en Motion Brush is Runway's most precise and powerful tool for controlling exactly what moves in your video. Instead of relying on the model to interpret motion from text alone, you literally paint the areas of the frame you want to animate and draw arrows indicating the direction of movement. This surgical control is what separates professional Runway users from beginners and is essential for commercial-quality results.
Motion Brush works in Image to Video mode. Upload your source image — this is the frame that will be animated. The higher the quality of the source image, the better the motion results.
Select the Motion Brush tool and paint over the areas you want to animate. Use different colors for different motion zones — for example, paint the subject in one color and the background in another.
For each painted zone, draw an arrow indicating the direction of movement. The length of the arrow suggests the intensity of the motion. Short arrows for subtle motion, longer arrows for more dramatic movement.
Generate the animated clip and evaluate how well the motion follows your brush strokes. Adjust the painted zones and arrow directions as needed. Motion Brush results improve significantly with iteration.
Animating a product shot with natural environmental motion
Paint the product with a subtle rotation arrow. Paint the background with a slow upward drift. Paint any fabric or soft elements with a gentle side-to-side sway. Keep hard surfaces still.
Animating a portrait with natural hair movement
Paint the hair with a gentle side-to-side arrow. Paint the clothing with a subtle downward drift. Keep the face completely unpainted to maintain stillness and avoid facial distortion.
Animating a landscape with specific natural elements moving
Paint trees and grass with a gentle side-to-side sway. Paint clouds with a slow horizontal drift. Paint water with a subtle ripple motion. Keep mountains and buildings completely still.
Avoid painting over faces in portraits — the model tends to distort facial features when they're in a motion zone. Let the face stay still and animate the hair, clothing, and background instead.
Short, subtle arrows produce the most natural-looking motion. Long arrows create dramatic, exaggerated movement. For realistic results, err on the side of subtlety.
The most visually compelling results come from clear contrast between moving and still elements. A completely still product with a gently moving background creates a professional, focused look.
Motion Brush results improve significantly with iteration. Generate 3-4 variations with the same brush strokes and select the best. Then refine the brush strokes based on what worked and what didn't.
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