How to change a live photo into a video

Live Photos have been around since 2015 with the introduction of the iPhone 6s. They are a unique iPhone creation that combines several still photos into a very short video, kind of like the GIFs that we are all obsessed with.  When you take a photo with the Live Photos option, the iPhone camera takes several photos and then stitches them together to create a smooth animation that lasts roughly 1.5 seconds. 

The downside to Live Photos is that when they are shared, the revert to static photos. If you want to retain the movement and sound of Live Photos when sharing, you first have to convert them into videos. Let’s take a look at the technology you’ll need to turn a Live Photo into a video. 

Don’t let Live Photos clutter up your iPhone

Live Photos and videos take up more storage than your average photo. To be sure that they don’t eat up all the space on your phone, use an app like Gemini Photos, which will delete similar and duplicate pics that you don’t want.

Option 1. Save a Live Photo as a video using iOS tools

There are a few different ways to save your Live Photo as a video using simple iOS tools already available to you right inside the Photos app. You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to create GIFs of your photos to send to your friends.

How to turn a Live Photo into a video in iOS 13

If you have iOS 13 or later, you can quickly and easily save your Live Photo as a video for sharing. You can even stitch several Live Photos together for a longer video. Here’s how to do it. 

1. Launch your Photos app and choose a Live Photo that you want to share.
2. Tap the share button in the lower left.
3. Tap Save as Video. Your video will be saved to your Camera Roll and in the Video album on your phone.

How to save a Live Photo as a Loop or Bounce video

As long as your iPhone is running iOS 11 or later, you can use the Photos app’s Loop and Bounce feature to create a video with fun special effects. The best way to use Loop and Bounce is to experiment a bit with your own photos. Here’s how it works. 

1. Open the Photos app and choose the photo that you want to edit.
2. Swipe up to open Effects and choose either Loop or Bounce. Loop turns your Live video into a short loop that plays over and over again. Bounce makes your photo rock back and forth. 
3. Once you’ve created your video, you can share it as a video file with your friends on social media or through email or text. 

Option 2. Convert a Live Photo into a video with a third-party app

Another way to convert your Live Photos into videos is to use a third-party app like Lively. Lively makes it simple to create GIFs and movies on your iPhone and share them far and wide. Best of all? Lively is completely free to use.

How to make a Live Photo into a video using Lively

The nice thing about Lively is that its sole purpose is to convert your Live Photos into GIFs and movies. You can create your video almost instantly. Here are our step-by-step instructions for creating a video from a Live Photo using Lively. 

1. Download the Lively app and give it permission to access your photos. Only your Live Photos will show up within the Lively app.
2. Choose the photo you want to convert to a video
3. Tap GIF or Movie.
4. If you choose the GIF option, you can further customize it by tapping the settings icon, where you will find options for video length and auto-reverse.
5. Tap Export to share your video on social media or save it to your Camera Roll. The finished video will have a small Lively watermark that you can remove for $2.99.

If you’ve ever wondered what in the world to do with Live Photos, now you know! Turn those masterpieces into videos and share them with the world.

Do you want to quickly convert a Live Photo to video? When you share a Live Photo, the animation is often lost. That’s why it’s important to convert to video first. In this article, you’ll discover how to convert your Live Photos to videos using the Lively app. Then you’ll learn how to share these videos right from the Photos app!

Table Of Contents: Live Photo To Video

Click any title link below to go straight to that section of the article:

Section 1: Why Convert A Live Photo To Video?

Section 2: How To Make Live Photo A Video In Lively
2.1 Edit A Live Photo In Lively
2.2 How To Save Live Photo As Video In Lively
2.3 What’s the Difference Between Videos and GIFs?

Section 3: Convert Live Photos To Loop And Bounce Videos

Section 4: How To Share Your Live Photo Content
4.1 Share Live Photo Content Via AirDrop
4.2 Share Live Photo Content In A Text Message Or iMessage
4.3 Share Live Photo Content Via Email
4.4 Share Live Photo Content Via iCloud Photo Sharing
4.5 Share Live Photo Content on Facebook
4.6 Share Live Photo Content On Instagram

Section 1: Why Convert A Live Photo To Video?

When you take a Live Photo, you may want to share it with family and friends. However, Live Photos don’t always share as high-quality videos. The animated footage sometimes gets converted to a still image.

This is why you often need to save a Live Photo as a video file before sharing.

