Build a small parallax from layers you cut
Separate the painting yourself, then move the layers a little. You can see every cut.
A one-button depth effect hides the cut. Cutting the layers yourself is slower and easier to trust, because the holes are yours to paint.
Tools
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Adobe Photoshop
Where you cut the painting into layers you actually mean.
Affinity
Another place to separate foreground, subject, and background.
Adobe After Effects
Moves those layers a small amount for a parallax.
How to do it
- 1
Decide three depths
Foreground, the person or object, and the far background. More layers are optional. Three is enough for a social clip.
- 2
Cut and fill holes
In Photoshop or Affinity, put each depth on its own layer. Paint the gaps the cut revealed, in the same material as the picture. Do not generate a new background unless you are willing to say so.
- 3
Move them slightly
In After Effects, scale and slide the layers a small amount. If an edge crawls or a face warps, you went too far.
- 4
Export a short loop
Keep it a few seconds. The still should still be recognizable if you pause anywhere.