‎Look, video backgrounds are weirdly expensive. A decent looping background can run you $200, or you can go the free route and use a static image or green screen—which looks exactly like what it is: the cheap option.

There's now a third way: generate your own custom looping backgrounds in Descript. It takes a few minutes and costs nothing extra.

Why you'd want to do this

Moving backgrounds make videos look more polished. They give your content that professional sheen without being distracting. The subtle motion—clouds drifting, waves lapping, fire crackling—keeps things visually interesting while you talk, demo a product, or wait for a livestream to start.

The problem is that most stock video backgrounds either don't match your vibe or cost more than they're worth. And making them yourself usually requires expensive software and skills you probably don't have.

This method lets you create exactly what you need, which matches your specific content, in the time it takes to make coffee.

How to generate a looping background

Get a reference image

You can generate one with AI or use a photo you already have. The key is thinking about what actually makes sense to loop. Subtle motion works best—nothing too chaotic. Fire crackling in a fireplace. Ocean waves. A cat breathing. Clouds moving across a sky.

‎Open Descript and start generating

Click AI Tools, then Generate a video.

‎

Write your prompt

Describe what you want the video to do. Here's the important part: your prompt needs to specify that the start and end frames should match your reference image. That's what creates the seamless loop.

Pro tip: if writing prompts feels tedious, just ask ChatGPT or Claude to write one for you. Say something like "I want a looping aerial shot over a snowy mountain ridge" and it'll give you a solid prompt.

Attach your reference image twice

First, attach your reference image to the main prompt—click the paper clip icon and choose your file.

Then click the cube icon to choose your model. Pick one that accepts a "last frame" image—models like PixVerse, Hailuo, and Veo 3.1 support this. Attach the same reference image there.

‎This tells the model: start here, do your thing, end here. That's your loop.

Generate and wait

Hit generate. Go do something else. When it's done, you'll have a video that starts and ends at the same frame.

Add it to your timeline and loop it

Drop the video into your timeline. Go to Properties, click the dropdown under Duration, and choose Loop.

‎If the loop isn't quite seamless, you can trim the clip slightly until it looks right.

That's it. You now have a looping background that'll run as long as you need it to.

What else Descript can do

Descript is a video and podcast editor that works like a document. You can edit your video by editing the transcript, remove filler words with one click, create AI voices, add captions automatically, and a bunch of other things that make editing less miserable than it usually is.