<p>I suggest to use the very noise that your camera captures and blend it with the photograph.</p>

<ol>
<li>point your camera against a white object (e.g. wall, door)</li>
<li>The automatic exposure should stop down the lens until the white becomes a mid grey.</li>
<li>capture as long as you need</li>
<li>In your Editor, blend the grey noise with the photo by using a layer blending mode like "multiply" or "overlay" (at least <a href="https://shotcut.org/features/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">shotcut</a> has blending modes)</li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-02T07:19:56.120Z
you can also download stock footage of film grain, with or without dust and scratches if you want it to look more old school (can be a bit of a cliche though, especially if used to excess).
stib
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-04T09:41:53.613Z
I would crank the ISO of the camera at max. And also defocus my lens so only the noise is present.
Rafael
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-01T21:28:34.787Z
2020-04-01T21:28:34.787Z
drake7
<p>drake7 's answer is fine if you want to stick with the noise idea. You could also download some "video noise" effect from the internet.</p>

<p>But we have some more options.</p>

<p>You could overlay <a href="https://duckduckgo.com/?q=flare%20effect&amp;t=h_&amp;iar=videos&amp;iax=videos&amp;ia=videos" rel="nofollow noreferrer">some flares</a>, some film burn effects.</p>

<p>You could make a zoom in-zoom out or panning effect. The combination of both is the <a href="https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ken%20burns%20effect&amp;t=h_&amp;ia=videos&amp;iax=videos" rel="nofollow noreferrer">KenBurns effect</a>. </p>

<p>Or you can even use some other software to twist the photo on a 3D environment, like if you were turning around the photo.</p>

<p>There are online tutorials on separating the photo into different elements, the subject, the background on different layers, and <a href="https://duckduckgo.com/?q=3d%20camera%20moves%20on%20photo&amp;t=h_&amp;iar=videos&amp;iax=videos&amp;ia=videos" rel="nofollow noreferrer">assembling them into a 3D scene</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-06T11:07:55.400Z
[Rafael](https://video.stackexchange.com/users/26178/rafael)'s last point is often referred  as "[2.5D Parallax Photo Effect](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdYEzui3Ttc)" and is a really cool technique to make photos come alive.
drake7
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-06T20:07:48.333Z
Oh, yeap, I forgot about that. Ty :o)
Rafael
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-04T09:35:20.330Z
2020-05-04T09:40:44.787Z
2020-05-04T09:40:44.787Z
Rafael
<p>If I record some video of a static scene, there is noise in the video that makes it obvious that it is video and not a still photograph.   But if I add a photograph to a video in a non-linear video editor, it is obvious that it is a still photograph because of the lack of this noise.  How can I add such noise?  My first thought was to create a mostly transparent layer that just has low-level noise, but then I realize that this will give it more of a noisy effect that doesn't resemble live video.  What are some other effects that I can use to make a still photograph look like it was shot as video?</p>

<p>If it makes a difference, I am using the OpenShot editor. (There doesn't appear to be a tag for this)</p>

<video-editor><effects>
Adding noise to a still photograph to make it look live
Michael
# Adding noise to a still photograph to make it look live

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-04-01)

If I record some video of a static scene, there is noise in the video that makes it obvious that it is video and not a still photograph. But if I add a photograph to a video in a non-linear video editor, it is obvious that it is a still photograph because of the lack of this noise. How can I add such noise? My first thought was to create a mostly transparent layer that just has low-level noise, but then I realize that this will give it more of a noisy effect that doesn't resemble live video. What are some other effects that I can use to make a still photograph look like it was shot as video?

If it makes a difference, I am using the OpenShot editor. (There doesn't appear to be a tag for this)

**Tags:** video-editor, effects


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-04-01. Score: 2

I suggest to use the very noise that your camera captures and blend it with the photograph.

1. point your camera against a white object (e.g. wall, door)
2. The automatic exposure should stop down the lens until the white becomes a mid grey.
3. capture as long as you need
4. In your Editor, blend the grey noise with the photo by using a layer blending mode like "multiply" or "overlay" (at least [shotcut](https://shotcut.org/features/) has blending modes)

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: you can also download stock footage of film grain, with or without dust and scratches if you want it to look more old school (can be a bit of a cliche though, especially if used to excess).  
> **username_3**: I would crank the ISO of the camera at max. And also defocus my lens so only the noise is present.  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2020-05-04. Score: 0

username_1 's answer is fine if you want to stick with the noise idea. You could also download some "video noise" effect from the internet.

But we have some more options.

You could overlay [some flares](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=flare%20effect&t=h_&iar=videos&iax=videos&ia=videos), some film burn effects.

You could make a zoom in-zoom out or panning effect. The combination of both is the [KenBurns effect](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ken%20burns%20effect&t=h_&ia=videos&iax=videos).

Or you can even use some other software to twist the photo on a 3D environment, like if you were turning around the photo.

There are online tutorials on separating the photo into different elements, the subject, the background on different layers, and [assembling them into a 3D scene](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=3d%20camera%20moves%20on%20photo&t=h_&iar=videos&iax=videos&ia=videos).

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: [username_3](https://video.stackexchange.com/users/26178/rafael)'s last point is often referred  as "[2.5D Parallax Photo Effect](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdYEzui3Ttc)" and is a really cool technique to make photos come alive.  
> **username_3**: Oh, yeap, I forgot about that. Ty :o)  

---

