From Stills to Motion with AI
Results from Runway AI.
Losing travel footage is devastating. When I visited Japan a few years ago, I captured countless moments—from the neon-lit streets of Shinjuku to the iconic crosswalks of Shibuya. But after a hard drive failure, nearly all of my photos and videos were gone.
The only images I had left were a few exported for Instagram on the day, and most of what I had left were photos of myself walking around Tokyo. Instead of letting those be the only remnants of my trip, I turned to AI video tools to bring them to life.
Here’s how these tools helped—or failed—at recreating my lost memories.
Runway AI: Bringing My Walks to Life
Runway AI was a game-changer as it was able to take my still and add movement to the photos making it feel like actual footage, as if I had a video camera rolling at the time. Though it still needs a small correction, which was the glasses. But nonetheless the results were very clean.
✅ Perfect for adding motion to still images
✅ Produces cinematic effects that look natural
❌ Premium features require a paid plan
👉 Final Verdict: If Luma Labs was great for realism, Runway AI was perfect for dynamic, cinematic movement—giving my photos energy and life.
Luma Labs: The Most Realistic AI Enhancement
Luma Labs quickly became my go-to tool for recreating depth and realism. It uses NeRF (Neural Radiance Fields) technology, which allowed me to take a still image of myself walking in Shibuya and turn it into a smooth, moving 3D scene. Though in this example the footage did turn out muddy.
✅ Best for depth & photorealism
✅ Feels like an actual video rather than a processed image
❌ Needs multiple angles for the best results
👉 Final Verdict: Luma Labs made my Tokyo walks feel real again by adding depth, motion, and natural lighting effects.
Pika Labs: Fun for Stylized Effects
Pika Labs didn’t help with realism, but it was fun for creative experiments. I used it to transform one of my photos but wasn’t accurate to my real-life memory, instead it was more gimmicky style effects. Not was i wanted looking for but I wanted to try it regardless.
✅ Best for artistic effects
✅ Great for creating anime or stylised visuals
❌ Not useful for realistic recreations
👉 Final Verdict: Pika Labs was a fun extra tool, but not useful for restoring lost memories.
Stable Video Diffusion: Completely Useless
I had high hopes for Stable Video Diffusion, but I couldn’t even get the website to load properly. Despite multiple attempts, it crashed or refused to process my files. If you’re looking for a beginner-friendly or reliable tool, this isn’t it.
❌ Unstable website and crashes frequently
❌ Complicated to use and requires technical skills
❌ No useful results
👉 Final Verdict: Stable Video Diffusion was a waste of time and completely useless for my needs.
Final Thoughts
Despite losing nearly all my Japan footage, AI video tools helped me relive those moments in new ways. Luma Labs and Runway AI were the most effective, giving me realistic and cinematic recreations of my Tokyo walks. Pika Labs was fun for artistic experiments, but Stable Video Diffusion was a complete failure.
If you’ve ever lost travel footage, AI might be able to help you bring your memories back to life.
