S/w to turn still images into movie

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around methods for turning a sequence of still images into an animation or movie format. Participants explore various software options and techniques for creating animations, specifically focusing on Flash and other tools like Fireworks and Photoshop.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • One participant seeks an easy shareware solution for animating a large sequence of images.
  • Another suggests using Flash, noting that it can recognize consecutive images and convert them to SWF format.
  • A participant expresses gratitude for the Flash suggestion but later finds their Flash skills lacking, particularly in automating the image import process.
  • One suggestion involves dragging multiple images onto a keyframe, although a participant reports this method did not work for them.
  • Concerns are raised about images being upside-down due to scanning artifacts, with participants discussing potential solutions for flipping images in bulk.
  • Another participant mentions using Adobe Fireworks and Animation Shop as alternatives for creating GIF animations, while also noting potential issues with exporting from Flash.
  • Participants discuss the importance of naming conventions for images to facilitate batch importing into Flash.
  • Photoshop is mentioned as a tool for batch processing images to correct orientation, with links provided for further guidance.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express varying levels of success and familiarity with the suggested methods and tools, indicating that no consensus exists on the best approach. Some methods are reported as ineffective by certain participants, while others remain untested.

Contextual Notes

Participants note limitations related to software capabilities, such as Flash's handling of image sequences and the challenges of batch processing in different programs. There is also mention of specific software versions and their functionalities.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be useful for individuals looking to create animations from still images, particularly those interested in using Flash, Fireworks, or Photoshop for such tasks.

DaveC426913
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I've got a sequence of illustrated images that I want to run as an animation. What is an easy shareware way to do this? (It is a simple cell animation sequence that I once did.)

I've got a gif animator program but my images are large and plentiful (say, 320x240 x 100 frames).
 
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I get the trial of flash - and drag/drop my images (numbered consecutively) into it - flash recognises that you want them as consecutive images in a movie; converts them to swf from which you can export as you like.
 
*slaps forehead*

I didn't even think of Flash. Thank you.
 
I guess my Flash is a bit rusty. I'm using an MX trial.

Is there a painless way to drop a set of images into a flash sequence one image per frame? At the moment, I can only do one at a time, and each one needs to be a keyframe. It'll be painstaking.
 
If you try selecting all the images at once and dragging them onto a keyframe (in the keyframe window, not in the window showing the contents of the keyframe... like, in the timeline window or whatever.), I think it MIGHT automatically create a new keyframe for each image. Try it. I haven't played with flash for a long time so chances are I am wrong. But it's worth a shot.
 
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Yeah, that was the first thing I tried. Didn't work.

Also, it'd be nice if I could snap my images to the window border/centre, since they're all full-frame.

Also, all my images are upside-down - an artifact of the scanning process. I need to find a bulk method for flipping them - either in Flash or elsewhere.
 
DaveC426913 said:
Also, all my images are upside-down - an artifact of the scanning process.
Re-scan them upside down. :-p
 
I use Fireworks from Adobe (Macromedia), to create .gif animations from images. I've also used Animation Shop from Jasc (ships with Paint Shop Pro). You might have some problems exporting your flash movie to an animated gif.

In flash you can snap, or align, your images with respect to the "stage" or each other, using the align window.
As for dropping a sequence of images, one per keyframe, it does that automatically for .gifs or movies, which doesn't help you much. However, if your images are all named the same, (i.e. IMG1.gif, IMG2.gif, IMG3.gif, etc) when you import one of those images into flash it should prompt:
"This image seems to be part of an animation, do you want to import all images?"
... or something to that effect. If you do, i believe it imports the images one per keyframe.
 
DaveC426913 said:
Also, all my images are upside-down - an artifact of the scanning process. I need to find a bulk method for flipping them - either in Flash or elsewhere.

If you use Photoshop you could set up a batch to do this.
Windows
http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/digitalphotography/l/blps_batch.htm
Mac
http://www.creativemac.com/2002/04_apr/tutorials/psbatch.htm
 
  • #10
Math Is Hard said:
If you use Photoshop you could set up a batch to do this.
Thank you! I know how to do actions, but I didn't know how to batch them!
 

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