[Andy Huot] has a fantastic-looking infinity mirror digital clock that really raises the bar. It uses high quality components, smart use of RGB LED animations, and a clever “stacked diffuser” vertical design to the 7-segment display elements that really enhances the infinity mirror effect. It needs to be seen in action, so check it out.

The end result is expressly portal-like, with the smooth animations of the LEDs really playing into the effect. The size helps, too. It’s 24 inches in diameter, giving it considerable presence.

A basic infinity mirror design consists of lit elements sandwiched between a reflective back surface and a partially-reflective, partially-transmissive top cover. That same basic principle is used here, but with great care given to ensure nothing so much as a fingerprint spoils the illusion. For example, the top cover is a disk of acrylic with a 90% reflective film affixed to the inside surface. That’s easy enough to DIY with some car tint, but [Andy] found that for the very best results it was worth having high-quality film professionally applied.

We like the use of 3D-printed custom jigs for soldering the segments of RGB LED strips, and holding the pre-measured wires in place with some putty is a great way to keep them in place while working. In case you’re wondering, the mirrored acrylic making up the back wall has holes in it for mounting each segment’s LED strip in a holder, and running the wires to the rear.

The video (embedded below) documents every step of the assembly, and it’s a serious build. While the design files for the 3D-printed parts are not free, there’s certainly enough detail for an enterprising hacker to replicate the design in their own way.

The revival in film photography has brought a range of specialist films to tempt the experimenter, as well as increased the popularity of loading your own cartridges. But perforating the film from blank stock has always been beyond the reach of home gamers. Now [Jon Schiereck] has done it, but not quite with film. He’s made a perforator for photographic paper, producing a strip which can be shot in a camera. It’s film, but it’s not exactly film.

The machine takes the form of a 3D printed mechanism which feeds a strip of photographic paper through a pair of punches to make the sprocket holes. In this case those holes are circular, being made by a pair of drill bits ground for the purpose, and they’re moved up and down by a crank driven by a set of gears from a hand crank or even a cordless drill. A rubber roller pulls the film forward.

It seems to be a well-thought-out machine, and you can try it yourself for free via a slightly unusual distribution medium, his Ko-Fi page. In case you’re worried about finding a slitter to make those 35mm paper strips, it seems he’s also working on a 3D printable one of those. So you can shoot on paper, and develop it just as you would a print.

If you’re further into extending what you can film through the use of a 3D printer, how about 8 mm movie film?

After a successful Spectrum Tour, FUJIFILM India has decided to upgrade its Fujifilm X-Space in New...

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As debates over AI’s role in creative work intensify, the second annual Seattle AI Film Festival (SAIFF) is betting that filmmakers don’t have to choose between human creativity and artificial intelligence. The festival — now in its second year — returns this month with 200 films that explore what happens when filmmakers say yes to both.

Held at Seattle’s McCaw Hall from Aug. 29 to 30, the festival wants to cement the city’s status as an AI film hub, dispel doubts about the medium’s capabilities and showcase what the tools can enable when guided by passionate filmmakers.

“We launched an AI film festival here because there’s world class AI, a large and largely quiet creative economy, and the ability to develop a cultural scene that’s simultaneously distinct but globally relevant,” says John Gauntt, the festival’s creative director.

By championing AI as part of the creative workflow, the festival hopes to broaden access to the rarefied visual language of cinema while keeping storytelling and creative direction in human hands. Gauntt says they are on a mission to help “human creators tell better stories,” while also recognizing the ability to “create cinematic content under radically different economics, timescales and formal expertise.”

The event will show select films that use generative AI for animation, visual effects, editing, and sound design, and feature panels from film creators and industry experts.

Featured trailers highlight offerings that flex directors’ creative muscles:

• La Pornographe from Canada shows experimental O’Keefe-like dreamscapes of dew-soaked flowers.
• Half Psychopath from Korea is a high-energy action thriller.

Submissions come from 34 countries. South Korea alone accounted for 23 of the films submitted, with others coming from Kazakhstan, India, Iran, and Argentina. But hosting in Seattle was an obvious choice for organizers.

“When I’m outside this bubble and say ‘Seattle AI Film Festival’ —  it makes sense to people. Like Milwaukee and beer make sense,” Gauntt quips.

The festival also aims to strengthen the relationship between the city’s strong tech ecosystem and its creative economy.

Gauntt also emphasized that the event would steer away from slop. AI filmmaking backlash, he said, is “real with some valid points,” but it’s largely driven by fear, uncertainty and doubt. 

“This has cast Generative AI as poster child/punching bag for the general pace of change in creative industries which is a proxy for the rest of the economy and society,” Gauntt tells GeekWire. “So our value to attendees is partial immunization to AI FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) combined with being on the ground floor of a rapidly evolving global scene.”

By seeing that the cutting edge of AI filmmaking can avoid the genre’s tropes — of plasticky AI aesthetics, short-form snippets, and “In a dystopian cyberpunk world run by killer robots…” narratives, Gauntt said attendees could be “immunized” against sweeping negative generalizations.

Attendees will instead be greeted with creative and careful use of AI, he said. He pointed to longer films, between 15 and 30 minutes, more natural dialogue, and improved visual consistency as evidence.

The scale of the festival has evolved from its guerrilla origins. Organizers anticipate up to 500 attendees across the event’s two days, a jump from last year’s 110. 

Beyond screenings, the festival offers panels and workshops for creators to share generative AI techniques and connect with tech sponsors and production studios. Attendees can demo AI filmmaking tools to see under the hood how the films are generated.

Alongside the festival, the team is launching its Creative AI Accelerator, a program to train 30-50 Seattle creators to use AI in their workflows. The program, in partnership with other national and global AI film organizations, wants to establish a network of AI creators to collaborate on projects and reach global audiences, furthering growth in a field the team has already seen rapid improvement.

Tickets are available on Luma and start at $25 for single-day passes. Full weekend passes are available for attendees looking to catch the complete lineup of screenings, workshops and networking sessions.

Here’s a look at The Cinema That Never Was from Germany, which considers the films that never left writers’ imaginations.