15 Nov Turn Great Static Photos into Dynamic Video Content
Social media platforms constantly evolve, and it can be challenging and frustrating to stay on top of the ever-changing algorithms. At one point, all you needed was gorgeous photography and engaged followers to bolster your Instagram page’s visibility. But recently we have noticed and heard from clients that their engagement numbers on platforms like Instagram have fallen. For many, great photography is no longer enough. Now, in order to stay on top of the algorithm, Instagram encourages—and prefers—videos over photos, leaving many flummoxed over how to convert their static photography into dynamic video content.
Today we talk about how to use an online service like Kapwing to convert those photos into videos to better serve your brand on Instagram. Kapwing is a free and paid image, video, and gif making platform. Bear in mind that the free service of Kapwing requires a login via Google in order to create video content without a watermark. And if you choose to use the free service, any videos you create will no longer be available to download after two days. If you choose to use the free version of the platform, be sure to download anything you’ve created right away!
We’ve created a detailed FREE downloadable PDF guide to using Kapwing to create great video content. In this post we’ll talk generally about how to approach the process and give you a few ideas for your first video content.
Make A Carousel Video
Creating a carousel video is perhaps the most straightforward way to turn a series of images into a video. The bonus of turning photos you might otherwise feature in a carousel into a video is that you can bypass Instagram’s 10-photo limit and include as many photos as you can fit into a 1-minute video!
Kapwing makes it very easy to upload a series of images and group them into a carousel. First you’ll determine how many images you want to add and upload them, using Kapwing’s tools for adjusting all photos to the size you want. You can create backgrounds, crop photos, add text and animations, and adjust the length of time each photo displays. Once you’ve created a short video, Kapwing also allows you to add royalty free music, although we would highly recommend uploading your video to the platform of your choice and using their internal music library if they have one (i.e. if you’re uploading to Instagram, add music via Instagram’s music library). When you’re satisfied with the video you’ve created, export it and you’re ready to post on your platform of choice.
Canva offers a similar tool for creating carousel videos. Simply choose “Instagram Post Video” from the “Create a Design” menu. Add your first image to the template that opens, then click the “+” button at the base of the editing screen and add the next image. Continue in this manner, adding as many additional images as you have.
Consider using the above carousel video technique with different applications:
- Show the progression of making a project, with beginning, middle, and end photos stitched together.
- Show individual items needed to make a project, with the final image showing the finished project.
- Highlight the colors or fabrics within a product line. Include text on screen for each scene so your customers will know exactly what they’re looking for when they see something they like.
- Show a highly detailed product or project, using photos that progressively zoom in to different sections to highlight the details.
Add Animated Text to Photos
Adding animated text is a super simple way to dynamize a static photo. Not only will a little bit of animated text turn a photo into a video, but it will also provide context for the image. Consider turning a project image into an announcement for an upcoming event concerning that project, with animated date, time, and additional details. Animating text creates a narrative around an image that provides additional opportunities for communicating relevant product, event, and brand information.
Canva makes it incredibly easy to add text to photos, and then animate that text. For instructions on how to add text to photos, visit Canva’s easy-to-follow tutorial.
Once you’ve added your text, select the text and click the “Animate” button in the upper right corner of the screen. Choose from Canva’s various Text Animation options, from Basic animations like Fades, Pans, Wipes and Pops, to Writing Animation options like Typewriter, Burst Lettering, and Bounce Lettering, to Exaggerated Animation effects like Neon, Stomp, and Tumble.
If your image has different elements to it, these can also be animated in a similar way. For example, in the above image, the bed and logo are separate elements from the background photo. Select these elements individually and choose the animation effects you’d like to use for them.
Creating Additional Video Content
Once you have created your first carousel video you can use Kapwing to re-edit it and turn it into additional video content. Again, you can find all the detailed instructions in our FREE downloadable PDF guide.
You may have noticed a trend in social media wherein a business posts a video of flickering photos. Followers are asked to take a screenshot, then post in the comments which element they captured. If you’re featuring a quick series of flickering images, you may wish to make your video longer which you can do using Kapwing’s Loop Video tool. Or you can make a hyperlapse video, duplicating the images (“scenes” in Kapwing) by hand, but making one of them a little different. For instance, create several scenes depicting one color of yarn or fabric, then add a single scene highlighting a bright contrast color. Challenge followers to screenshot and try to catch the lucky color or item. Offer a prize to followers who repost a screenshot with the captured “lucky” image with your hashtag.
Consider using the above hyperlapse image video technique with these other applications:
- Highlight different fabric bundle colors and ask: “What is your color mood today? Screenshot to share!”
- Highlight different tools. For knitters: “Are you a fixed circular, straights, or interchangeable needles knitter? Screenshot and let us know if fortune answers in your favor!”
- Highlight different finished objects (hats, gloves, scarves, cowls, etc) and ask: “What will your next project be? Screenshot and let us know!”
Kapwing has several other tools for refining the kinds of videos you make. Consider filming a craft process video, then using their Stop Motion Maker feature to turn that video into an entertaining stop motion video. You can also turn a single image into a video using their Image to Video maker. This feature is especially handy when using an image with a lot of detail. Feel free to explore Kapwing’s tool box to play around with the different video effects!
We hope this post has given you some ideas to create and remix some of your content to better suit social media’s ever-changing algorithms. If you’d like help converting your static content into dynamic video content, contact Stitchcraft Marketing today!
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