A method for controlling the state of two or more liquid crystal-based switchable elements (10) is proposed, wherein the switchable elements (10) are configured as smart windows (2) and/or as switchable subunits (4) of smart windows (2). The method comprises a first step a) in which at least two keyframes are defined, wherein each keyframe comprises setting values defining the intended state of a group of switchable elements (10). The group may either be a selection of one or more specific switchable elements (10) or all available switchable elements (10). In a subsequent step b), a display frame is computed, wherein the display frame comprises setting values for the state of the group of switchable elements (10) based on at least one of the defined keyframes. After computing of the display frame, the state of each of the switchable elements (10) of the group of switchable elements (10) is set as defined by the setting values of the computed display frame in a subsequent step c) of the method. Further aspects relate to a master controller (20) for use with the method and a system (1) implementing the method.