Section 2: How To Make Live Photo A Video In Lively

The Lively app offers a simple way to save your Live Photos as videos. You can download Lively for free in the App Store.

While the app is free to download, a “Lively” watermark appears in the lower right corner of saved GIFs. A one-time purchase of $2.99 is required to remove the watermark from all GIFs.

Note that the watermark is not applied to video files.

2.1 Edit A Live Photo In Lively

To create a Live Photo video, tap on one of your Live Photos in the Lively app. Then select Movie at the top of the screen. Now you’ll see the three-second Live Photo playing as a video on repeat.

You can make a few minor adjustments to the video before you save it. Near the bottom is the video’s progress reel. You can change the length of the video by dragging the start or end bars.

You can also save Live Photo as a video with or without sound. Tapping on the video turns the sound on and off. Additionally, the Sound icon is displayed in the bottom left corner of the video. Make sure you have your desired sound setting before you export your video.

2.2 How To Save Live Photo As Video In Lively

Once you’ve finished editing your video, tap Export Movie at the bottom of the screen.

You’ll see several options for saving and sharing. You can share your video via iMessage, email, Messenger, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. However, you’ll need to connect your iPhone to these accounts before you can share photos with them.

Along the bottom are the options to Save, Copy, and Share.

To save your new video, simply tap the Save icon in the bottom left. The video will now be saved in your Photos app.

To watch the video, simply select it in the Photos app and tap the play button.

2.3 What’s The Difference Between Videos and GIFs?

You may have noticed that Lively also has the option to save a Live Photo as a GIF. What is a GIF? A GIF is a short animation that plays on a continuous loop.

GIFs have lower resolution than regular videos, and they show jerky and unsteady footage. Also, GIFs don’t save with sound. Plus, you can’t always share GIFs on social media platforms.

Therefore, I recommend saving your Live Photos as video files. That way, you’ll have more sharing options. Plus, your Live Photo videos will be higher quality.

Section 3: Convert Live Photos To Loop And Bounce Videos

If you don’t want to use Lively to convert your Live Photos to videos, don’t worry. There’s another way to do this.

You just have to use Loop and Bounce effects. These are built right into the Photos app!

What are Loop and Bounce effects?

Since iOS 11, the Live Photos feature has offered two new video effects. Loop makes a Live Photo play over and over. Bounce makes a Live Photo play forward and backward. The Loop and Bounce effects each create a continuous video.

To create a Loop or Bounce effect, select a Live Photo in the Photos app.

Swipe up, and you’ll see the Loop and Bounce options. Tap on the effect you want. It will immediately be applied to your Live Photo.

When you convert a Live Photo to a Loop or Bounce video, it’s automatically saved in the Animated album.

However, there’s one significant drawback: Loop and Bounce videos don’t have sound.

Yet there’s no need to worry about choosing an effect you don’t like. You can always change the effect afterward.

How do you do this?

First, select the Loop or Bounce video. Then swipe up to access the Effects menu. Choose a new effect, or tap Live to remove the effect entirely. That’s all!

If you’re looking to quickly create fun videos with your Live Photos, look no further than the Loop and Bounce effects.

Section 4: How To Share Your Live Photo Content

Once you’ve created a Live Photo, a Live Photo video in Lively, or a Loop/Bounce video, you can share it with others.

Go to your Photos app and find your content. Open it. Then tap the Share icon in the bottom left corner.

The sharing menu will open as shown below.

This gives you many options, which I’ll explain below.

4.1 Share Live Photo Content Via AirDrop

One way to share your Live Photo content with others is through AirDrop. Note that you can’t use AirDrop to send media to Android users or PC users. AirDrop only transfers media between iPhone, iPad, and Mac users.

What can you share via AirDrop?

You can share a Live Photo video. To do this, tap AirDrop, then tap the device you want to send the video to.

If the user doesn’t receive the video, make sure they are set up to receive files through AirDrop. To check this, have them tap Settings. Have them select General, then AirDrop.

Make sure they choose to receive AirDrop files from contacts (or everyone).

You cannot share a Loop or Bounce video via AirDrop to a Mac computer. If you share a Loop or Bounce video via AirDrop to a Mac computer, it’s transferred as a normal video file. This means that the recipient will not be able to view it continuously—the video will stop after three seconds.

If you share a Loop video, viewers will see this:

If you share a Bounce video, viewers will see this:

However, you can share the original Loop or Bounce video via AirDrop to another iPhone user.

