Genativity

Animate a vintage photo

The prompt “Animate this vintage black-and-white photograph with natural subtle motion, preserving the grain and tonality”

Tests whether the model adds motion without modernising the image. Usually it colourises or sharpens uninvited.

Models tested
16
Top score
5.00 13 models tied
Average
4.91
Lowest
4.15 Runway Gen-4.5

Source image

Every model below was given this exact same image, so the comparison is fair.

Source image for this test

Every model, same prompt

The clips on screen play together from the first frame, muted. Open one for sound, controls and our notes.

Kling 4.0

Kuaishou
5.00

Stays sepia with the original grain and adds only subtle motion to the family and the trees. Compared with the reference image.

Vivix W1

Vivix
5.00

Stays black and white with the original grain and tonality, adding only subtle motion. Compared with the reference image.

FLUX 3

Black Forest Labs
5.00

Stays black and white with the original grain and tonality, adding only subtle motion and a slight push-in. Compared with the reference image.

PixVerse v5.5

PixVerse
5.00
5.00

MiniMax H3

MiniMax
5.00

Preserves vintage tonality and grain, no colorization or sharpening.

5.00

Stays black-and-white and grainy, no colorization or sharpening.

5.00

Stays black-and-white and grainy, no unwanted colorization or sharpening.

Seedance 2.5

ByteDance
5.00

Motion added without colourising or sharpening; vintage tonality preserved.

Seedance 2.0

ByteDance
5.00

Motion added without colourising or sharpening; vintage tonality preserved.

5.00

Grain/tone preserved, no colourisation, correct 16:9.

Kling 3.0

Kuaishou
5.00

Grain/tone preserved, no colourisation. NOTE: output rendered at 1656x1248 (~4:3), inheriting the source image aspect ratio instead of the requested 16:9, see model notes.

5.00

Grain/tone preserved, no unwanted colourisation or modern sharpening.

4.96

Wan 3.0

Alibaba
4.50

Stays sepia with the original grain, but adds a marked push-in toward the family instead of only subtle motion. Compared first and last frames.

4.15

Some claimed anatomical warping during family interaction; verified via frames -- not strongly visible in stills, light discount only rather than the severe reading the judge gave.

Ranked by our blind vision-model judge; models with the same score share a position. Read how we test.

This page ranks by benchmark score only. See affiliate disclosure.