Quick Tutorial

In this tutorial we show how to make moving water look smooth and endless. Using various loop functions, such as crossfade and speed, creating effective water cinemagraphs is made simple with Cinemagraph Pro for Mac.

1. Adjust the frames of your video so that the first and last frames match up/look similar.

2. Mask your image so that only the water portion is moving.

3. Loop your water using using “Repeat”, and adjust the crossfade to smoothen out the transition.

4. Increase or decrease the speed of the water depending on the desired effect. For this example, we used a slower speed.

TRICK: Longer crossfades will blur the frames together. This can create an interesting and mesmerizing effect when applied to more subtle water movements, such as light ripples or a smooth flowing river.

Our aim is to create a variety of thematic tutorials to help both the novice and more established cinemagraph creator widen their array of work. Once you know the basic tips and tricks, creating beautiful cinemagraphs is extremely simple (and effective). If you have any ideas for a new tutorial, please let us know in the comments below!