Foliage animation in CGI is time-consuming and usually reserved for high-budget projects. But what if AI could speed up the process?
We ran an AI app called Runway.
Here’s how it went:
1. WE USED A TOOL CALLED MOTION BRUSH.
This tool lets us harness AI’s power to refine specific areas of an image—though it’s not always perfect.
The process is simple: just paint over the areas you want to adjust, and the AI takes care of the rest.
We’ll paint only the areas we want to move—like the leaves of the tree.
2. SETTINGS WE USED
🔹 Model: GEN-2
🔹 Prompt: A tall tree with branches and leaves gently swaying in the wind, bathed in golden sunlight.
🔹 Interpolation: YES
🔹 General Motion: 1
🔹 Ambient Movement: 0.3
🔹 Resolution: HD
3. RESULT GENERATED BY Ai
Here’s the raw, straight out of Ai, video that was generated from a still image. As you notice it’s far from being perfect: whitebalance is not stable, a lot artefacts, and most importantly it didn’t focus only on the parts of the image we wanted it to focus.
4. POSTPRODUCTION
Since the results were inconsistent, we decided to merge the AI-generated video with a static image, masking in only the parts that were usable.
We used video editing software to achieve that. And this is the result:
5. PROS & CONS OF USING AI FOR FOLIAGE ANIMATION
✅ Pros:
✔️ Fast & affordable
✔️ Many iterations in a short time
❌ Cons:
⚠️ Low resolution & flickering
⚠️ No white balance control
⚠️ Limited aspect ratio (Runway may auto-adjust the video)
CONCLUSION
At first glance, the results are impressive, but for production-level quality, AI still has a long way to go. It’s great for concepts, previews, and experimentation, but not quite ready for final client deliveries.
🏗️ Architecture by: Groleger Arhitekti
🎥 Tested with: Runway ML
Matej Štefanac, architect and designer
CEO & Founder
