Key takeaways
Shoot on a tripod with exposure, focus and white balance locked, because any camera movement or flicker breaks the illusion.
Pick one moving element that stays inside its own area of the frame, such as pouring liquid, steam, a flag or hair in the wind.
The core edit is a freeze frame on the top layer with a mask cut out of it, so only the masked area plays the video underneath.
DaVinci Resolve does it free on a computer; Motionleap and Plotaverse do a version of it on a phone, with watermark-free export on a subscription.
Export MP4 or WebM for the web and social, and GIF only where video won't play, such as email.
What you need
A camera or phone that shoots video, ideally at 4K so you can crop.
A tripod. Handheld footage can be stabilized, but it rarely holds still enough.
DaVinci Resolve (free) on a computer, or a phone app such as Motionleap or Plotaverse.
GIMP (free) if you need an animated GIF.
Step 1: Plan the shot
Choose a scene where the motion repeats and stays in one place. Water, steam, smoke, candle flames, a spinning record, leaves, flags and loose hair all work. Avoid anything that crosses the frame, such as a person walking through, since part of the moving subject would end up frozen in the still.
Keep the moving area separate from the parts that should stay still. A hand pouring coffee works if the hand is frozen and only the stream and the cup move. If the hand moves too, it has to sit inside the mask as well, and the edges get harder to hide.
Step 2: Shoot it locked off
1. Mount the camera on a tripod and frame the shot. Don't touch the camera once you start recording.
2. Set exposure, focus and white balance manually, or lock them. Auto settings shift between frames and cause flicker.
3. Use a shutter speed around twice the frame rate (1/50 at 25 fps, 1/60 at 30 fps) for natural motion blur, and an ND filter in bright light.
4. Record 10 to 20 seconds so you have a choice of clean loop points.
5. Use a remote or the self-timer to start recording without nudging the camera.
Step 3: Build it in DaVinci Resolve
Resolve's free version handles the whole job.
1. Import the clip and put it on video track 1.
2. Find the frame you want as the still. Pick one where the moving element looks good and nothing else is mid-motion.
3. Make a freeze frame of it (right-click, then Change Clip Speed and Freeze Frame), and place that still on video track 2, above the moving clip, covering its full length.
4. Open the Color page, select the still and draw a Power Window around the area that should move, then invert it. Right-click the node graph, choose Add Alpha Output and connect the node's key output to it. The still now turns transparent inside the window, letting the video below show through.
5. Soften the window's edge so the join between still and motion disappears. Feather more for steam and water, less for hard edges.
6. Play it back. If anything else moves inside the window, tighten it, or track the window if the moving element drifts.
On a phone, Motionleap (from Lightricks, formerly Pixaloop) works the other way around: you start from a photo, draw arrows for the direction of motion and add anchor points to freeze everything else. It animates the photo itself with no real footage involved, which suits water, clouds and hair. Plotaverse offers similar tools. Both are free to download, but exporting without a watermark needs a subscription. An iPhone Live Photo set to Loop or Bounce in the Photos app animates the whole frame instead of one part, so it is not a true cinemagraph, though it can make a good source clip.
Step 4: Make the loop seamless
A cinemagraph plays forever, so the end of the moving section has to flow back into its start.
Crossfade loop: cut the clip in the middle, swap the two halves and add a cross dissolve across the new join. The file's first and last frames were next to each other in the original, so the loop has no jump.
Ping-pong loop: play the section forward, then reversed. This suits symmetric motion such as a swaying branch or a flickering flame, but not pouring liquid, which would visibly run backward.
Keep the loop short, usually two to six seconds. Short loops make smaller files, and with less motion to match, they're easier to make seamless.
Our guide to making a seamless loop covers both methods in more detail, including FFmpeg commands.
Step 5: Export it
Format | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
MP4 (H.264) | Social posts, websites, presentations | Set it to loop where it plays; most social platforms loop short videos automatically |
WebM | Website backgrounds and hero images | Pair it with an MP4 fallback for older browsers |
Animated WebP | Web images that should behave like a GIF | GIMP exports it from layers |
GIF | Email and places that don't play video | 256 colors at most and large files, so keep it under about 800 pixels wide |
For a GIF, export a short MP4 first, then open it in GIMP as layers and export with the "As animation" option checked. For web video, use autoplay, muted, loop and playsinline so it starts on its own and stays silent.
Common problems
The still and the moving area don't match in brightness: the camera's exposure shifted. Re-shoot with exposure locked, or color-match the clip to the still.
A visible edge around the moving area: soften the mask feather or redraw it along natural edges in the scene.
Shimmer in the frozen area: compression noise in the still. Export at a higher bitrate, or use a slightly denoised freeze frame.
A jump when the loop restarts: use the crossfade method, or pick start and end points where the motion is in the same position.
Frequently asked questions
What is a cinemagraph?
A cinemagraph is a still photograph in which one part moves in a continuous loop, such as steam rising from a cup while everything else stays frozen. It's usually shared as a short looping video or GIF.
Can I make a cinemagraph for free?
Yes. DaVinci Resolve's free version handles the freeze frame, masking and looping, and GIMP exports animated GIF and WebP files at no cost.
Can I make a cinemagraph on my phone?
Yes. Motionleap and Plotaverse animate parts of a photo on iPhone and Android, though watermark-free export needs a subscription. You can also shoot the video on a phone and build the cinemagraph in Resolve.
How long should a cinemagraph be?
Most cinemagraphs loop every two to six seconds. That keeps files small and gives you less motion to match at the loop point.
Should I export a cinemagraph as a GIF or a video?
Use MP4 or WebM wherever video plays, since the files are smaller and the colors are better. Use GIF only where video isn't supported, such as many email clients.