Time-Lapse in Adobe CS5 ??

[George D.]

Is there a quick, smooth, and easy way to link up still images from a time-lapse sequence in Adobe CS5 ?

I will be shooting time-lapse with a Nikon D2X, and as such, realize that I must do it in JPEG not RAW. But, after the shooting is done, I must put all those stills together sequentially in their high quality. I am hoping there is an option in CS5 that will allow me to do that. If it is in the manual, what page, because I cannot find it.

If not, what would you suggest? I do NOT want to lose the original quality in the process.

Thanks.

 

[Postmaster]

Just import numbered stills (JPEG/TIFF/TARGA) as image sequence (check box - import dialog) and you are golden.

Frank

 

[Bobomatic]

I just import my jpegs in Quicktime, let it do it's thing, export the movie from QT and throw it on my timeline, all without any image degradation.

 

[George D.]

I just import my jpegs in Quicktime, let it do it's thing, export the movie from QT and throw it on my timeline, all without any image degradation.

Thanks, but would you kindly be more specific on exactly how you do that? Is there some written info that will tell me?

I appreciate all the help.

 

[Bobomatic]

Thanks, but would you kindly be more specific on exactly how you do that? Is there some written info that will tell me?

I appreciate all the help.

Make sure all your time lapse still images are in a single folder with no other pictures or files. The files are automatically numbered sequentially so don’t change anything or QuickTime won’t be able to build the video.

Fire up QuickTime Pro and go to File > Open Image Sequence. Navigate to the first image in the sequence and doubleclick on it. Set your frame rate somewhere between 15 and 30 frames per second (experiment to see what works best). Sit back and let it do it's thing, usually just a few minutes depending on the number of images you have. When the movie has been compiled, go to File > Save As and you’re done. Import to CS5. Very quick and easy.

 

[George D.]

Make sure all your time lapse still images are in a single folder with no other pictures or files. The files are automatically numbered sequentially so don’t change anything or QuickTime won’t be able to build the video.

Fire up QuickTime Pro and go to File > Open Image Sequence. Navigate to the first image in the sequence and doubleclick on it. Set your frame rate somewhere between 15 and 30 frames per second (experiment to see what works best). Sit back and let it do it's thing, usually just a few minutes depending on the number of images you have. When the movie has been compiled, go to File > Save As and you’re done. Import to CS5. Very quick and easy.

Thanks Bobo,

It works great doing it that way. One thing though, I see no way to "set my frame rate".

When I load it into Adobe CS5 I can pick the resolution and the frame rate when I first open up the program, but other than that I see no way to do it otherwise, or in QuickTime.

 

[Bobomatic]

Thanks Bobo,

It works great doing it that way. One thing though, I see no way to "set my frame rate".

When I load it into Adobe CS5 I can pick the resolution and the frame rate when I first open up the program, but other than that I see no way to do it otherwise, or in QuickTime.

It's there in a drop down menu when you select the first image... you'll just have to look closer, but I promise you, it's there.

 

[designbydave]

There is a pretty slick way of doing this in Premiere. I tried to do a video tutorial a while ago, but had issues with the screen capture software. I'll try to describe the process:

1. Either shoot, or re-size all your images so they are less then about 12 megapixel. Premiere doesn't really like large jpgs, especially several hundred of them.

2. Set up 2 sequences. The first is your finished format, 1080 24p for example. For the second, in the new sequence dialogue box click the general tab (we are not using a preset here.) Then change the Editing Mode to "desktop" and set the frame size to that of your images. Make sure the pixel aspect ration is 1 and set your desired frame rate.

3. Go to Edit > Preferences > General and set the Still Image Default Duration to 1 frame.

4. Make a new bin in your project and import all your images into that bin (just helps keep organized.)

5. With your custom sequence open, select all your imported images and go Project > Automate To Sequence. Set the ordering to Sort Order assuming your files are named sequentially and sorted that way in the project bin. Then set the Clip Overlap to 0 frame and uncheck the two boxes for transitions.

And your timeline will be populated with your stills.

6. Go back to your 1080p timeline and drop the custom sequence in there (nested sequences) and resize as desired.

The advantages to this method:

1. You keep the original file resolution and Premiere has each image in your timelapse so you can modify individual frames if necessary.

2. Assuming your stills are higher resolution than your finishing format, you can play around will all kinds of animations and crops without having to render a giant video file like the quicktime method.

3. Its all done in Premiere

There is one major drawback though. When you close and re-open Premiere, it will have to load up each jpeg file from your timelapse. Load times get pretty long when you have over ~1000 images. So you may want to limit how many timelapses you do in a single project.


Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any questions, or if this doesn't make sense.

 

[George D.]

There is a pretty slick way of doing this in Premiere. I tried to do a video tutorial a while ago, but had issues with the screen capture software. I'll try to describe the process:

1. Either shoot, or re-size all your images so they are less then about 12 megapixel. Premiere doesn't really like large jpgs, especially several hundred of them.

2. Set up 2 sequences. The first is your finished format, 1080 24p for example. For the second, in the new sequence dialogue box click the general tab (we are not using a preset here.) Then change the Editing Mode to "desktop" and set the frame size to that of your images. Make sure the pixel aspect ration is 1 and set your desired frame rate.

3. Go to Edit > Preferences > General and set the Still Image Default Duration to 1 frame.

4. Make a new bin in your project and import all your images into that bin (just helps keep organized.)

5. With your custom sequence open, select all your imported images and go Project > Automate To Sequence. Set the ordering to Sort Order assuming your files are named sequentially and sorted that way in the project bin. Then set the Clip Overlap to 0 frame and uncheck the two boxes for transitions.

And your timeline will be populated with your stills.

6. Go back to your 1080p timeline and drop the custom sequence in there (nested sequences) and resize as desired.

The advantages to this method:

1. You keep the original file resolution and Premiere has each image in your timelapse so you can modify individual frames if necessary.

2. Assuming your stills are higher resolution than your finishing format, you can play around will all kinds of animations and crops without having to render a giant video file like the quicktime method.

3. Its all done in Premiere

There is one major drawback though. When you close and re-open Premiere, it will have to load up each jpeg file from your timelapse. Load times get pretty long when you have over ~1000 images. So you may want to limit how many timelapses you do in a single project.


Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any questions, or if this doesn't make sense.

I tried using your method several times, and the images load in OK, but no matter what I do, they will NOT play back at 30fps. Each frame takes several seconds on the screen instead of at the required 1/30sec. to be a smooth time-lapse video. I "have" checked the correct boxes to set it at 30fps, but it makes no difference.

Would you clarify for me?

Thanks.

 

[designbydave]

I tried using your method several times, and the images load in OK, but no matter what I do, they will NOT play back at 30fps. Each frame takes several seconds on the screen instead of at the required 1/30sec. to be a smooth time-lapse video. I "have" checked the correct boxes to set it at 30fps, but it makes no difference.

Would you clarify for me?

Thanks.

You probably did not set the "default still image duration" to 1 frame in the preferences or you did this AFTER importing your images. You have to have this set before importing images. Try deleting the images from your project, then setting the image duration to 1 frame, then re-importing them. To check, select any image in your project bin and in the info box it should say the duration is 1 frame (00,00,00,01)