image-to-video

name	image-to-video
description	Still-to-video conversion guide: model selection, motion prompting, and camera movement. Covers Wan 2.5 i2v, Seedance, Fabric, Grok Video with when to use each. Use for: animating images, creating video from stills, adding motion, product animations. Triggers: image to video, i2v, animate image, still to video, add motion to image, image animation, photo to video, animate still, wan i2v, image2video, bring image to life, animate photo, motion from image
allowed-tools	Bash(belt *)

Install the belt CLI skill: npx skills add belt-sh/cli

Image to Video

Convert still images to animated videos via inference.sh CLI.

Quick Start

Requires inference.sh CLI (belt). Install instructions

belt login

# Generate a still image
belt app run falai/flux-dev-lora --input '{
  "prompt": "serene mountain lake at sunset, snow-capped peaks reflected in still water, golden hour light, landscape photography",
  "width": 1248,
  "height": 832
}'

# Animate it
belt app run falai/wan-2-5-i2v --input '{
  "prompt": "gentle ripples on the lake surface, clouds slowly drifting, warm light shifting, birds flying in the distance",
  "image": "path/to/lake-image.png"
}'

Model Selection

Model	App ID	Best For	Motion Style
Wan 2.5 i2v	falai/wan-2-5-i2v	Realistic motion, natural movement	Photorealistic, subtle
WAN-I2V (Pruna)	pruna/wan-i2v	Economical, fast, 480p/720p	Natural, efficient
Seedance 2.0	bytedance/seedance-2-0	Up to 1080p, sync audio, all input types	Versatile, high quality
Seedance 2.0 Fast	bytedance/seedance-2-0-fast	Fast variant, same capabilities	Versatile, fast
Fabric 1.0	falai/fabric-1-0	Cloth, fabric, liquid, flowing materials	Physics-based flow
Grok Imagine Video	xai/grok-imagine-video	General animation, text-guided	Versatile

When to Use Each

Scenario	Best Model	Why
Landscape with water/clouds	Wan 2.5 i2v	Best at natural, realistic motion
Portrait with subtle expression	Wan 2.5 i2v	Maintains face fidelity
Product with fabric/cloth	Fabric 1.0	Specialized in material physics
Flag waving, curtain flowing	Fabric 1.0	Cloth simulation
Illustrated/artistic image	Seedance 2.0	Matches stylized content
General "bring to life"	Seedance 2.0	Good all-rounder, up to 1080p
Quick test/iteration	Seedance 2.0 Fast	Faster generation

Motion Types

Camera Movement

Movement	Prompt Keyword	Effect
Push in / Dolly forward	"slow dolly forward", "camera pushes in"	Increasing intimacy/focus
Pull out / Dolly back	"camera pulls back", "slow zoom out"	Reveal, context
Pan left/right	"camera pans slowly to the right"	Scanning, following
Tilt up/down	"camera tilts upward"	Revealing height
Orbit	"camera orbits around the subject"	3D exploration
Crane up	"camera rises upward"	Grand reveal
Static	(no camera movement prompt)	Subject motion only

Subject Motion

Type	Prompt Examples
Natural elements	"water rippling", "clouds drifting", "leaves rustling in breeze"
Hair/clothing	"hair blowing gently in wind", "dress fabric flowing"
Atmospheric	"fog slowly rolling", "dust particles floating in light beams"
Character	"person slowly turns to camera", "subtle breathing motion"
Mechanical	"gears turning", "clock hands moving"
Liquid	"coffee steam rising", "paint dripping", "water pouring"

Prompting Best Practices

The Golden Rule: Subtle > Dramatic

AI video models produce better results with gentle, subtle motion than dramatic action. Requesting too much movement causes distortion and artifacts.

❌ "person running and jumping over obstacles while the camera spins"
✅ "person slowly walking forward, gentle breeze, camera follows alongside"

❌ "explosion with debris flying everywhere"
✅ "candle flame flickering gently, warm ambient light shifting"

❌ "fast zoom into the eyes with dramatic camera shake"
✅ "slow dolly forward toward the subject, subtle focus shift"

Prompt Structure

[Camera movement] + [Subject motion] + [Atmospheric effects] + [Mood/pace]

Examples by Scenario

# Landscape animation
belt app run falai/wan-2-5-i2v --input '{
  "prompt": "gentle camera pan right, water reflecting moving clouds, trees swaying slightly in breeze, warm golden light, peaceful and slow",
  "image": "landscape.png"
}'

