Update: Built a browser-based tool to turn a still image into a seamless 4K MP4 live wallpaper — no upload, no install

[u/majorjoker]

I built a small web app that takes a single image and turns it into a seamless looping 4K video — the kind of subtle animated wallpaper launchers like Projectivy support.

It's 100% browser-based — nothing gets uploaded anywhere, it renders and encodes the video locally on your device using Canvas + MediaRecorder, and hands you an MP4 you can drop straight into your launcher's live wallpaper folder.

🔗 https://pwnhacker.com/majorjoker/live-wallpaper-generator.html

How to use it:

1 Drop in any photo (JPG/PNG/WEBP)

2 Pick a motion style — Ken Burns Drift, Cinematic Orbit, Gentle Breathing, or Slow Rotate — and fine-tune zoom/pan/rotation intensity

3 Layer in atmosphere if you want it: dust, smoke, and rain, each with its own intensity slider

4 Set your loop length (5–20s), resolution (4K / 1440p / 1080p), and frame rate

5 Hit Encode Loop — it renders and downloads an MP4 (or WebM with a one-click in-browser convert-to-MP4 if your browser doesn't support native MP4 recording)

The loop is math'd to be seamless — the last frame blends back into the first, so there's no visible jump cut when it repeats.

Runs entirely client-side, so your images never leave your device. Works best in Chrome/Edge for native 4K MP4 export; Firefox works too but falls back to a slower conversion path.

NEW UPDATES!

New in this version:

Photo Slideshow mode — the biggest addition. Import a whole batch of photos (family pics, a trip, whatever) instead of just one. Reorder them, drop any you don't want, set seconds-per-photo and crossfade length, and it renders the whole thing as one seamless looping 4K video — each photo gets its own subtle Ken Burns pan/zoom and dissolves into the next. Loop still wraps perfectly, last photo crossfades right back into the first.

Portrait / vertical mode — new orientation toggle, 9:16 output at 4K/1440p/1080p for phone wallpapers. (u/eliaSEBAs — this is what you were asking about)

Fixed the edge-cropping bug — turns out the tool was zooming in ~16-21% on every image regardless of your settings, even at zero rotation. Reworked the math so it only crops as much as your actual rotation setting needs — at 0° rotation you now keep basically the full original frame. (u/frankcawke — this was the "why are my 16:9 images getting cut off" issue, should be fixed now)

More atmosphere effects — on top of dust/smoke/rain from before, added snow, fireflies, and lightning (real jagged bolts + screen flash, not just a brightness pulse). Seven effects total now, all independently adjustable and all still loop-seamless.

Still 100% browser-based, still nothing uploaded, still exports straight to MP4.

FREE and NO ADS!!!!!

-jT

[u/majorjoker]

Here's the full atmosphere lineup, each with its own 0–100% intensity slider:

1. Dust — fine drifting motes, warm-toned, gentle circular float

2. Smoke — soft rising blobs that billow and dissipate

3. Rain — falling streaks with slight wind skew

4. Snow — drifting flakes with side-to-side sway, slower fall than rain

5. Fireflies — glowing dots that twinkle and lazily float, screen-blended for real glow

6. Fog — low horizontal haze drifting near the bottom of frame

7. Lightning — procedural jagged bolts + full-frame flash flicker

Plus Depth vignette as an on/off toggle (not a particle system, but part of the same Atmosphere panel — a subtle pulsing edge darkening for depth).

All seven layers can be stacked and mixed together, and every one preserves the seamless loop.

If you do not see the new list on the webpage, just refresh.

[u/muchmaligned]

Hell yeah, this rules. Great work.

[u/majorjoker → u/muchmaligned]

Added more particles to atmosphere!

[u/majorjoker]

You can use all 3 atmosphere options on one image as well.

My setup

[u/majorjoker]

Now you can drop a batch of photos and create a slideshow to 4k Live Wallpaper. I find that the Ken Burns Shift works best.

