Recently some of my followers sent me four photos and asked for a stylish lyric edit. I built one with a subtle 3D depth effect, using a song with a desert-like mood. It looks complicated, but it only needs layers, one Z value setting, and a simple camera animation. In this guide, I'll show exactly how I made it, all on a phone.
Why this effect works
The 3D look comes from separating the person from the background and placing them at different depths. When the camera moves, the background and the subject shift by different amounts, and your eye reads that as depth. Once you understand this idea, you can reuse it with any photo and any song.
What you'll need
- Alight Motion, installed from the official Play Store or App Store
- 3-4 photos (4-5 MB or larger gives better quality)
- A song you have the right to use
- Two fonts: one bold and one handwriting style (use free fonts such as Google Fonts)
Step 1: Prepare your photos
For each photo, you need two files: a PNG of the person with no background, and a clean background. Here are three ways to get them:
- PhotoRoom app: Upload a photo and the background is removed automatically.
- Your phone's gallery: I use a OnePlus. I open the photo, tap the pencil icon, and use the object remove option. Not every phone has this feature.
- ChatGPT: Upload the photo and ask it to create only the background, or to remove only the subject. Choose the highest quality output. If the photos belong to other people, get their permission before uploading.
Step 2: Add the audio and beat markers
Import your song into Alight Motion. If the audio is inside a video, tap the three dots on the clip and choose Extract Audio.
Listen to the track once. Then tap on the timeline to place beat markers where the lyrics or beats change. These markers decide where each photo and lyric starts and ends, so take your time here. Good markers make the whole edit feel smooth.
Step 3: Build the 3D depth
- Add the background and extend it to the next beat marker.
- Zoom in with your fingers, open Move & Transform, and increase the Z value.
- Go back to the start, add the cut-out PNG of the person, and zoom it the same way.
The gap between the background's depth and the subject's depth creates the 3D feel.
Step 4: Add lyrics
Use short lyric lines for your own video, and don't publish full lyrics in a blog post. Lyrics are copyrighted.
- Tap the plus icon and choose Text (the second option).
- Add your first font and convert the text to capital letters.
- Pick a color that matches the photo.
- Open Border and Shadow, add a round border and a shadow, and give it a light texture. Move the border layer to the bottom.
- Duplicate the layer for the next line.
- Use a handwriting font for the second lyric layer. If both fonts look alike, the layered look disappears.
- Use the Z value to control which text sits in front.
Step 5: Camera animation
- Go to Object and Element, add a Camera, and extend it to the beat marker.
- Turn the camera on.
- In Move & Transform, add a keyframe at the start and place the camera to one side.
- Add a second keyframe and place the camera on the other side.
- Play it back.
I animated only one lyric to show the method. You can repeat it for the rest. You can also adjust movement to decide whether the text sits above or below the subject.
Step 6: Repeat for the other photos
Copy the finished section and paste it at the next position. Then change the background under Color & Fill, and swap each PNG the same way. With four photos, this takes much less time than the first one.
Common problems and fixes
- The 3D effect looks flat. The Z values of the background and subject are probably too close. Increase the gap a little at a time.
- The cut-out edges look rough. Zoom in and clean the edges before importing. Bad edges ruin the depth effect more than anything else.
- The text is hard to read. Add a border or shadow, or change the text color to contrast with the photo. Keep lyrics short.
- The two fonts look the same. Pick one bold font and one handwriting font. The contrast is what makes the layers stand out.
- Playback is laggy. Large photos can slow down preview on some phones. Close other apps, or lower the preview quality while editing.
- The Z value looks unnatural. Small changes look more realistic. Increase it gradually and check after each change.
Tips for better results
- Choose photos where the person is clearly separate from the background.
- Keep one color style across all lyrics so the video feels consistent.
- Place beat markers before adding anything else.
- Save your project after finishing one photo, so you can duplicate it for the rest.
Final thoughts
Once you understand layers, the Z value, and keyframes, this style is quick to repeat. Try it on one photo first, then build up to the full edit. If you get stuck on any step, leave a comment and I'll help.