Technique
tx-transform is an internationally recognized film technique that transposes the time axis (t) and one of the space axes (x or y) with one another. Normally, each individual frame of film depicts the entire space, but only a moment in time (1/24 second). With tx-transformed films, it is just the opposite: each frame shows the entire time, but only a tiny portion of space - if one cuts alongside the horizontal space axis, the left portion of the picture turns into the "the before", the right one into "the after".

Martin Reinhart has been working since 1992 on the development of a process that, so to speak, inverts the system of filmic order and makes it legible transversely to the axis of time. With tx-transform, sequences can be produced in which filmic representation is no longer fixed exclusively through the spatial presence of an object; rather, its form depends upon a complex interplay of relative motions. Accordingly, an object on film is no longer defined as the likeness of a concrete form of existence, but rather as a condition over time.

Motion in film
If an object at rest is filmed, it basically does not matter whether the film is running in reverse or extended mode, or if a cut has been made, either during shooting or playback; the result will always remain the same. Motion in film is only recorded motion relative to the division of the film into frames. In this case, "relatively static" means that the relation between the object being filmed and the lens remains unchanged, that a fixed axis exists between the signal and the recording of it. Accordingly, it can be said that motion within the borders of a frame can be perceived only if there is motion either of the object in relation to the camera or of the camera in relation to the object - in short, if there is relative motion.
Precisely in this case of film, it can be simply illustrated that one further motion is necessary in order to create the illusion of movement: the film has to run through the projector. The motion of the film itself allows for only one direction: from the first to the last frame of a reel. This informational structure along a temporal vector can also be conceptualized as a stack of images, such as flip-book showing sequential pictures which, when rapidly riffled with the tip of the thumb, produce the illusion of motion due to the quick succession of individual layers of time. Like a reel of film, this toy contains the totality of all spatial aspects of motion, and can be understood as an "information block". Normally, this block is riffled from front to back along the time axis to create the illusion of filmic motion.

Motion in tx-transformations
tx-transform is another sort of cut through this "information block", but along the space axis instead of the time axis. Upon initial consideration, it may seem highly improbable that these "space cuts" could lead to discernible images, to say nothing of perceptible sequences of motion. But that is by no means the case. The consequence of these "space cuts" through the "information block" is a series of astounding visual effects: houses start to move, heads grow out of themselves, moving trains become shorter and shorter with increasing speed, and much more.
In contrast to conventional films, the specification of the motion of the camera and/or the object takes on substantial importance in tx-transformations. In order to be able to use material captured on film for the production of tx-transformations, a number of different parameters must be precisely conformed to and a variety of criteria with respect to the relative motion of the camera and the object must be fulfilled, whereby the standard procedure of omitting an unsuitable segment (cutting it out) is impossible since a single missing image in the raw footage would have consequences for the effect of the entire sequence. Nevertheless, the result of a tx-transformation can appear to be completely abstract or completely realistic, depending on the type of shot being made.