Google is testing a new Cinematic Moments feature in Google Photos that lets you create cinematic moments. … [+]
According to a new report, Google Photos will soon start automatically creating short clips from the videos you save. The feature complements the existing Google Photos “Create” series, which generates new content from the media stored in your library.
Discovered by years of software detective assemble debugging, The yet-to-be-released feature will “add a slow-motion effect to videos,” creating clips called “Cinematic Moments,” and is referenced in code in the latest version of the Google Photos Android app. The feature isn't currently enabled for end users, so we don't know exactly what the slow-motion clips will look like. However, we expect Google will deploy some clever AI-based analysis on videos to determine which parts of them are worthy of being singled out as Cinematic Moments.
Cinematic photos but for video – the perfect scenario for Gemini AI
Google Photos already has a similar Cinematic Photo feature that animates still images with a subtle 3D perspective-shifting effect. But it would be even more valuable if you could automatically create similar creations based on video. With a photo, you can tell at a glance whether it's worth saving or turning into a shareable memory, but with video, you have to watch each clip from start to finish to find those special moments. This process can be very time-consuming for humans, but it's a perfect task for Google's Gemini AI, which can analyze an entire video at once and automatically select the most interesting parts.
For example, in the sample video below, the Gemini 1.5 Pro detects the exact moment a piece of paper is removed from a person's pocket during the 44-minute video, then reads and processes the information written on it: No doubt similar technology will enable Google to pull off similar tricks with videos stored in your Google Photos library.
Cinematic Moments joins a growing list of Google Photos creations, including Cinematic Photos.
animationCombine multiple photos into an animated clip
collagecombine photos in different layouts to create large collages
movie: Generates slideshows with customizable music and titles
You can find your creations by searching for the word “creations” in your Google Photos library or by clicking this link in your browser. Any creations you choose to save will count against your storage usage.
Google Photos Cinematic Moments code revealed
The code discovered by Assemble Debug is:
- Cinematic Moment
- name=”photos_creations_image_cinematic_moment_video_tooltip”>Created by adding slow motion effect to video
As you can see, very little is known about the feature other than that it creates a slow-motion effect – we'll have to wait until it's enabled to find out more.
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