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Image sequence -> movie app?

M

Morti

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 15, 2008
10
0
Hi,

I'm searching for an app on the Mac that is able to build up a movie from an image sequence, like when I created a rendering of single images and want to assemble this now into a movie.

Any hint on which software is available for that on the Mac?

If possible, that software should also support HDTV resolutions.

Thanks for any hint
Martin
 
Me too

Sorry I don't have an answer, but I'm also interested in this. Doing a rapid sequence of stills in iMovie is a pain -- either that, or I don't know how to do it easily.

Andrew
 
I realize this is an extremely old thread, but I have a solution that I think may be easier than the listed solutions.

My method involves an applescript automator action, built using code that others have posted around the web (so apart from a little troubleshooting and recoding, most of this code is not mine). I have attached the .workflow file so you can take a look at it and use it if you wish.

To use, just unzip and place the .workflow in ~/USERNAME/Library/Services. Go to the folder with the images you want to combine, and select them all. Right click on one and under Services, choose "Image Sequence to MOV". Give it some time, and eventually a window will open asking for a framerate. Enter your desired framerate, and hit ok. Quicktime 7 should then start up, and begin assembling your mov.
 

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I gave the Automator script a try, but I keep getting an error (it doesn't specify what it is, it just says that it encountered an error). I'm guessing it's because I'm running Mac OS 10.6 and don't have Quicktime 7 (it's only Quicktime X).

Any ideas on how to get this to work?
 
Ya, I am pretty sure it needs QT7 to work. Did you check your Applications->Utilities folder? That is where it is located for me, and I am running 10.6 too...well 10.6.7. You could also look for errors in the Console app (in utilities as well).

Also, just to make sure, you are trying to stitch image files that aren't in too obscure a format (I have only tried jpeg and png, so those are the only ones I know work), and they are named something like image001.png, image002.png...etc (or some other form similar to that)?

Those are the only ideas that come to mind right now. Hopefully one works...let me know :).
 
I checked the console and got the following (very unhelpful) items:

5/26/2011 4:34:14 PM WorkflowServiceRunner[301] Error Domain=com.apple.Automator Code=-212 UserInfo=0x20003c400 "The action “Run AppleScript” encountered an error."
5/26/2011 4:34:14 PM com.apple.Finder[146] 2011-05-26 16:34:14.810 WorkflowServiceRunner[301:903] Error Domain=com.apple.Automator Code=-212 UserInfo=0x20003c400 "The action “Run AppleScript” encountered an error."
5/26/2011 4:34:14 PM WorkflowServiceRunner[301] Presenting string: The action “Run AppleScript” encountered an error. pb <NSPasteboard: 0x200018560>
5/26/2011 4:34:14 PM com.apple.Finder[146] 2011-05-26 16:34:14.813 WorkflowServiceRunner[301:903] Presenting string: The action “Run AppleScript” encountered an error. pb <NSPasteboard: 0x200018560>

Turns out that there is no copy of Quicktime Player 7 in my Utilities folder. A Spotlight search shows that it's nowhere on my hard drive.

And I'm using BMP images files, generated from the (incredible!) Star Wars Title Screen Generator. I'm not sure if that's "too obscure" or not.
 
Ya, those aren't overly helpful errors :p. But, I am fairly certain it is because of the missing QT7. Assuming you have your OS X disks, just follow http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3678 to get it installed. I downloaded and tried the same program you are using, and it worked for me, so BMP images should be fine. I would hazard a guess that any image your mac can open in preview will work.

I hope that can get it working for you! Let me know how it turns out! :)
 
I could find my 10.5 disks, but not my 10.6 disks. Fortunately, Apple released Quicktime 7 for Mac OS 10.6 as a download at this link (despite the fact it says it's for 10.6.3, it worked fine for me with 10.6.7).

When I started it, first I got the same unhelpful error. I was afraid that I might need Quicktime Pro to make it work. Then I opened Quicktime 7 for the first time, closed it, and ran your automator script again. This time it worked like a charm!

The only catch is that since the Star Wars TSG generated about 3000 BMP files, the resulting movie was 1.57 GB for me. Fortunately, I just double-clicked on it (opening it up in Quicktime Player X) did "File -> Save As..." and on the save screen, clicked on the "Format" dropdown menu and selected HD 480p, producing an extremely manageable 19 MB file with no noticeable loss in quality from the 1.57 GB version.

So it seems like I got it to work. Thanks so much for your help!
 
sciman and Thunderforge, thanks for the great tip. I was also able to get the automator script to work thanks to your experience.

I did run into a problem however. I have 1,100 .png images to assemble into a mov. The Service works as long as I select 1,000 images or less. As soon as I choose 1,001 or more, the Service is no longer available on the contectual menu or in Finder->Services. It says "No Services Apply". Any ideas on why I'm running into a number of files limitation? Thunderforge mentioned having 3,000 BMP images so I believe it is possible...

