How to turn an Image Sequence into a Video in Photoshop

[@Scaleymodels]

Great tutorial, I have done everything that you have done, the one thing isafter its rendered and i check the folder its saved to, I have 300 individual images but no video. Any Ideas?

[@WPguru]

Hi Dad, yes indeed - I have a couple of theories: On import, Photoshop appears to be a bit pernickety when it comes to sequential numbering. It needs to see the same file name with a different number to properly identify your images as a valid image sequence. For example, image0001.jpg, image0002.jpg etc will work fine. photo-1.jpg, image-test.png etc will not work. I didn't know this when I made that video, I only just found out. Importing non-sequentially numbered images will result in Photoshop importing each image separately, despite the "image sequence" option being ticked. On export, make sure the option "Adobe Media Encoder" comes up inside the Render to Video dialogue. If it's greyed out, you'll only get the option "Photoshop Image Sequence", which will not be able to render a video file - it'll only be able to make another image sequence. Hope this helps!

[@Scaleymodels]

@@WPguru Many thanks for your prompt reply. Yep Adobe Image is greyed out, ah well back to the drawing board

[@WPguru]

I've had that before when only a single image is on the video timeline. If I have 30 or more, the Media Encoder option shows up and can render a video.

[@timeless9951]

@@Scaleymodels did you ever get that sorted out? I have a series of 360 images named "001" through "359" and they import just fine, but I still can't get the "Adobe Media Encoder" option.

[@Scaleymodels]

@@timeless9951 Hi No tried and tried, but no luck im afraid, would have loved to get it going, but lifes too short lol

[@DavidWilliams-wj4sc]

2016 was a GREAT year! 2017 and 2018 are only better and better!

[@WPguru]

I like the way you look at it :-)

[@nighlyhabit6918]

nearly 5 000 vies and so litle feedback, i just wanted to thank you for taking time and making this video. helped me LOADS.. all in all the video was very informative and soothing to watch, thx

[@WPguru]

Thank you!

[@deltathree7179]

This video is very helpful. I knew nothing about photoshop. Yet after viewing this video, I was able to create an Image Sequence Video in an hour.

[@samroberts6193]

Really useful tutorial and got me making videos from image files in no time!

[@jeremiahnorris7435]

Thank you so much. This is the only video I saw that gave a straight, easy-to-follow tutorial about using Photoshop to turn an image sequence into a video. Great job, and bravo!

[@MarkRadford]

This is still super helpful, all these years later :) Thanks!

[@WPguru]

I'm so glad to hear it Mark 😃

[@PhotoBales]

Great tutorial! Thanks for keeping it precise and clean. Very informative!

[@Simon-Simon-Simon]

had can I use this technique to blend 2 rendered images - one day - one night si

[@Netzerland]

Very detailed and descriptive. I have been editing an image sequence, and then exporting each picture after I am doing editing. Cool way to composite problematic areas

[@blueneil36]

Hi Mr Guru...the video is great and simple to follow. But I follow all the steps with jpegs up to the point of export but the adobe media encoder option cannot be selected...am I missing something or can I not video sequence jpeg`s?....please can you help...Many thanks Neil

[@WPguru]

Hi Neil, that's a mystery I cannot explain I'm afraid. I've heard this before that some users just can't select the Media Encoder option, and I can't figure out why. Could be that Media Encoder only works with a capable enough GPU, could be a licensing issue. The best I can suggest is to get in touch with Adobe and ask them why this happens. What version of Photoshop are you using? I've tried this on a Mac and a PC, versions CC 2016 - 2020, and they've all been working fine for me.

[@neilgostick5417]

@@WPguru thanks for the prompt reply. I'm using cs6 extended. I'll have to check with adobe. Also you may be right about the gpu as I'm using shared hp Intel. Maybe I need an upgrade! Thanks again.

[@WPguru]

Ah, I think the whole Media Encoder integration may have happened in CC.

[@neilgostick5417]

@@WPguru Well sir I have to say that my copy of ps was a lite version and not up to the job. So I've gone all out a gone for PS and LR on a monthly of £10 and it all works fine. It was you that inspired me to do so and I thank you that. No more faffing about. Now I just need a faster laptop lol.

[@kodoyama]

Amazing, thank you! I've been pulling my hair out trying to find a way of exporting a .tif sequence as a movie and it was in Photoshop all along!

[@WPguru]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ProvocativeSloth]

So simple! Thank you so much for this :) I'm making a video for my wedding day.

[@WPguru]

Oh nice, I’m so happy this was helpful. And CONGRATULATIONS 😍

[@annstracts4868]

Thanks for putting this together. It works!

[@maniteja332]

Thanks for the video.Nicely explained

[@Cartoonicus]

My video layer doesn't give me a workable timeline. It's like everything imported into one single frame.

