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Historical Photo Animation using the Ken Burns effect

This short documentary uses the Ken Buns effect (1980s technology) of bringing historical photos to life through animation (pans and zooms). A more modern and sophisticated approach is the parallax effect, where Adobe Photoshop is used to create 2 images based on the same photo: a background image and a foreground subject that has been separated from the background. In 3D animation software like Adobe After Effects, a virtual camera  slowly dollies in on the subject, producing the effect. See below.

Add some ambient sound effects, music and voiceover, and you have the makings

of an historical documentary.

During the Industrial Revolution, children often worked in factories such as this cotton mill for long hours and poor wages. I used Adobe Photoshop to remove the subject from the background, and a virtual camera in Adobe After Effects to animate the scene.

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