A cinemagraph is a still image that contains within it a minor and repeated movement, giving the impression of a video clip. Cinemagraphs are usually created by combining both photograph and video footage to create a final product that is both still and moving.
Despite the amount of effort that goes into making a cinemagraph, the final product often looks like a seamless, high-quality video. Creating a cinemagraph may seem daunting, but with Adobe Photoshop, it is a relatively simple process that anyone can do.
There are two types of cinemagraphs: those created with video footage and those created with photographs. For this guide, we will be focusing on how to create a cinemagraph using Photoshop with video footage.
The first step is to find some video footage that you would like to use for your cinemagraph. Once you have found your footage, open it in Adobe Photoshop. In the top toolbar, go to “Window” and then select “Timeline”.
This will open up the Timeline panel where you can see your video footage. Find the point in your video footage that you would like to start your cinemagraph from and use your mouse to drag the yellow playhead to that point. Then, click on the “Create Frame Animation” button which is located at the bottom of the Timeline panel.
Next, you will want to select all of the frames in your video footage by clicking on the first frame and then shift+clicking on the last frame. Once all of the frames are selected, click on the “Tween” button located at the bottom of the Timeline panel and select “Frame Disposal” from the menu. This will ensure that each frame only plays for a certain amount of time before moving on to the next one.
Now that you have your frame animation set up, it’s time to start masking out the areas that you want to remain still. To do this, go back to your first frame and create a layer mask by clicking on the “Add Layer Mask” button located at the bottom of the Layers panel.
Then, use a black brush tool to paint over any areas that you want to remain still in your image. As you paint over these areas with black, they will become hidden from view. Alternatively, if there are any areas that you want to remain in motion, simply paint over them with white instead.
Once you have finished masking out your image, go back to your Timeline panel and press play to see how your cinemagraph looks so far. If you are happy with what you see, congratulations! You have successfully created a cinemagraph using Adobe Photoshop!
Conclusion: Cinemagraphs are a great way to add some life into otherwise still images! With Adobe Photoshop, they are easy to make and only require some basic knowledge of masking and frame animation.
