Creating a looping Lofi animation SPEEDRUN. Time spent: 9 minutes 37 seconds. Tools used: Midjourney and CapCut. This is how it’s done 👇

Some notes: I made this so quickly because I've done it many times before. For a beginner, it would take up to 30-40 minutes. Additionally, I excluded the time spent generating an MJ image, as it could range from five minutes to an hour or more until you get the desired result. Sometimes it is just luck.

Start by generating an illustration with AI. I fed Midjourney with this prompt: a 2d pixel art isometric scene of a tram in Lisbon

Then create a background image by getting rid of tram and replacing it with some rails. 1. Go to select "Erase and replace" tool. 2. Mark the tram. 3. Type RAILS as a prompt. 4. When the tram is removed, but the rails look messy, mark the rails and keep generating new ones until it looks appropriate.

After that, crop some elements as separate files: 1. The tram 2. Objects that will cover the moving van (tree on the right, street light) Instead of PS or AE, you can use an online alternative. It's called GiftGit 1. Upload the picture 2. Select Tools > Selection Tools > Polygon Lasso Tool, mark the object you want to mask out. 3. Then press Select > Invert 4. Then Edit > Cut Cool! Now your object is masked out. Download it as PNG file. Repeat for all other the elements.

So, at this point, you should have: 1. A clean background image 2. Separated assets Awesome!

Now go to the CapCut site and download the PC app. Import all assets and place them in the timeline. Keep in mind that the tram layer MUST be above the background layer, but below the tree and street light layers Otherwise, the tram will move ON STREET LIGHTS and TREE.

Then: 1. Place the playhead at the start of the timeline, 2. Select the tram layer and in the right panel, activate the position keyframe. 3. Place the tram at the desired starting position. 4. Move the playhead to the 9-second mark. 5. Place the tram at the desired finish position. Nice, the position keyframes were created and tram moves successfully. P.S. You can place the position keyframe earlier or later, it will make the tram go faster/slower.

To create a looping effect, select all the layers, right-click, and choose "Create compound clip". This will merge all the layers into one. Duplicate the layers and place each one after another as many times as you want your looping animation to last.

Finally, go to YouTube and search for: 1. A royalty-free lo-fi track, 2. Tram ambience sound effect Download both, upload it to CapCut, and export the video.

This is it, you've just created a looping lofi animation! 🥳🥹 Liked this tutorial? I am creating many more, so follow me to not miss out!

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