AniFXCreate Animation

Heat Distortion

Planned

A rippling shimmer rises from warm surfaces, bending the image behind it.

Planned effect — not yet available in the AniFX studio.

About this effect

Heat Distortion animates a vertical shimmer that bends and warps the image content behind it, simulating rising heat off pavement, engines, flames, or hot surfaces. The distortion is strongest close to the implied heat source and fades with distance, matching how real heat haze behaves.

Suitable image types

  • Product
  • Landscape
  • Vehicle

Best use cases

  • Digital Advertising
  • Photography

Styles

  • Dramatic
  • Energetic

Motion characteristics

motion_intensity
moderate
loopable
true
affects_subject
false
affects_background
true
transparency_support
false

Planned controls

  • Shimmer intensity
  • Source point
  • Rise speed

Best practices

Suits images with an implied heat source such as vehicles, flames, or sun-baked surfaces; on cool or indoor scenes the effect can look unmotivated.

Examples using this effect

Concept preview

Sneaker on Sun-Baked Pavement

A product shot of a running shoe placed on sunlit asphalt with visible heat shimmer implied by the scene. This concept demonstration shows how Heat Distortion could animate rippling shimmer rising from the pavement, a treatment aimed at sport and fashion advertising.

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subtle motionNot yet in the studio

Fire Embers

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Small glowing embers rise and flicker upward from a warm light source in the scene.

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Dream Motion

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A soft, slow-breathing warp that gives the whole image a hazy, dreamlike sway.

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Glitch Shift

Available

Brief digital glitch bursts — RGB split, block shifts, scan tearing — interrupt the frame.

bold motionTry this effect

Questions about Heat Distortion