# Portrait animation
belt app run falai/wan-2-5-i2v --input '{
  "prompt": "subtle breathing motion, slight head turn, natural eye blink, hair moving gently, soft ambient lighting shifts",
  "image": "portrait.png"
}'

# Product shot animation
belt app run bytedance/seedance-2-0 --input '{
  "prompt": "slow 360 degree orbit around the product, gentle spotlight movement, subtle reflections shifting, premium product showcase, smooth motion",
  "image": "product.png",
  "generate_audio": true
}'

# Fabric/cloth animation
belt app run falai/fabric-1-0 --input '{
  "prompt": "fabric flowing and rippling in gentle wind, natural cloth physics, soft movement",
  "image": "fabric-scene.png"
}'

# Architectural visualization
belt app run falai/wan-2-5-i2v --input '{
  "prompt": "slow dolly forward through the entrance, slight camera tilt upward, ambient light filtering through windows, dust particles in light beams",
  "image": "building-interior.png"
}'

Duration Guidelines

Duration	Quality	Use For
2-3 seconds	Highest quality	GIFs, looping backgrounds, cinemagraphs
4-5 seconds	High quality	Social media posts, product reveals
6-8 seconds	Good quality	Short clips, transitions
10+ seconds	Quality degrades	Avoid unless stitching shorter clips

Extending Duration

For longer videos, generate multiple short clips and stitch:

# Generate 3 clips from the same image with progressive motion
belt app run falai/wan-2-5-i2v --input '{
  "prompt": "slow pan left, gentle water motion",
  "image": "scene.png"
}' --no-wait

belt app run falai/wan-2-5-i2v --input '{
  "prompt": "continuing pan, clouds shifting, light changing",
  "image": "scene.png"
}' --no-wait

# Stitch together
belt app run infsh/media-merger --input '{
  "media": ["clip1.mp4", "clip2.mp4"]
}'

The Full Workflow

Still-to-Final-Video Pipeline

# 1. Generate source image (best quality)
belt app run bytedance/seedream-4-5 --input '{
  "prompt": "cinematic landscape, misty mountains at dawn, lake in foreground, dramatic clouds, golden hour, 4K quality, professional photography",
  "size": "2K"
}'

# 2. Animate the image
belt app run falai/wan-2-5-i2v --input '{
  "prompt": "gentle mist rolling through the valley, lake surface rippling, clouds slowly moving, birds in distance, warm light shifting",
  "image": "landscape.png"
}'

# 3. Upscale video if needed
belt app run falai/topaz-video-upscaler --input '{
  "video": "animated-landscape.mp4"
}'

# 4. Add ambient audio
belt app run infsh/hunyuanvideo-foley --input '{
  "video": "animated-landscape.mp4",
  "prompt": "gentle nature ambience, distant birds, soft wind, water lapping"
}'

# 5. Merge video with audio
belt app run infsh/video-audio-merger --input '{
  "video": "upscaled-landscape.mp4",
  "audio": "ambient-audio.mp3"
}'

Cinemagraph Effect

A cinemagraph is a still photo where only one element moves (e.g., waterfall moving in an otherwise frozen scene). To achieve this:

1. Generate the still image with the motion element clearly defined
2. Prompt for motion only in that specific element
3. Keep to 2-4 seconds for seamless looping

belt app run falai/wan-2-5-i2v --input '{
  "prompt": "only the waterfall is moving, everything else remains perfectly still, water cascading smoothly, rest of scene frozen",
  "image": "waterfall-scene.png"
}'

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Problem	Fix
Too much motion requested	Distortion, artifacts, warping	Subtle > dramatic, always
Wrong model for content type	Poor results	Use selection guide above
Clips too long (10s+)	Quality degrades significantly	Keep to 3-5 seconds, stitch if needed
No camera movement specified	Random/unpredictable motion	Always specify camera behavior
Conflicting motion directions	Chaotic, unnatural	One primary motion direction
Low-res source image	Low-res video output	Start with highest quality source
Complex action scenes	Models can't handle	Keep motion simple and natural

Related Skills

npx skills add inference-sh/skills@ai-video-generation
npx skills add inference-sh/skills@ai-image-generation
npx skills add inference-sh/skills@p-video
npx skills add inference-sh/skills@video-prompting-guide
npx skills add inference-sh/skills@prompt-engineering

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