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PanelWave
Feature 02of 08 · Video panels

A drawing that breathes

Video panels: your drawings, in motion

Animate a drawing with the AI video tool you already use — or with your own animation — drop the clip into a panel and choose how it plays. PanelWave makes the web version, the poster frame and the reversed copy for you. Only that panel moves; the rest of the page stays your comic.

Try it as a Founding Creator Publisher? Request a pilot
Pencil sketch of a single comic panel turning into a filmstrip: a caped figure on a rooftop in several moving frames.
Fig. 2How it works
Fig. 2 — Video panelsYour art stays the source. Motion is added to single panels — loops, ping-pong or one-shot — and the page stays a comic.
play modes
4
start triggers
3
poster + web version
auto
Parts listVideo panels

In detail

What you get

01

Four ways to play

Play once and hold the last frame, loop, play forward-and-back (ping-pong), or play once and then loop from a second you pick on a filmstrip.
02

Three ways to start

When the panel comes into view, on mouse-over (page view) or on a tap — perfect for a reveal the reader triggers.
03

Upload, done

Every upload gets an H.264 web version, an automatic poster frame and filmstrip thumbnails. Choose ping-pong and a reversed copy is generated, so backwards playback is seamless.
04

Plays in reading order

In page view, panels that play on view run one after another in reading order — image panels in between hold for their display time.
05

Respectful by default

Clips are muted by default, only one video plays at a time, and readers who prefer reduced motion get tap-to-play instead of autoplay.
06

Per language, too

A clip with burnt-in text? Add a variant per language — the reader picks the right one automatically.

Workflow

  1. Step 01

    Draw

    Your panel, your style — pencil, ink, colour.

  2. Step 02

    Animate

    With an image-to-video AI tool, a hand-made loop or an After Effects export.

  3. Step 03

    Drop it in

    Drag the clip into the panel and pick play and start mode.

  4. Step 04

    Publish

    PanelWave transcodes, makes the poster and plays it in every format.

Who gainsCreators · publishers · readers

What it means for you

For creators

Add the one moment of motion your page needs — without becoming a filmmaker or animating everything.

Apply as a Founding Creator

For publishers

Premium editions with motion where it matters, built from the same master as the print edition.

Request a publisher pilot

For readers

Rain that falls, a light that flickers — and you still turn the page when you're ready.

See an example
NotesQuestions & documentation

Questions

Read the docs

Every great story starts as a sketch.

Open the drawing board and start with your script, the smoothest way in, or with the art you already have: panel images, video clips or pages without lettering. Add balloons, shape the story, and see your first chapter running on a screen.

Apply as a Founding Creator Request a publisher pilot