[@ronydey2696]

Lots of thanks upon you sir because it's really too amazed class ...im an animation CG VFx student from India and it's very much helping for clean plate in vfx frame per frame paint out sequence and after finishing it to output out the results ie the render part

[@111Xumi111]

This sequence has holes. Seems it's better the old with automate and import by batch

[@WMR_Oliverse]

im having trouble of how to turn image sequence into adobe media encoder, its not letting me click adobe media encoder

[@WPguru]

Hi Jade, I've heard of that problem before, but have never encountered it myself. Out of interest, what hardware are you using? It could be that the Media Encoder option relies on a GPU - it's just a guess, but I'd like to get to the bottom of it. For me the Media Encoder option always shows up.

[@WMR_Oliverse]

@@WPguru mine its always image sequence and it wouldnt let me click the adobe one.

[@MarcusMartinsbmcm]

Great Video for Image sequence. Can you save the file as a .png? My video switcher only uses .png files.

[@WPguru]

Hi Marcus, that's a tricky question. If you render your sequence a video file, it won't be saved as PNG. Although it is possible for the PNG codec to be used in a video sequence, Photoshop doesn't seem to let us do this. Instead you'll end up with something like a .MOV or .AVI file. However, Photoshop's video export options allow you to create another series of images, which can be saved as PNG files. So for example, if you have a sequence of JPG files, you can turn them into PNG files that way. Let me know if that makes sense :-)

[@deveshhiteshi7713]

Adobe media encoder option is not visible in my photoshop

[@WPguru]

Your video needs at least 30 frames in the sequence for Media Encoder to show up, I guess otherwise it can't encode.

[@deveshhiteshi7713]

The WP Guru okay got it!! Thanks!

[@ajkvisual]

Didnt even know you could do this, great tutorial clear and consise. Thanks for your help :)

[@annnewman7092]

Quick question. Sounds like the only way to bring these images in is to export them from Lightroom into another folder. Or am I wrong...is there a way to bring them directly from Lightroom into Photoshop so that they open as a sequence? Just hoping for a shortcut to that part of the process.

[@WPguru]

I don’t have Lightroom, I just browse to the location on the hard drive and specify that it’s an image sequence, Photoshop does the rest. I don’t know if there’s a way to do this from Lightroom.

[@fishcp2]

Any help on Photoshop 2020 ?

[@WPguru]

It still works the same way in Photoshop 2020.

[@muhammadraza7301]

Nice to see you my dear. very wounderful video for me.

[@ColeSonMusic]

just what i needed

[@eemage9476]

Beautifully explained and very useful too. Thank you very much. I'm a new subscriber Sir.

[@WPguru]

You're very welcome!

[@UnicornRiderNarresh]

Good Video Can we add audio track.

[@WPguru]

Yes that works too: with the timeline open, click on the arrow next to the little note icon in the audio track, then choose "add audio". This will open a file browser and lets you pick an audio file.

[@am75040]

I just wanted to say, Thank you for sharing the information. It was very helpful.

[@JessiAnjuliSmith]

thank you!!

[@TuneRaceRepeat]

Thanks a lot for this!

[@chrislonghurst]

I had no idea this was even a Photoshop thing. Solved a problem for me. Thanks for the tip !

[@DUDE24699]

Thanks for this!! You are awesome!!!! Keep up the great tutorials!

[@PaulMagnet]

i need to open those files all in the frame time line, not video timeline. how do i import them in the frame line?? Thank you

[@WPguru]

Hi Paul, by frame time line, do you mean the Layers Palette? In which case, head over to File - Scripts - Load Files into Stack. Pick several files, then Photoshop goes to work. A few moments later, you should have all images accessible as a new layer in the same Photoshop document.

[@francoanzalone4061]

Thank you ! Another great tutorial !! I am using it for my daz studio animation !!!

[@henningescher9285]

Amazing tutorial! Helped a lot :)

[@GiselleHeart]

Great Tutorial, Thanks

[@garvSensei999]

does it supposed to make a video coz im getting the same files again

[@WPguru]

If that happens you've selected "image sequence" on output, rather than a video format. It will make a video if used properly.

[@JovanVasiljevic]

Seems like a great tutorial! Thanks a lot, can't wait to try it out!

[@Joshi_Bhai]

Thanks, Simple and straightforward tutorial.

[@mansooralisamo901]

thank you so much man. you just saved a life

[@karthiknaidu4240]

Great Tut , thanks a lot it .....helped me to create a video of Image sequenced Turntable of my 3D works

[@reganjacobs3551]

Cheers legend helped a lot

[@erfut]

This did not worked on my PC, any suggestions Why please?

[@WPguru]

Without knowing any further details, I'm afraid there's not much I can suggest.

[@railboat1105]

2016 was a bad year - haha who knew there was a worser year comming up 4 years later

[@gseric4721]

I kinda wish there was an easier way to duplicate your videos. I have to go to a 3rd party software so that the process is quicker. I wish you could just copy/paste like with other programs.

[@nelsonbellamy3778]

Wow brother wow thank you so much

[@InspirationsMarketing]

Thank you dude very helpful

[@diegodealmeida9569]

thx man!

[@sylfestmyklatun2894]

Great tutorial. Thank you - just what I was looking for.

[@myko1824]

can you insert sound?

