Animate a photo with AI: make your picture move
Bring a still photo to life. The AI photo animator adds natural movement, such as hair in the wind, a blink or drifting clouds, and turns the picture into a 5 or 10 second clip.
- Nothing to install
Still photos brought to life
Hover a photo to watch the same still image start moving.
Animate a portrait in a field of flowers
Wind picks up the dress and hair in a field of flowers
Prompt wind moves the dress and hair, flowers sway, slow push in
Try thisAdd movement to a café photo
Steam rises off the coffee while the street moves behind it
Prompt steam rises from the coffee, people walk past in the background
Try thisAnimate an old family photo
A restored old portrait that blinks and turns toward the camera
Prompt the woman blinks slowly and turns her head slightly toward the camera
Try thisMake a picture of your pet move
A cat on a windowsill blinks and swishes its tail
Prompt the cat blinks and its tail swishes slowly
Try thisHow to make a picture move
- 1
Upload the photo
Choose an image or drop it onto the page. The photo becomes the first frame of the clip.
- 2
Describe the motion (optional)
Write what should move and how, in up to 200 characters. With no description, the model adds a subtle, natural movement.
- 3
Choose 5 or 10 seconds
Five seconds suits one small movement. Ten seconds gives room for a slow camera move or an action that takes time.
- 4
Process and download
Click Process. A clip takes longer than a still image, and you can leave the page while it runs. When it is ready, watch it and download it.
Animating old family photos
Old portraits are one of the most common photos to animate. Repair scratches and fading with the photo restoration tool first, then upload the restored image, because damage in the first frame stays visible in every frame after it.
Ask for small movements, such as a blink, a slight smile or a turn of the head. Large movements make the model invent parts of the person the photo never showed, such as the side of the face or the hands.
Motion descriptions that work
Describe the movement, not the picture. The model can already see what is in the photo. Say what moves, in which direction and how fast:
- "Leaves on the tree move gently in the breeze"
- "Waves roll onto the sand, clouds drift to the left"
- "The candle flame flickers and the light moves on the wall"
- "Slow push in toward the house"
- "The child laughs and looks up"
Photos that come to life best
Natural motion is the most reliable: water, hair, fabric, smoke, steam, clouds and leaves. A clear subject with some space around it also helps, because a subject cut off by the edge of the frame has nowhere to move.
Hands doing detailed tasks, crowds, and text or logos are harder; they may bend or change shape as they move. Keep large actions for ten-second clips, because a big movement in five seconds tends to look rushed.
Length, sound and other video options
Clips are five or ten seconds long and start on your photo. The video has no audio track, so add music or a voice-over in a video editor afterwards. Every clip stays in Recent runs, where you can download it again.
The photo animator uses one video model and keeps the controls simple. For a choice of video models, longer prompts and camera moves, use image to video.