# Ken Burns on a still

Edit / Edit effect / Zooms and reframes. Checked 2026-11-13.

A photo gains depth and time.

- Use when: Photo galleries, case montages, archive material.
- Phrase: a slow push and pan across the still photo, which resolves from blurred and dim to sharp as it appears
- Page: https://directorchair.ai/effect/ken-burns-still
- JSON: https://directorchair.ai/api/effect/ken-burns-still.json

## Watch out

- In our teardown of 30 showreel templates the repeated signatures were a slow Ken Burns on every photo and a blur-in on photo reveals. (practitioner; Director Chair field notes on motion graphics)

## Prompts

### Any chat model

```
Give me an edit brief: where it goes on the timeline, the exact settings, and what to check before export, for a short video about [your product], for [your audience]. The technique is ken Burns on a still: a photo gains depth and time. How it works: a slow push and pan across the still photo, which resolves from blurred and dim to sharp as it appears. It is right for: photo galleries, case montages, archive material. In our teardown of 30 showreel templates the repeated signatures were a slow Ken Burns on every photo and a blur-in on photo reveals. Be concrete: numbers, seconds and settings, no theory. Ask me one question first if something you need is missing.
```

## Goes well with

- Never fully static: https://directorchair.ai/effect/slow-drift
- Slow zoom in: https://directorchair.ai/move/slow-zoom-in

## Source

Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics

Text CC BY 4.0, Director Chair (directorchair.ai). Reference clips and their card texts belong to their makers.