What is the Ken Burns Effect?
The Ken Burns effect is a popular video technique that brings static images to life by applying gentle motion through panning and zooming. Named after the renowned documentary filmmaker, this effect creates visual interest and maintains viewer engagement by adding subtle movement to otherwise static backgrounds.
In Pictory, the Ken Burns effect uses 7 distinct zoom directions that are randomly applied to create natural variety in your videos:
zoom-top-left
zoom-top-right
zoom-top
zoom-bottom-left
zoom-bottom-right
zoom-bottom
zoom-center
User Experience
All static background images now have Ken Burns motion enabled by default, replacing the previously used pan effect which has been deprecated. This ensures your videos have dynamic movement without any additional effort.
Scene-Level Control: Each scene includes a toggle button on the image editing toolbar that allows you to:
Turn the Ken Burns effect OFF or ON for individual scenes
Apply the effect to all scenes simultaneously
Randomized Motion
Every time you enable the Ken Burns effect, the system assigns a random motion variation to create natural diversity. When using "Apply to all," each scene receives its own randomly selected Ken Burns animation.
Background-Only Application
The Ken Burns effect applies exclusively to background images and won't interfere with layered visuals or elements positioned above the background layer.
Preview Support
The Ken Burns effect is visible across all preview modes:
Scene preview
Full video preview
Generated video output
Embedded videos