image-to-video

Imported from halt-catch-fire/mutiny (tools/video/image-to-video/SKILL.md). Install upstream with npx skills add halt-catch-fire/mutiny --skill image-to-video. Copyright stays with the author.

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

When to Use Each

Motion Types

Camera Movement

Subject Motion

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

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

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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