Google Photos Animates Still Images With Custom Prompts

This week, Google Photos added custom text prompts to its photo-to-video feature, allowing users to describe exactly how they want their still images to animate.

The update removes the limits that previously gave users just two animation styles: subtle movement or random effects. Now, users can write descriptions like "gentle breeze moving through trees" or "cinematic zoom focusing on subject's face," and the AI interprets these instructions to generate videos powered by Google's Veo 3 model.

The consolidated Create tab now houses eight AI-powered tools, like Remix (applying artistic styles inspired by anime and comic art), Cinematic photo (adding 3D depth), Animation (creating GIFs), and Me Meme (a meme generator).

Photo-to-video generation is available in the United States, Australia, Canada, India, Japan, and New Zealand, though users in Texas and Illinois won't have access, due to privacy laws limiting the use of facial recognition in animation. Otherwise ...