Finally, you cannot share a Live Photo via AirDrop to a Mac computer. It will be transferred as a still image. However, you can share a Live Photo via AirDrop to another iPhone or iPad user. Follow the same process for sharing a Live Photo video.

4.2 Share Live Photo Content In A Text Message Or iMessage

You can also share Live Photo content through a text message or iMessage.

What can you share?

First, you can share a Live Photo video in a text message or iMessage.

You can also send a Loop or Bounce video via iMessage to an iPhone or iPad user. However, you cannot send a Loop or Bounce video via text message to a non-iPhone user.

Finally, you can send a Live Photo via iMessage to an iPhone or iPad user. But you cannot send a Live Photo via text message to a non-iPhone or iPad user.

How do you send Live Photo content in a text message or iMessage?

Tap on the Message icon, and add a recipient. Then tap the blue arrow to send the message.

4.3 Share Live Photo Content Via Email

You can share Live Photo content via email. What does this mean?

First, you can share a Live Photo video via email.

To share a video via email, tap your email icon. Add a recipient and compose a message. Then send the email!

Note: If an email icon isn’t present, scroll to the right. Tap the More icon and select the email icon. Then tap Done.

(The same process works for other apps, including Facebook and Instagram.)

You cannot send a Live Photo by email. If you send a Live Photo as an email attachment, it gets sent as an ordinary photo. The recipient will only see a still image, and they won’t be able to view the moving version of your Live Photo.

What about sending a Loop or Bounce video in an email? It will be sent as a low-quality GIF. The resolution will not be as good as it is on your iPhone. Therefore, it’s best to avoid this option.

4.4 Share Live Photo Content Via iCloud Photo Sharing

Do you have any albums shared through iCloud Photo Sharing? If so, you can share Live Photo content through these albums.

What content can you share?

First, you can share a Live Photo video with shared albums. You can also share Loop and Bounce videos with shared albums. The same is true for original Live Photos.

In the sharing menu, select Add To Shared Album.

Write a comment if you wish. Then tap Shared Album to select the album you want to add the video to. Tap Post to share the video to the album.

4.5 Share Live Photo Content On Facebook

What Live Photo content can you share on Facebook?

First, you can share a Live Photo video on Facebook. You can also share Loop and Bounce videos on Facebook.

What about sharing Live Photos directly to Facebook?

Facebook allows you to share Live Photos, but they only appear animated when viewed on an iPhone or iPad. If you’re using Facebook on any other device (e.g., computers, Android phones), the Live Photo will appear as a still image.

Do you want every user to see the animation on Facebook? Then you’ll need to convert your Live Photo to video.

To share your content on Facebook, open the sharing menu. Look for the Facebook icon in the sharing options. If you don’t see it, scroll right and select More, then select  Facebook.

Write a caption if you wish, then tap Next. Select where you want to share the video to, then tap Share.

4.6 Share Live Photo Content On Instagram

You can share Live Photos, Live Photo videos, and Loop/Bounce videos on Instagram.

However, you can only share them as Stories or via a direct message.

Stories are photos and videos that appear at the top of your followers’ Instagram feeds. They vanish after 24 hours. Direct messages are private messages sent to specific Instagram users.

Why can you only share Live Photo content as stories or direct messages?

Live Photos are converted to still images when posted to your Instagram feed. And Live Photo videos, as well as Loop/Bounce videos, cannot be posted to your Instagram feed. Videos shared to your Instagram feed must be at least three seconds long. Unfortunately, Live Photo videos and Loop/Bounce videos are slightly shorter.

What if you want to share your content as a Story or a direct message?

Note: Your Live Photo content must have been taken fewer than 24 hours ago to share as an Instagram Story.

To share Live Photo content on Instagram:

Open the Instagram app and tap Your Story.

A camera will spring into view. Tap the image thumbnail at the bottom right to open your photo library.

Select the Live Photo that you want to share.

Then press on the image. Keep pressing until you see the word “Boomerang” flash up on the screen. (This ensures your Live Photo appears as a moving image.)

To share your Live Photo content as a Story, tap Your Story at the bottom of the screen. Once you’ve done this, users will be able to view the Live Photo content at the top of their Instagram feed.

To send your Live Photo content to users as a direct message, tap Send To. Choose the users you want to share your Live Photo content with, and you’re done!

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