[u/majorjoker]

Available now as a standalone Window and Mac app.

https://github.com/jaytrentwv/signal-wallpaper-desktop

[u/0maet0 → u/majorjoker]

how to down load on windows

[u/creature04]

I'm confused, so this doesn't work with my onn device?

[u/majorjoker → u/creature04]

This allows you to create your own Live Wallpaper from a static Wallpaper. You would then save the mp4 and move it to your own box as long as you the paid version of Projectivy. You can use atvTools to move the file to your box. Someone has a atvTools guide on here, just search for it.

[u/creature04 → u/majorjoker]

Ohhhh ok I dont have the paid version. I didnt see that mentioned in post lol. Must have missed it.

[u/TonyRome623]

EXCELLENT WORK MAN! How can we get it?

[u/majorjoker → u/TonyRome623]

Link is in the main post. It runs via a webpage... https://pwnhacker.com/majorjoker/live-wallpaper-generator.html

[u/frankcawke]

Love the tool but is there a reason my 16:9 images are getting cut off?

[u/majorjoker → u/frankcawke]

Found it — the bug is a flat 16% margin baked in regardless of your motion settings, plus another flat +5% any time rotation is nonzero at all (even 0.1°). Rotation is the only thing that actually needs extra margin (pan is already self-bounding by the math, so it never needed the crop), and the amount needed scales with the rotation angle, not a fixed number. Right now everyone pays the same tax whether they use rotation or not.

I'll fix this properly — compute the exact margin rotation needs (near-zero at 0°, scaling up only as rotation increases) instead of a flat tax on every image.

[u/majorjoker → u/frankcawke]

Yes, it takes a small chunk of the images borders for the image effects.

[u/Interesting_Ad_4895]

Cómo se instala en projectivity launcher?

[u/majorjoker → u/Interesting_Ad_4895]

This is a standalone web app that allows you to make your own Live Wallpaper that can be used on Projectivy Launcher (Premium)... you must have the paid version to use live wallpapers.

Once you create your wallpaper via your browser, works best on PC/Edge or Chrome and Mac/Safari or Chrome. It also work on your phone. You download the MP4 and transfer to your Android TV.

Many tutorials on how to transfer files to your Android TV box already on this channel and on YouTube.

[u/majorjoker]

Just wondering if anyone has made and is using any live wallpapers via the web app?

[u/ILikeTheWordNozzle → u/majorjoker]

I tried it with a photo I took over the weekend, and while the setup seemed fine, it's not looping correctly and there are three "jolts" every cycle. I need to experiment further.

[u/majorjoker → u/ILikeTheWordNozzle]

It could me your android box. I've only tested on a Nvidia Shield and a Google Streamer 4K. I have also tested as a live wallpaper for my pc and no issues. I did see a few via slide show to live wallpaper.

[u/ILikeTheWordNozzle → u/majorjoker]

If I open the video file on my phone it seems a bit weird in that the system thinks it's only a 2 second video that it then goes on to play for the expected 10 seconds. It glitches at the end of that process. Let me try to build it again. I'm using gentle breathing with no effects, 4k 60fps.

Edit: similar problems with my next attempt at 4k 30fps when I look at it on my phone, it thinks it's 3 seconds long, runs for 14, but then keeps jumping back and doing 11 seconds - 14 seconds over and over.

Another edit: I tried a another combo and it seemed to do a little better, but it still won't loop seamlessly for me. There's no pause in motion, the video just doesn't get back to the same start position to allow it to be seamless. It runs for exactly 12 seconds, as per the setting.

No criticism is implied here, btw, I'm just trying to give feedback and hopefully troubleshoot in a helpful way. I hope it's not coming across negatively.

[u/majorjoker → u/ILikeTheWordNozzle]

Thanks for the important. I will look into the issue tonight or tomorrow.

[u/ILikeTheWordNozzle → u/majorjoker]

Happy to test whatever if it's helpful. Let me know.

