So, you want to be a wizard? Well, you’ve found the right tool! If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to create images as incredible as the ones found in Harry Potter’s newspaper “The Daily Prophet”, then you’ve come to the right place.
What is Cinemagraph Pro?
Cinemagraph Pro is a visual content tool that’s been described as, “the exciting new visual medium that lives between the world of photography and video.” It takes a portion of a still frame from a video and combines it with the video it came from. Creating a moving picture.
How Does It Work?
Cinemagraph Pro can be broken down into 3 simple steps:
1. Find the frame you want to use and trim your video
2. Mask the image (cover everywhere you don’t want to have move)
3. Then export and play
Magical Features
There are some extra magical features in Cinemagraph Pro. In the program, you can add filters, adjust the speed and bounce of the animation, crossfade the movements, import and export images, and combine imported images with cinemagraph films.
In the example below, after I trimmed and masked my video I exported an image of the frame I was on, then I brought it into the photo editor, PicMonkey, and filtered it into black and white. From there, I imported it back into Cinemagraph Pro and combined it with my video, overall creating a unique spot-color effect.
Muggle Money
Cinemagraph Pro offers several versions of their product. They have an unlimited free-trial and also three paid versions of their product: Mobile, Professional, and Business.
Mobile is targeted toward small businesses and content creators. It’s $8.33 per month and makes it possible to shoot, edit and export from your phone.
Professional is targeted toward photographers and marketers. It’s $16.67 per month and makes it possible to use your photography equipment and computer to create commercial quality cinemagraphs.
Business is targeted toward large businesses and agencies. It’s $25.00 per month and has all of the previous version’s features along with a 30-minute Flixel Expert consultation, unlimited uploads, the ability to add your own watermark, and a few more perks.
The free trial they offer is unlimited and fully-featured. It also doesn’t require a credit card in order to download it. However, the downside to the free trial is that your image is completely covered in their watermark. So, unless you’re simply using the free trial as a navigational learning tool, then the free trial is about as useful as Harry without his wand…
Would You Recommend?
Overall, I would recommend Cinemagraph Pro as it is easy to learn and easy to use. The company also provides a lot of great tutorials and case studies to help you learn.
Now go try out Cinemagraph Pro, and post your Daily Prophet worthy projects in the comments below!
