Turn Your Ghibli Photos Into Stunning Animated Videos In Minutes For FREE – Here’s How

Social media is full of Ghibli style photo trends, with soft, pastel-coloured images. Using AI tools and hand drawn art, people are, people are turning these photos into animation videos. This guide will show you, step by step, how to create your own Ghibli inspired short animation.

If you have been scrolling through social media lately, be it twitter, Instagram or TikTok, you would have surely notices the Ghibli style photo trend taking over feeds everywhere. Those dreamy, pastel-hued images of whimsical forests, wide-eyed characters and soft golden light straight out of a Studio Ghibli film have gone viral,racking up likes and shares. Its been almost a week, and this aesthetic obsession shows no signs of slowing down, with creators using AI tools, hand-drawn art, and photo edits to channel the magic of My neighbour Totoro and Spirated Away. Let’s ride this wave and turn your Ghibli style masterpieces into an animation video.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you create a short animation video inspired by the iconic Studio Ghibli aesthetic :

Step 1: Gather and Prepare Your Ghibli-Style Images

The Ghibli-style trend started with people sharing photos inspired by Studio Ghibli movies—like beautiful landscapes and charming characters. These photos are often made using AI tools like Midjourney or drawn by digital artists. To get started, you’ll need your own Ghibli-style images.

Create or Use Your Images: If you already have a Ghibli-style picture you’ve posted before, you can use that! If not, you can make one using an AI tool by typing a prompt like “Studio Ghibli-style sunset village, soft colors, detailed,” or draw it yourself using an app like Procreate.

Layer Your Image: Split your photo into different parts, like the characters, trees, and sky. This helps when you want to animate them later. Social media loves pictures with different layers of depth, and this step is perfect for what comes next!

Storyboard Your Viral Moment

Ghibli movies are known for their peaceful, emotional stories. You can capture that feeling in a short 15-second video that works well on TikTok.

Quick Sketch: Plan a simple scene. Maybe your character walks through a glowing forest, or the wind blows cherry blossoms around. Keep it simple but magical—social media loves those “wow” moments.

Frame Rate Flex: Use 24 frames per second (FPS) like Ghibli does. For a 10-second video, that’s 240 frames, but don’t worry, animation software will help fill in the missing frames.

Step 3: Choose the Right Animation Software

To make Ghibli-style animations, you need software that lets you create frame-by-frame animation, add layers, and make smooth transitions. Here are some good options:

• Adobe After Effects: Great for advanced users. It has powerful tools for animation and visual effects.
• Blender: Free and open-source. It’s good for creating detailed 3D animation.
• Procreate Dreams: Popular with iPad users. You can hand-draw each frame for that classic Ghibli look.
• RunwayML: Perfect for AI lovers. It helps create smooth motion between images, saving time and effort.
• CapCut: Free, easy to use, and perfect for quick edits, especially if you’re new to animation and TikTok.

Step 4: Import and Organize Your Assets

After choosing your animation software:

1. Import all your Ghibli-style images into the program.
2. Organize your images into layers (background, middle, and front layers).
3. Group character movements or effects into separate layers so you can control them easily.

Step 5: Add Frame-by-Frame Motion and Transitions

To make your animation smooth:

1. Keyframe Animation: Set keyframes at important points to show where objects should be and how they move.
2. Tweening: Fill in the frames between keyframes to make the movement look smooth.
3. Parallax Effect: Make the scene feel deeper by moving the foreground and background layers separately.

Step 6: Add Atmospheric Effects and Lighting

Ghibli movies are special because they focus on small details in the environment. To make your animation feel like Ghibli:

1. Add Particle Effects: Animate things like rain, falling leaves, or fireflies to create a magical atmosphere.
2. Adjust Lighting and Shadows: Use soft, changing lighting to create different moods in your scene.
3. Simulate Camera Movements: Add slow pans, zooms, or tracking shots to make your animation feel like a real movie.

Step 7: Sync with Audio and Sound Design

A Ghibli-inspired animation needs a great soundtrack:

1. Background Music: Pick calm, orchestral music that makes people feel nostalgic and amazed.
2. Ambient Sounds: Add soft sounds like rustling leaves or birds chirping to make the scene feel real.
3. Dialogue and Sound Effects: Make sure any talking or sound effects match the animation perfectly.

Users need to be careful about copyright rules when using AI-generated images, especially if they plan to use them for business. Using copyrighted images as input could cause legal problems.

Have a look at this post by Dhruv Rathi where he created his Ghibli animated video:

#Ghibli Anime 🇮🇳❤️ pic.twitter.com/MbRqgYZIRB

— Dhruv Rathee (@dhruv_rathee) March 29, 2025

To create a Ghibli-style AI video for free, you can follow this method shared by a Reddit user:

1. Get images: Ask ChatGPT to generate 10 frame-by-frame images, like “a character pulling out a piece of paper.”
2. Stitch images together: Use Python to put the images in order and save them as a video (at 5 FPS).
3. Output: The result will likely be a small video, more suited to a GIF.

This method works for free users, though the video will be lower quality compared to the paid version of Sora, which can make 1080p videos.

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