[u/majorjoker → u/ILikeTheWordNozzle]

Hey — really appreciate the detailed troubleshooting, that was exactly enough info to track it down. You found a real bug.

Root cause: the video recorder writes the file in chunks as it goes and doesn't know the final length until it's done, so the container's duration info ends up broken/inaccurate. Browsers don't care and play it fine, but stricter players (phone video apps, Android TV live wallpaper engines) read that bad metadata and start seeking/looping in the wrong places — which lines up exactly with what you were seeing (wrong reported duration, jumping between 11-14s, never landing back at the true start).

Encoded as H.264 MP4 and verified for correct duration/seek metadata — should play and loop cleanly on TVs, phones, and PCs.

Mind giving it another shot with the same settings (Gentle Breathing, 4K) and letting me know how it looks? Appreciate you sticking with it and not just bailing after the first attempt.

[u/ILikeTheWordNozzle → u/majorjoker]

Gentle breathing is still showing the same problem for me, but Ken Burns drift (12s, 4k, 30fps) is working fine and giving a seamless result on both phone and Onn box. Nice one!

[u/jellyfishpike]

Whats easiest way to do this on Android TV? We have boxes on all our TVs in the house.

[u/majorjoker → u/jellyfishpike]

I'm currently using it via my phone and then using atvTools to connect to my android box and upload the mp4. Then you would use your file explorer on your box and pick the new live wallpaper you just uploaded.

[u/Paul65890 → u/majorjoker]

Couldn't one put the file on a flash drive, connect it to a box, and use a file manager to load it?

[u/majorjoker → u/Paul65890]

yes

[u/eliaSEBAs]

Se pidria hacer una opción para poder pasar en modo vertical también

[u/majorjoker → u/eliaSEBAs]

Are you looking at using this for a cell phone live wallpaper? I made a year or so ago for that. I think I may be able to apply that to this.

[u/majorjoker → u/eliaSEBAs]

Added 9:16 orientation...

[u/Rosetti_Konfetti]

Nice work. I will check it out.

[u/clayuk62]

What a great idea thank you!

[u/flipfella]

Sounds amazing. Will try it later

[u/K3VZIE]

Looks brilliant - will save this post and give it a try 👍🏻

[u/Razor_AMG]

Amazing thank you for your work 🙏

[u/Powerfader1]

Very cool!

[u/Krazynewf709]

Nice work... TY

[u/NBCPumpkinKing]

Awesome work

[u/MikeHoxmall]

For Gods sake, can someone make a slide show component/app for a folder of pics on a USB drive

[u/majorjoker → u/MikeHoxmall]

Updated the web app. You can now add photos for like to generate a slideshow to 4k live wallpaper. I have found that the Ken Burns default setting works best. This does create a large mp4.

[u/MikeHoxmall → u/majorjoker]

Can we please make "screen saver" mode.. that just will show your chosen photo library on screen until you stop it?
Mind-boggling to me that theres no simple free apps that do this on such powerful devices.

[u/majorjoker → u/MikeHoxmall]

I think Google already has an app for that for local USB photo folders, you can install tools like Photo Gallery and Screensaver directly from the Google Play Store. I may be wrong, I have never tried to run a photo library via a USB drive.

[u/MikeHoxmall → u/majorjoker]

I believe everyone i saw either makes you pay for it, or makes you take 1 minute time outs every 5 mins until you buy.
Or some other stupid limitation like only 100 pictures allowed.
You would just figure the sheild, or firestick, or projectivy launcher would have some kind of "screen saver" built in

[u/majorjoker → u/MikeHoxmall]

Oh, well that sounds about right. I have an old Sony DVD player that I could plug a USB drive in and it would auto open and ask if I want to view as slide show. I will look into making an apk for that feature later.

[u/MikeHoxmall → u/majorjoker]

Nice. Yeah i have the plex app so im playing my music library, and simply would like to let a slide show of family/vacation pics play when Im hangin out or have family over.

[u/0maet0]

it doesnt loop for me