1In one sentence
The most reliable way to make a good video is to make a good picture first, then animate that picture, because you control exactly what the first frame looks like.
2New words
- First frame — the very first picture of the clip. In image-to-video, it is the picture you upload.
- Last frame — the picture the clip should end on, if you give one.
- Animate — turn a still picture into movement.
- Motion control — a mode where you upload a video of someone moving and the model copies that movement onto your picture.
3Why you would want it
When you type a video prompt from nothing, the model invents the subject, the room and the camera all at once, and any of them can go wrong. When you start from a picture, the subject and room are fixed; the model only has to invent the movement. For Sam's Bakery this means the cake in the video is the real cake from the photo, not a cousin of it.
4Try it now
- On the Image page, make or pick a picture you like. Click it and, in the panel that opens, click Turn to video.
- The Video page opens with your picture in the Start frame slot. Leave the model on Seedance 2.5 (or choose Kling 4.0).
- Write only the motion: The camera slowly pushes in; a hand reaches in and lifts the croissant; flakes fall. Do not re-describe the croissant; the picture already says it.
- Optional: if the model shows an end-frame slot, upload a second picture there (the hand holding the croissant up). Seedance 2.5, Kling 4.0 and Wan 3.0 Prime all accept one.
- Set 5s, match the aspect ratio to your picture, and Generate.
5What you will see
The same Video page, but with a thumbnail of your picture sitting in the Start frame slot, and the References button beside it. The result starts from exactly your picture and moves from there.
6Watch out
- Describe movement, not appearance. If you write "a golden croissant" again, some models repaint it and you lose the match.
- A tall 9:16 picture with a 16:9 video setting gets cropped. Match the aspect ratio of the picture and the video.
7Go further
Try the Motion Control tab on the Video page: film yourself with your phone waving a hand, upload it as the reference video, and use your baker picture. Then read Chapter 1.8 to write the prompt properly.