image-to-video

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

```bash
# 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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