How to animate an image to video with Symphony Creative Studio

Image to video is a feature within Symphony Creative Studio where users can take an image and text prompt to create 5-second video clips in under 1 minute for your brand or product. Provide an image featuring the product, model, or scene and add a short prompt or choose from a template to turn your once static image to an animated video clip. Learn more about Symphony Creative Studio.

Before you begin

• Log into Creative Studio with your TikTok for Business account. If you do not have an account, create your TikTok for Business account. Learn more about TikTok for Business accounts.

• If it's your first time accessing Symphony Creative Studio, you'll need to:

  • Complete your profile.

  • Accept the Creative GenAI Terms.

How to animate an image to video in Symphony Creative Studio

To animate an image to video:

1. Log into Symphony Creative Studio on your desktop.

2. Select Image to video.

3. Select image type.

   • Product is best for simple product images with a minimal background.

   • Model is best for images that have a person or people featuring the product, with focus on either a body part or entire body.

   • Scene is best for unique scenes with objects or people.

4. Select an image to turn into a video clip. Click on the [+] to:

   • Upload files from your computer.

   • Select from your Creative studio library.

   • Upload files from your Google Drive.

   • Upload files from Dropbox.

5. Click Add.

   • Adjust your image to 9:16.

   • Crop or expand image to fit TikTok-ready size requirements.

6. Click Apply.

7. Click Confirm.

8. Click Continue.

9. Generate video clips.

   1. Select a background or generate more backgrounds.

   2. Choose your motion preferences.

      • Prompt: Enter a prompt to describe the scene you wish to create, including the people and things, where they are, how they move, camera motions, angles, lighting, and atmosphere. See prompting tips below.

      • Template: Select which template you would like to use for your image.

   3. Click Generate.

10. Preview the generated clip(s). You can edit your original inputs on the Generate video clips panel to generate additional clips.

11. You can export your desired clip(s) to multiple locations.

    • Save to library: Hover over the desired clip, click the down-arrow menu in the lower-right corner of the clip, and click Save to library.

    • Download:

      • To download an individual clip, hover over the desired clip, click the down-arrow menu in the lower-right corner of the clip, click Export, then click Download.

      • To download a batch, hover over each clip that you want to download, click the upper-right checkbox, click Export at the top, and click Download.

    • Export to Video Editor in Symphony and TikTok Ads Manager:

      • To export an individual clip to Video Editor, click the down-arrow menu in the lower of the clip, then click Export. Select the account that is linked to your logged-in profile or search for a TikTok Ads Manager account ID.

      • To export a batch to Video Editor, hover over each clip that you want to download and click the upper-right checkbox, click Export at the top, and click Ads Manager. Select the account that is linked to your logged-in profile or search for a TikTok Ads Manager account ID.

12. An AI-generated label is added to all exported videos. Learn more about TikTok ad policy regarding synthetic and manipulated media.

13. To save your project for future editing of video clips, click Save project at the top and choose to save to a new project or an existing project.

Tips for prompting video generation

During the video generation step, you can enter text in the Enter a prompt textbox to customize your creative and motion preferences. Here are some tips to help optimize your results.

• Keep it simple. Use descriptive and straightforward language. Complex or overly wordy prompts can lead to less accurate results. Clear and concise prompts are more likely to generate high-quality videos.

  • Do: "A person uses a new fitness app on their phone."

  • Don't do: "In a rather elaborate and convoluted way, there should be a person who is kind of doing something with a thing that might be a product but it's not really clear and it's all happening in a place that is sort of like an environment."

• Avoid conversational or system-style prompting. For best results, avoid using dialogue prompts in a back-and-forth manner. You should directly state what you want to see in the video without assigning roles or referring to previous generations.

  • Do: "A person runs on a treadmill in a gym."

  • Don't: “Make the logo bigger instead of smaller.” (referring to a prior generation)

• Stick to a single scene. Avoid scene transitions or multi-scene instructions. If you need multiple scenes, generate them separately and then combine them using a video editor.

  • Do: "A person runs on a treadmill in a gym."

  • Don't: "First, a person is at home, then they go to the gym, and then they are at a park."

• Do not reference celebrities. Prompts that include the name or likeness of public figures are not supported and will be rejected.

• Avoid split-screen or picture-in-picture formats.

  • Do: "A person uses a new product in a modern office."

  • Don't: "Show a split-screen with a person using a product on one side and a graph of sales on the other side."

• If a generation does not work for you, try regeneration. Repeat the same prompt before changing your prompt. This can sometimes resolve issues without having to come up with a new, more complex prompt.

  • Do: If the first generated video of "A person uses a new fitness app on their phone" looks blurry or doesn't capture the right mood, try regenerating it with the same prompt before adding more details.