Video
AI Image to Video
You have a still you trust — a hero product shot, a key concept frame, a finished render — and you need it to move. Martini takes that image into a video node, fans it out across Sora 2, Seedance 2, Kling 3, Veo, Hailuo, and Luma Ray on one canvas, and exports the take you pick straight to your NLE.
What this feature solves
Most image-to-video tools give you one clip, one model, one set of motion choices. If the camera move is wrong, the subject distorts, or the light breaks halfway through, you start over and burn another generation. For agencies and post-production teams running a real shot list, that loop is the bottleneck — you cannot afford to test five models in five tabs while the producer waits for an MP4 that opens cleanly in Premiere.
The other half of the problem is reference fidelity. A polished still has details — fabric, logo placement, talent likeness, lighting direction — that a single-prompt video model will quietly drop the moment motion starts. Without a way to pin the reference, push it into the right model for the shot, and compare takes side by side, every clip becomes a guess. Multiply that by a 30-second ad with eight cuts and the budget evaporates before you have a usable sequence.
Image-to-video is also where workflow breaks meet export breaks. You generate, you download, you transcode, you re-link in your NLE, and the codec or frame rate fights your timeline. Production teams need an animation tool that respects the reference, fans the choice out across the strongest models for the shot type, and lands a file the editor can actually cut with — without a chain of converters in between.
Why Martini is different
Martini puts the still inside an image node, then connects it to as many video nodes as you want — each driving a different model. Run Sora 2, Seedance 2, Kling 3, and Hailuo from the same reference in parallel and pick the take that holds the brand, the talent, or the camera move best. Model fanout on one canvas replaces the tab-switching grind, and the reference image stays pinned to every branch so nothing drifts off-spec between generations.
Reference handling is first-class. Plug the same image into multiple downstream nodes, add a prompt, set duration, and the model receives both the visual anchor and the motion brief. When a take lands, you can chain it forward — pipe the chosen clip into a follow-up shot node for continuity, into a lip-sync node for dialogue, or into an audio node for score. The canvas remembers what fed what, so iteration is never destructive.
Export is engineered for editors, not creators stuck in a sandbox. Martini renders frame-rate-clean, timeline-friendly files that drop into Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and Final Cut Pro without re-encoding. The export is sequence-aware, so the eight image-to-video shots that make up your spot land as a real edit, not a folder of orphan MP4s. That is the difference between a creative toy and a production tool.
Common use cases
Animate a hero product shot for a launch ad
Take the brand-approved still, fan it across Seedance 2 and Kling 3 for camera moves, and export the winning take to your editor for the cut.
Turn a concept frame into a cinematic shot
Upload a Midjourney still, push it through Sora 2 or Veo for film-grade motion, and chain the result into a follow-up shot for continuity.
Spin still imagery into social posts
Animate a single brand photo into vertical and square formats for Reels, TikTok, and Shorts without re-shooting on set.
Bring talent stills to life for a spokesperson cut
Use a portrait reference, generate motion with Hailuo or Kling Avatar, then chain into lip-sync for dialogue without a re-shoot.
Generate b-roll from photo libraries
Send archive stills into Luma Ray for motion variants and assemble a b-roll bin without flying a crew or licensing stock footage.
Stress-test storyboard frames before greenlight
Animate every frame in a storyboard so the client sees real motion, not a stack of stills, before approving the shoot budget.
Recommended model stack
seedance-2
videoStrongest reference adherence for product shots and brand-controlled stills.
kling-3
videoCinematic motion and camera-language control for hero shots.
sora-2
videoLong-take coherence when the still implies a complex move.
google-veo
videoPhotoreal motion and natural light handling for live-action stills.
hailuo
videoFast iterations for talent-driven and portrait references.
luma-ray
videoSubtle motion and atmospheric movement for b-roll and ambient cuts.
How the workflow works in Martini
- 1
1. Drop your still into an image node
Drag a PNG or JPG onto the canvas. The image node holds the reference and feeds it downstream — keep the source resolution as high as you can, since downstream models will use it as the anchor.
- 2
2. Connect a video node and pick a model
Wire the image node into a video node. Select Seedance 2, Sora 2, Kling 3, Veo, Hailuo, or Luma Ray from the model dropdown. Each model has different strengths — Seedance for fidelity, Sora for long takes, Kling for camera moves.
