Animating window scenes

We’re moving forward with some matched window pairs. Since we are having two windows, we will need to time the video change sequences to match. This means that while we can create simple animated scenes using various apps, we will still need to use a video editor to ensure a clean transition between sequences.

The software we’ve found that best suits the aims of the window scenes are Motionleap by Lightricks or the new Motion Brush [Beta] function in Runwayml. These applications are able to generate simple moving elements (moving water, clouds etc.) on still images. Motionleap can also automatically detect water and sky areas and enables you to easily add and swap animated elements.

Here is an example of a 6sec output using Motionleap to animate the sky and add a rather large pigeon nibbling some gravel. The base image was created in Adobe Fireworks (although Motionleap also has an AI text-to-image generator built into the animator).

The ease of adding moving elements and effects to images in Motionleap is impressive. While the parameters are limited, the app has enough options for us to create a range of window scenes without pushing the limits of credibility - although once again, the paid version (around $16/mo) was required to output videos at high resolution (4K) with multiple effects and ‘premium’ elements. So, using commercial AI tools can get pretty expensive if you add up monthly subscriptions and don’t just use them for a one-off project.

This does raise some concerns around future access of some AI applications for users without a strong economic base. Indeed, over the past six months many initially free AI services have built on feedback from their users and implemented a limited free subscription option, with the requirement to opt for a paid service for high volume and high resolution outputs.