Semi moving image? Or animation? What? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

A few years ago I saw something epic, and I remember thinking: “What kind of witchcraft is this? ??”. I was thrilled when I realised a 9 second loop grabbed my attention for 3 minutes. Damn, that's powerful! Even research showed that a landing page with a cinemagraph could increase visitor’s stay on that page 5% to 15%. So yeah, here’s some info and tutorials.

What do you need to make a cinemagraph?

a subject (what to shoot)
tripod (it's a must)
camera (smartphone, DSLR, video camera)
software

What software do you need?

You have three possibilities:

Flixel

€29,99 monthly or €199,00 annually
Mac only
full focus on cinemagraphs
super simple

Adobe Photoshop

you or your firm probably have it
Mac and Windows
photo editing software
you can export high-quality format but usually, people use GIF

Adobe AfterEffects

you or your firm probably have it
Mac and Windows
motion graphics software
huge quality if needed

Where can I use a cinemagraph?

social media
digital billboards
websites (usually hero shots)
mobile apps (splash screen or something)

Tutorial

Quick tips:

video length should be 3-10 seconds
use H.264 format
GIF is a low-quality format, avoid it
you need to have low to medium knowledge in After Effect

Now it's time to learn how to make this beauty. Usually, tutorials use professional footage and when you try it with your video it sucks. That's why I used 2 pro videos and 2 amateur videos.