- 3
3. Write the motion brief
In the prompt field, describe what should move — camera path, subject action, atmosphere. Avoid restating the image; the model already sees it. Set duration and aspect ratio for the deliverable.
- 4
4. Fan out across models in parallel
Duplicate the video node, swap the model, and run them simultaneously. The same image drives every branch so you can compare takes against an identical reference, not against drift.
- 5
5. Chain the winning take forward
Connect the best clip into a follow-up shot, a lip-sync node, an audio node, or a sequence builder. The canvas keeps the lineage so you can swap the source and re-render downstream automatically.
- 6
6. Export to your NLE
Use NLE export to push the sequence into Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, or Final Cut Pro. Files land at clean frame rates and codecs your editor opens natively — no transcode round-trip.
Example workflow
A DTC skincare brand has a hero product photo of their new serum and needs a 6-second loop for an Instagram Reel. Drop the still into an image node. Wire it into three video nodes — one Seedance 2, one Kling 3, one Hailuo — each with the same prompt: "slow push-in, soft window light, droplets gently catching the rim." Run all three. Seedance holds the bottle label cleanest; Kling gives the most cinematic push; Hailuo nails the droplet motion. Pick Seedance, chain it into an audio node for ambient score, and export to Premiere as a vertical 9:16. The whole pass — concept to NLE-ready file — fits inside one canvas and one afternoon.
Tips and common mistakes
Tips
- Use the highest-resolution reference you have. Models down-sample, but they cannot up-rez detail that was never in the source.
- Write motion-only prompts. Restating what the image already shows wastes tokens and confuses the model on what to change.
- Always run two or three models in parallel for hero shots. The one that wins the camera move is rarely the one that wins the subject fidelity.
- Lock duration before you fan out — short clips iterate faster, and most social cuts only need 3-6 seconds per shot.
- Save the canvas as a template once a model+prompt combo works. Reuse it for the next shot in the same campaign.
Common mistakes
- Uploading a low-res or compressed still — the video output inherits every artifact and amplifies it across 24 frames per second.
- Writing a prompt that re-describes the image instead of the motion. The model sees the image; tell it what should change.
- Running one model and re-rolling it ten times. Different models solve different shots — fan out instead of grinding one branch.
- Skipping reference re-anchoring on long takes. Past 5 seconds, most models drift; chain shorter clips with the same source instead.
- Exporting as a generic MP4 and round-tripping through HandBrake. Use NLE export so frame rate and codec match your timeline from the first import.
Related how-to guides
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Related docs
Related reading
Comparisons
Frequently asked questions
Which model should I start with for product shots?
Start with Seedance 2 — it has the strongest reference adherence for branded stills and tends to preserve labels, packaging, and material highlights across the take. Fan out to Kling 3 for cinematic push-ins and Hailuo for faster iterations once you know the shot direction.
How is this different from Runway or Krea?
Runway and Krea give you one model in one tab. Martini lets you fan a single reference image across six video models in parallel on one canvas, so you compare takes against an identical source and pick the strongest. The chosen clip then chains into follow-up shots, lip-sync, or audio without re-uploading.
Will the output drop into Premiere Pro cleanly?
Yes. NLE export renders at standard frame rates (24, 25, 30, 60) and codecs (H.264, ProRes options) that Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, and Final Cut Pro open natively. No HandBrake round-trip, no codec mismatch when you build the timeline.
How long can a single image-to-video clip be?
Most models cap individual takes at 5-10 seconds depending on the engine. For longer sequences, chain multiple clips on the canvas using the same reference image so the subject and lighting stay consistent across cuts instead of drifting on a single long generation.
Can I animate a logo or text without distortion?
For logos and stylized graphics, Seedance 2 and Veo handle hard edges and typographic detail better than the others. Keep prompts focused on subtle camera moves rather than transforming the logo itself, and use a high-resolution source PNG rather than a flattened JPG.
What does it cost to run multiple models in parallel?
Each generation deducts credits from the model that runs it — fanning out costs the sum of the branches you launch. In practice, three parallel takes on a 6-second clip is faster and cheaper than re-rolling a single model six times to find the winner.
Build it on the canvas
Open Martini and wire this workflow up in minutes. Free to start — no card required.