Best Practices for Static Images when Generating Motion Ads

Introduction

Recommended Image Types

Recommended Image Concepts

Not Recommended

Compliance Do’s and Don’ts

Introduction

Motion Ad Generation automatically converts your static creatives into short, dynamic videos designed to capture attention and drive higher engagement. However, the overall visual impact and smoothness of the motion depend heavily on the quality of your original image.

To achieve the best possible results, follow these simple guidelines when selecting, creating, or uploading your static images. 

These recommendations apply directly to the base image used as the foundation for motion generation.

Recommended Image Types

1. Images with people

• Choose images where people’s faces and body language provide natural movement cues (e.g., smiling, walking, turning, or gesturing).
• Emotional expressions or interactions between people make animations feel authentic and engaging.

Such images help the AI create smooth, realistic camera motions or focal transitions.

2. Images with multiple elements

• When your image includes several elements (e.g., a person, background, and product), the AI can create layered depth and motion between them.
• The system can simulate subtle camera pans or object transitions, which look natural and cinematic.

3. Scenes with action potential

Opt for visuals naturally associated with activity or flow. These include:

• Pouring liquids, splashing water, steam, or sparks.
• Falling items such as grains, confetti, or sand.
  Flowing hair, drifting smoke, or fluttering fabric.

These elements create an organic “alive” feeling, enhancing visual energy.

4. Complete scenes (not cropped fragments)

• Use full scenes rather than tightly cropped objects. Broader compositions help the AI read perspective and depth correctly.
• Outdoor locations, lifestyle shots, and contextual product imagery tend to perform best.

5. Balanced composition

• Maintain a good visual balance between the foreground (main subject) and the background.
• A clear focal point allows AI to apply motion without distorting the main object.

Recommended Image Concepts

Skin texture

Animate subtle enhancements: a gentle skin glow, refined texture, or soft cleaning effects. These processes create that “satisfying effect” and often achieve results that static images can’t deliver to users.

One-move magic

When choosing or creating a static image, consider visuals that naturally imply a clear transformation, a problem, and its solution in a single frame. Look for elements that suggest what could be cleaned, fixed, improved, or revealed (skin texture, hair details, makeup elements, food prep, etc.).

Images with an obvious “before/after potential” make the final creative feel instantly clear and impactful, even before motion is added.

Visual metamorphosis

When selecting or designing the static image, look for visuals that naturally hint at a larger change-aging, shifts in body condition, weather transitions, or life-stage transitions like a couple becoming a family.

Images that contain these built-in cues make it easier to communicate emotional or lifestyle evolution later on, because the transformation is already embedded in the concept and immediately understandable.

Conceptual motion accents

Use animation to highlight the idea behind the creative, not just the visuals. Micro-motions can reveal the underlying concept in a refined, almost intellectual way: a brief pulse that mirrors a heartbeat in wellness ads, a subtle expansion that mimics breathing for calmness, a delicate distortion that symbolizes tension, or a slow alignment of elements that reflects clarity and problem-solving.

Micro-narratives

When selecting or creating the static image, consider details that already suggest a story-shadows that hint at passing time, colors that naturally shift from cool to warm, or surfaces that imply change or recovery.

Choosing images with built-in narrative cues helps the final creative feel more alive and cinematic even before any motion is added.

Please find some examples of the recommended images below.

 

 

Not Recommended

1. Over-zoomed or cropped images

• If the subject fills the entire frame or parts of it are cut off, motion generation becomes unnatural.
• There’s no background to move against, which makes animation minimal or jerky.

2. Flat or monotone images

• Uniform color backgrounds, product packshots on a white background, or icons offer very little for AI to animate.
• The result will look almost static.

3. Low-resolution or blurry images

• Low-quality images may create flickering, distortion, or pixelation when converted to video.
• Use high-resolution (at least 800 px width) images for the best output.

4. Single-object images without context

• An isolated product, without a scene or environment, rarely shows dynamic change.
• Try to include a background or supporting elements (e.g., hand holding the product, a table, a room, or a nature setting).

5. Overexposed / Underexposed Photos

• Too-dark or too-bright areas reduce depth perception and make motion less visible.
• Aim for normal contrast and balanced lighting.

6. Images containing heavy text or watermarks

• The AI focuses on visual structures; text elements may distort or move unpredictably.
• Prefer clean images without large overlays, banners, or logos across the center.

Compliance Do’s and Don’ts

It’s important to remember that, unlike static images, animation gives an image obvious meaning and a sense of completed action. Therefore, anything that might seem mysterious in a static image (a very common effect in creatives) can take on an unfavorable connotation or be completely distorted when animated.

Sensitive concepts where motion can raise concerns:

• Minors: poses or actions in motion can unintentionally suggest sexual undertones, imply danger, or distort meaning.
• Sexual education and health: motion in this category requires extreme caution.
• Health claims: animation can exaggerate conditions or results, potentially crossing the boundaries allowed by compliance.
• Charts and statistics in education, finance, or insurance: motion can exaggerate numbers or outcomes, creating misleading impressions, over-promising and violating compliance rules. Please note that this is a possibility, not a rule. You don’t need to avoid animating charts or numbers-just keep an eye on them.
• Body imagery: certain animations can distort the intended message about condition, action, or effect. Motion can unintentionally miscommunicate or offend.
• People doing sports or sleeping: animating movement in these contexts can misrepresent the intended message and may fail compliance review.

Please find examples of images we don’t recommend using below.