Take all frames and superimpose them as one image

rye9 · May 5, 2015

How do I go about this? I have access to both Mac and PC.

As some background: on a PC, I used ShareX to take a small segment of a video both in terms of size and length. I had, let's say, a 1024x768 video that was 12 seconds long, and I took a 150x150 area of the video and recorded it for only 2 seconds.

Then, with ImageJ, I converted the .mp4 video to a series of .tif images. Now I want to superimpose them all. I'm trying to show the movement of a cell over the course of a few seconds and I think this is the best visual representation that's not a video.

dwig · May 5, 2015

The big issue will be how the multiple images are blended.

You can do this fairly easily using Photoshop. Either launch Bridge (installs with Ps) and use its Tools>Photoshop>Load files into Photoshop layers... menu option or in Ps use the dialog produced from File>Scripts>Load Files into Stack... to load all of the files into their own layer in a single Ps file.

Once they are all loaded you will need to choose the best Layer Blending method and/or Transparency in order to get your desired effect. The exact tonal characteristics of each image will affect which choices work best.

AngerDanger · May 5, 2015

Using Photoshop and the original video:

Go to File > Import > Video Frames to Layers then navigate through the series of dialog boxes until things meet your requirements.

Once you have the frames as layers, select the bottom layer, scroll up, and click the top layer while holding shift. This should select every frame in between as well.

Now, on the layers panel to the left of Opacity, click Normal and select a blending mode like Lighten or Darken until things overly nicely.

rye9 · May 5, 2015

I've never used Photoshop before. I just installed it, and was able to get the images in as layers. Now how do I put them all on top of each other?

Thanks

AngerDanger · May 5, 2015

rye9 said:
I've never used Photoshop before. I just installed it, and was able to get the images in as layers. Now how do I put them all on top of each other?

Thanks

It would probably be easier to use the original video and go to File > Import > Video Frames to Layers… and follow the steps onscreen.

If you need to use the image files, Dwig's advice should be followed; use Adobe Bridge to get all the images as layers in a single document.

dwig · May 6, 2015

rye9 said:
I've never used Photoshop before. I just installed it, and was able to get the images in as layers. Now how do I put them all on top of each other?

Thanks

If they are all each in their own layer then they are on top of each other.

Think of them as being a stack of printed photographs; you will only see the top photograph as it blocks the ones below it in the stack.

Ps has various ways of altering the layer blending. You can select a different blending type/style (e.g. normal, darken, lighten, ...) and you can control the transparency. As I noted in the last paragraph in my earlier post, altering these optons will be necessary to achieve your desired result. Without having the actual images it is impossible to specify exactly which options will work best in your situation. You may also find that you need to do some tonal adjustments to each layer to alter contrast to get the best "blend".

AngerDanger · May 7, 2015

rye9 said:
How do I go about this? I have access to both Mac and PC.

As some background: on a PC, I used ShareX to take a small segment of a video both in terms of size and length. I had, let's say, a 1024x768 video that was 12 seconds long, and I took a 150x150 area of the video and recorded it for only 2 seconds.

Then, with ImageJ, I converted the .mp4 video to a series of .tif images. Now I want to superimpose them all. I'm trying to show the movement of a cell over the course of a few seconds and I think this is the best visual representation that's not a video.

If you do get something composited, and it isn't too much trouble, would you mind sharing?

I'm curious.

RodoLana · May 8, 2015

I believe what your trying to accomplish is easily done in Photoshop by creating an Image Stack and setting the Stack Mode to Minimum.One caveat to this is that you must have the Extended version or the CC version of Photoshop in order to create Image Stacks. Once you've created your Image Stack you can cycle through the various Stack Modes to find which mode works best for your image.
See this link for more info: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/image-stacks-photoshop-extended.html

You should also check out Russell Brown's page for Dr. Browns Service's scripts which contains his Stack-A-Matic script.
http://www.russellbrown.com/scripts.html

I hope this helps.
RL

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