A reveal shot is one of the best scroll-stoppers you can make in Amplifiles. You start on one version of a scene and transition into another — a covered house unveiling the property, an empty room becoming fully staged, an exterior opening into the interior. It looks complex, but every reveal is built the same way: two frames and one animation. The video above shows the full flow; the steps below break it down, with a worked example at the end.
The idea behind every reveal
A reveal is just two frames with a clear "before" and "after," animated so one becomes the other. You create the "before" frame with an image edit, use your original photo (or a second edited frame) as the "after," then let Start–End Image generate the motion between them. Once you understand that pattern, you can build almost any reveal you can picture.
What you'll use
Creative Mode, with two features working together: image edit (to author the "covered" frame) and Start–End Image (to animate the reveal). Plan on 8–10 seconds for the clip — long enough for the reveal to land, short enough to stay punchy.
Step 1: Pick your hero photo
Choose a clean shot in good light. For an exterior reveal, a straight-on or slightly angled house photo works best. This photo often becomes both frames of your reveal, so pick your strongest one — it's what the viewer ends on.
Step 2: Create your "before" frame (image edit)
Run an image edit to create the starting state — the covered house, the empty room, whatever your reveal opens on. This is your start frame. An image edit costs $0.20 and changes the source photo before any animation happens.
Image edit prompt: "Turn the image intoa large sheet that covers the whole building. Building is not visible at all. Use the exact colour and font of the image."
Step 3: Set your two frames
Start frame: your edited "before" image
End frame: the "after" — usually your original, untouched photo (no edit cost)
The key to a clean reveal: both frames should share the same angle, same framing, same light. The only thing that changes is the element being revealed. That shared continuity is what makes Start–End Image animate smoothly instead of warping.
Step 4: Animate with Start–End Image
Run Start–End Image at 8–10 seconds. The AI generates the motion between your two frames. Animation is billed at the $0.30/sec rate; if your end frame is your original photo, it adds no edit cost.
Animation prompt: "House is fully covered by a large canvas sheet that ripples in the downwash of a black helicopter flies in and is hovering directly above the roof. In a single continuous motion, the helicopter's hook catches the top of the sheet and lifts it cleanly off the house, the fabric peeling upward and trailing behind the aircraft like a giant flag as the fully revealed house comes into view below. The helicopter then banks to the right and flies away into the distance, the sheet streaming after it. The camera holds in a slow, steady wide shot at eye level, slightly pushing in as the house is unveiled. Dust and leaves swirling from the rotor wash, cinematic photorealistic style, smooth and deliberate pacing."
Step 6: Place it in your video
Reveals work best as the opening hook or the hero moment. Drop it at the top of the reel to stop the scroll, then let your Quick Animations carry the rest of the walkthrough.
Example: the helicopter sheet pull
The classic reveal: a house draped in a giant sheet with a helicopter hovering above, then the sheet lifts away to reveal the property underneath.
1. Pick your best exterior photo — this becomes both frames.
2. Create the covered frame (image edit).
Image edit prompt used (feel free to copy and modify):
''House completely draped in a massive orange canvas sheet that follows the contours of the roof and walls, with the fabric rippling gently in the wind. A sleek black helicopter hovers low directly above the rooftop, its rotor blades motion-blurred and kicking up a swirl of dust and leaves around the property. Shot from same angle on a 35mm lens, warm side light catching the folds of the sheet, photorealistic cinematic style with shallow depth of field. Don't remove anything from original photo (not even the small tree in front of the house)''
3. Set your frames — start frame: the covered house; end frame: your original, uncovered photo.
4. Animate — Start–End Image, 9 seconds. The sheet pulls away and the helicopter lifts off, landing on the clean house.
Animation prompt used (feel free to copy and modify):
''House is fully covered by a large orange canvas sheet that ripples in the downwash of a black helicopter hovering directly above the roof. In a single continuous motion, the helicopter's hook catches the top of the sheet and lifts it cleanly off the house, the fabric peeling upward and trailing behind the aircraft like a giant flag as the fully revealed house comes into view below. The helicopter then banks to the right and flies away into the distance, the sheet streaming after it. The camera holds in a slow, steady wide shot at eye level, slightly pushing in as the house is unveiled. Dust and leaves swirling from the rotor wash, cinematic photorealistic style, smooth and deliberate pacing.''
Cost for this example: covered frame with two edit passes ($0.40) + 9-second animation ($2.70) = about $3.10.
Troubleshooting
''The change only covers part of the scene''. Be explicit in your edit prompt — "the entire house, roof to ground." Regenerate ($0.20) rather than animating an incomplete frame; the reveal won't read.
''An added element looks fake or sits in an odd spot''. Specify placement clearly ("hovering high above, centered over the roof"). If something clips the house, ask for it "small and distant" so it reads as scale rather than a sticker.
''The motion looks mushy or warps the scene''. This almost always means the two frames don't share enough continuity. Confirm the end frame is the same photo you edited — same crop, same angle. If you cropped or shifted one frame, the AI has to invent a path and the result smears.
''The reveal happens too fast''. Lengthen the clip toward 10 seconds. Shorter clips give faster motion; the extra second or two lets the reveal breathe.
''The lighting jumps between the two frames''. Match the edit to your original's light direction. If the "before" is lit from the left, the "after" should be too.