Thanks
 
1st hurdle

Hi Sciman.
Just came across this post while trying to perform this function for an iMovie project. Just wondering if you've any idea why some, but not other photos appear as black when opened in Quicktime 7? :eek:

This is exactly what Im looking for but unfortunately the file in either IMG_xxxx.jpg or DSC_xxxx.jpg dont appear when opened in QT 7 :(

Any suggestions on me maybe batch converting them somehow?
Thanks a mill
R


Not to worry guys. I figured out the size was too big & need to batch resize them in preview to something like 1900 x . Should be able to get it working now hopefully.
Thanks a mill!!
:)

Great scripts
 
Last edited:
MNSaxMan said:
sciman and Thunderforge, thanks for the great tip. I was also able to get the automator script to work thanks to your experience.

I did run into a problem however. I have 1,100 .png images to assemble into a mov. The Service works as long as I select 1,000 images or less. As soon as I choose 1,001 or more, the Service is no longer available on the contectual menu or in Finder->Services. It says "No Services Apply". Any ideas on why I'm running into a number of files limitation? Thunderforge mentioned having 3,000 BMP images so I believe it is possible...

Thanks
Click to expand...

Hey MNSaxMan,

I know this is a really late reply, I completely forgot about posting here :/.

I just tried now, and I see what you mean. That is odd. Right now I have no answer for you. You could do the images in groups of 1000 and then combine the resulting videos, although that isn't the most elegant solution. If I come up with a solution, I'll be sure to post back here, for you and anyone else who comes across this issue.

Also as a note, the script seems to still work under Lion. :)

EDIT: I'm not really sure why it worked for Thunderforge, but so far it seems there is a 1000 file selection limit in automator. So, perhaps this script can be adapted to something that doesn't need automator, but for now, I think you will have to live with the 1000 file limit :/.

One solution I have forgotten about is that you could use the opensource application Blender (blender.org) to take the images and generate a video from them. Feel free to contact me if you would like an explanation on how to do that (Twitter: @Sciman3, or m (dot) proton12 (at) gmail (dot) com) :)
 
Last edited:
You don't need any special app, automator workflow or applescript to be installed.All you need is QuickTime Pro 7:

1) open QuickTime Pro 7 from Application/Utilities folder (it's not installed by default since Snow Leopard unless you own FinalCutPro for example.
2) from File menu choose 'Open Image Sequence' and select the images
3) next it will ask you about the framerate.

that's it.
 
kakalaka said:
You don't need any special app, automator workflow or applescript to be installed.All you need is QuickTime Pro 7:

1) open QuickTime Pro 7 from Application/Utilities folder (it's not installed by default since Snow Leopard unless you own FinalCutPro for example.
2) from File menu choose 'Open Image Sequence' and select the images
3) next it will ask you about the framerate.

that's it.
Click to expand...

Yes, that is a simpler solution. However, I know that I don't want to pay for pro, so the applescript/automator way works nicely for those looking for a free solution. :)
 
motulist said:
You can do it for free with the shareware app called Graphic Converter. Just do this:


File > Convert & Modify

Function: Convert

Destination: MooV - Quicktime Movie

select input images, and output folder
Click to expand...

That would work too.
 
sciman3 said:
That would work too.
Click to expand...

Actually, I just tested it, and it didn't work. There should actually be a couple of ways to do it with graphic converter, but I just tested a couple of them and it either doesn't work, or it seems to hang in the middle of the operation. Oh well.
 
Morti said:
Hi,

I'm searching for an app on the Mac that is able to build up a movie from an image sequence, like when I created a rendering of single images and want to assemble this now into a movie.

Any hint on which software is available for that on the Mac?

If possible, that software should also support HDTV resolutions.

Thanks for any hint
Martin
Click to expand...

ImageJ is a "scientific" image handling program developed at the National Institute of Health (NIH). It isn't exactly user friendly but it is free and definitely capable of splitting a movie into a series of images and also converting a series of images into a movie... and is free.
 
great automator script

I just found this and it has been VERY useful to make movies from Matlab figures (which has very flakey support in Mac). One note, if you are going to use it multiple times, it may be helpful to quit QT7 after each use.

I am using Lion and when I tried to make multiple movies the 2nd one was always blank (black frame), unless I closed QT7 then it made it perfectly.

sciman3 said:
Hey MNSaxMan,

I know this is a really late reply, I completely forgot about posting here :/.

I just tried now, and I see what you mean. That is odd. Right now I have no answer for you. You could do the images in groups of 1000 and then combine the resulting videos, although that isn't the most elegant solution. If I come up with a solution, I'll be sure to post back here, for you and anyone else who comes across this issue.

Also as a note, the script seems to still work under Lion. :)

EDIT: I'm not really sure why it worked for Thunderforge, but so far it seems there is a 1000 file selection limit in automator. So, perhaps this script can be adapted to something that doesn't need automator, but for now, I think you will have to live with the 1000 file limit :/.

One solution I have forgotten about is that you could use the opensource application Blender (blender.org) to take the images and generate a video from them. Feel free to contact me if you would like an explanation on how to do that (Twitter: @Sciman3, or m (dot) proton12 (at) gmail (dot) com) :)
Click to expand...
 
Sorry to resurrect this thread but I just downloaded Zeitraffer for free from the Mac App Store and it works great with my GoPro time lapse photos. Free too! Figured I'd post in case anyone googles the same thing I just googled and finds this thread.
 
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