and the title cartouche. Wall areas hidden in the picture were filled in by copying the repeating shopfronts in matching perspective. The layers were placed in space in 3D software (Blender), with every operation done by script. Music and sound effects were made with generative AI (ElevenLabs) and finished in editing (no filming or narration)

A video like this$700 (excl. tax) · As few as 5 business days30 seconds, portrait | Pricing

Overview and production conditions

We were looking for something distinctive to Shian for our Instagram posts.
Thinking of traditional Japanese aesthetics as a strength of Japan led to the idea of animating ukiyo-e.
One Hiroshige print is split into layers, made 3D, and the camera walks into the street in the picture.

Where it runs: A 30-second portrait 9:16 video planned for Instagram. The last scene returns to the opening image, so it connects when played on loop
Structure: It starts as the original print, splits into layers that move apart, assembles into a street with depth, walks through the street, then pulls back quickly to the opening image
Approach: From the front it always looks like the original single picture, and from the side the layers appear separated. Every layer moves only along lines that project to the same position from the original viewpoint. There is no narration or text, and the video is carried by koto, shamisen and taiko music and sound effects
Production time: From the first discussion around 7 p.m. on October 12, 2026 to exporting the 30-second version with sound around 8 a.m. on the 13th (including an overnight break)

The 30 seconds, scene by scene

0–2.5 s: It starts as the original ukiyo-e print and soon begins to push in. Only a koto plays softly.

2.5–9.5 s: As the camera swings to the right, the picture splits into layers that move forward and back, with the sound of rustling washi paper. As the women step forward, women-shaped holes remain in the wall and ground, and they fill in as if painted over from above, in time with brush sounds.

9.5–15 s: The layers bend like turning pages and assemble into a street with depth. Each time a layer snaps into place, wooden clappers sound, growing louder. The camera returns to the front, and for a moment it looks like the original picture again.

15–28 s: With a whoosh, the camera enters the street. It passes beside the women and walks in front of noren curtains swaying in the wind. The wind in the noren and distant geta footsteps continue.

28–30 s: A reversed whoosh pulls back quickly to the opening image.

Pilot vs. final cut

We first made two versions of a 10-second pilot and added motion. We then rebuilt it into a 30-second structure and added sound. The 9:16 footage is shown side by side with black bars on the left and right.

Full video

Pilot v1

10 seconds that only enter the picture and move down the street | silent

Final cut

30 seconds that split into layers, assemble, walk the street and return to the opening image

Revision 01

Swaying the noren and keeping the camera moving

Before

Pilot v1 | After passing the women, the camera moves slowly in the same composition and the left side of the street is empty

After

Pilot v2 | The noren sway in the wind, and the camera turns toward the shops and walks past the noren

Aim: Keep a visible change going until the end so it is clear that a still picture has come to life
Instruction during production: "Fix the points you want to fix. I agree, I want more movement."
Adjustment: The noren are fixed at the top pole and billow more toward the hem, with gusts traveling along the street. After passing the women, the camera turns toward the shops and keeps moving without stopping. In the second half the frame fills with noren and roofs, so the left side of the street, which the picture does not show, is no longer visible. We switched to the full-size image (2573×3915 px) and also sharpened the lettering on the nearest noren

Cutting the layers and the production process

The six layers cut from the picture. The row of shops, the distant view, the ground, the women, the pillar, and the title cartouche with the artist's seal. Transparent areas are shown as a checkerboard — The layers cut from the original picture and key scenes from the final cut

0 s, 6 s and 9 s of the final cut. The original single picture, the layers apart with women-shaped holes left in the wall and ground, and the holes filled in — The layers cut from the original picture and key scenes from the final cut

Source image: We chose one famous-places print from about 110 ukiyo-e reference images on hand. It is Utagawa Hiroshige's "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo: Cotton-Goods Lane, Ōdenma-chō", held by the National Diet Library and published on Wikimedia Commons as public domain
Music: We made two options with generative AI and used the modern Japanese one with koto, shamisen and taiko. The other was not used because its first 10 seconds were silent and it had almost no dynamics
Sound effects: Seven kinds were generated (rustling washi, brush, wooden clappers, two kinds of whoosh, wind in the noren, and footsteps in the street) and placed to match events in the footage

01
Choose one famous-places print from the ukiyo-e candidates
02
Cut the picture into layers and fill in the hidden walls
03
Place the layers in space in Blender and make a 10-second pilot
04
Add swaying noren and a camera that never stops
05
Rebuild into a 30-second structure and add music and sound effects

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