I started playing a little with AI powered animation from the site DeeVid and here was the result. I took this picture of Hiram Chittenden, the namesake of the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, better known as the Ballard Locks in Seattle, as the image I wanted to animate.

The Steps:

1. I used photoshop to duplicate the layers, and selected the subject and created a layer mask to sperate him from the background.
2. Using the same selection on the background layer I used generative fill the background and remove the subject and create a clean slate.
3. I loaded those two images in to DeeVid as a starting frame and the blank background as the final frame.
4. I gave the AI the prompt to “have him close his eyes and  walk off the screen,” and here’s the result:

I thought it was actually creepily decent. It’s a little weird that he looks like he’s sitting down then he walks without totally standing up. But pretty impressive.

It made me ponder if one was making a historic documentary I am not sure about the ethics of this vs cutting it out and creating a parallax style effect in After Effects. They are both stylized ways to create motion and interest to static historic images. But the AI is creating something totally new, while the After Effects are only animating an existing photo. Lots to think about and we’re just scratching the tip of the iceberg.

Starting Frame:

Final Frame:

Daily Design: 338/366