AR card animation
CTRL'd
An augmented-reality card effect: point your phone at a face-down card and watch it come alive and change into a different one.
Free, and it works as downloaded — there's nothing to unlock. The cards are available from magic dealers.
About
The Camera Trick
The Camera Trick is an incredible modern magic trick that combines easy-to-master magic and surefire technology. Available to both Android and iOS users, this mix of the augmented reality world and the physical magic world leaves your audience with nowhere to go other than pure amazement.
The routine allows for two separate effects, or one longer double effect.
A spectator selects a card and signs the back. The camera on your phone now points to the back of the signed card and instantly "sees through" the back to reveal the face of the chosen card. That would be where most magic tricks of this genre stop… but The Camera Trick still has two more phases to go!
A second card is now selected and the card shown on the screen visibly morphs into the second selection. You explain that the signed card has also changed in the physical world but the hard part "is to turn it back to the original". The on-screen animation begins but there's a problem… The screen starts to glitch and becomes frozen. Stuck midway between the first selection and the second, the on-screen card is a jumbled digital mess. The trick has gone wrong. You then turn over the signed card to reveal that the front of the card is no longer the selected card. It is a glitched, jumbled misprint.
You say you will "try again". A new card is selected and signed on the back. This time it is the King of Hearts, otherwise known as "the suicide king" because he has a sword stabbed into his own head. Again the camera of your phone is pointed towards the signed back of the card. The animation begins and the King becomes visible. Another card is chosen… it is the Four of Hearts. The on-screen King now removes a blank piece of paper from inside his jacket. He removes the sword from his head and pierces the four hearts in the corner pips of his own card and rearranges them onto the blank card he is holding to create a Four of Hearts. The animation stops. The signed back of the card once again shows on the camera screen. The physical card is turned over to reveal that the King is really holding the Four of Hearts.
This really is an absolute killer routine that I have been developing for over three years. It is easy to do and suitable for all skill levels… but don't let the simplicity fool you… this is top-level, professional-grade magic at its finest.
The animations
Three ways to change a card
King Card
On screen the card becomes the King of Hearts, then the king comes to life and reaches out past the edge of the card.
Colour change
On screen a 9 of Hearts changes into a 3 of Spades as you watch, and the real card it's looking at has changed too.
Glitch
On screen the card breaks up like a faulty signal and settles as a different card.
The cards
From your magic dealer
The app is free. The CTRL'd cards are a physical product sold through the magic trade, and they're available from magic dealers. Ask your usual dealer.