[@WPguru]

Yes you can! In the Photoshop Timeline, underneath the video track, find the (empty) audio track. There's a small musical notes icon next to a speaker icon. Click the notes icon and select Add Audio, then pick a file from your hard drive.

[@myko1824]

@@WPguru Thanks for the reply. You see I have this powerpoint 2007 slideshow but the thing is I can't upload to youtube because the extension is ppsx. I tried to convert but there is no sound, and when I do screen record the timing of the pictures and song is not correct. Do you know of a way I can solve this?

[@WPguru]

Ah... I don't think Photoshop likes Powerpoint as a source, nor does KZbin. I use Keynote on a Mac (it's similar to Powerpoint), and I get the option to export my slides, either as individual JPG images or as a movie sequence. See if Powerpoint has something similar. If it can't export a whole movie of your slideshow, I would probably export each slide individually (File - Save As or Export) and then combine them in a video editor. That will allow you to time the music properly.

[@myko1824]

@@WPguru ok Thank you.

[@WPguru]

I just had a look in my version of Powerpoint (2011 for Mac), it has the option under File - Save as Movie. That should do the trick. Good luck!

[@CryptoBates]

Hey man i did this and it made my 11sec video into 340 images. So then I edited like 100 of 340 the photos in photo shop. Then rendered video to mp4 . 30 fps KZbin video 1080p and it come out as a 27 min video in slow motion. Like real slow

[@WPguru]

KZbin are... insane! Did the file play OK on your local system?

[@leleo2849]

Nice video thank you! You save my day S2

[@gamedevinspire]

Nicely done man great video short but too much things on it!!💪

[@aloklakhera3073]

It is not rendering as video its giving be again image sequence, even after changing extension during render dialogue box name box

[@WPguru]

In the Render to Video dialogue, make sure you select "Adobe Media Encoder" - NOT "Photoshop Image Sequence".

[@aloklakhera3073]

I can't find any such option in render video dialogue box. Am using cs3.

[@WPguru]

Oh, I *think* only CS3 Extended had that option (not the regular version), I can't remember when exactly that feature was introduced, but it was definitely an Extended feature. It's also included in CC.

[@aloklakhera3073]

Sorry that I forgot to mention its an extended version. But then I used Imagej to make video and it worked perfectly.

[@aseesabid2507]

Thanks buddy. Great tutorial. At last I found the best one

[@ROFLAND]

very helpful

[@rurouni_xyz]

thank u very much

[@hollywooda111]

Thank you so much! this is awesome!... Cheers

[@angelastefanovska7731]

Great!!!

[@souprodutivo8088]

THANK YOU!

[@sandrampillay2652]

Will trying a few projects using your method. Thank you once more.

[@AdamLucio]

Where has this video been all my life. It has changed my life lol send me a donation link and ill buy you a cup of coffee....or beer....or whatever your preferred beverage choice is lol, but thanks for this!

[@WPguru]

Thank you so much, Adam! I’m glad it was helpful. Thank you so much for the offer, here’s a link for ways to donate: wpguru.tv/support 😍

[@sandrampillay2652]

Was looking for a tutorial in this line. Thank you have now found it. Will be referring to it.

[@tianliguo3759]

Great tutorial! You did save my day!

[@WPguru]

Thank you :-)

[@sharathegde4645]

I'm not able to render in this, if I give render it keeps loading forever

[@WPguru]

Sounds more like a rendering than a Photoshop problem. What are you rendering in?

[@timeless9951]

I'm having a problem exporting my video. It's exporting as a list of images and for file format options it only has image formats. I think this is because the box above the format is set to "Photoshop Image Sequence" as opposed to your "Adobe Media Encoder". The problem is that this option is faded/unselectable for me. I'd appreciate any suggestions on how to correct this is anybody has one. I've linked an image below. imgur.com/LHxeNSd edit: all my frames are labled "001" through "360"

[@smileroshan]

same here

[@MeebzcoffeeNz]

Any of you guy's manage to solve this issue?

[@silviaparra3763]

Nice work, thank you very much.

[@Itsmevinu369]

Life Saver!

[@nizamudheen1165]

nice one

[@TYRANTCHO]

Thank you so fucking much Sr. you helped me a lot. liked!

[@HarrisonsHouse]

Great!

[@aironaskoliasnikovas8235]

Why can't I render it as a mp4 file and not as png sequence... wathced 3 tutorials...and read the forums... and there is no explanation, please help. Thanks

[@WPguru]

Hi Lenny, very good point. The answers to that question are rather complex, let me try to give you a condensed rundown of a couple of examples why. In principle, you can render directly to MP4, there's technically no problem with that. But a PNG sequence offers several workflow advantages. For one thing, if a part of an animation needs to be re-rendered, it's quicker to just re-render the troubled frames and drop them into the sequence, then recompile as a video (say if an unwanted object enters your scene). The next question is then of course, "why can't I do that in my video editor?" - valid and true. The answer to that question is quality: an MP4 does not save a series of full images (also known as i-frames). It saves a combination of i-frames and p-frames, the latter of which are changes to a full frame to save space. This means that technically, you can't really edit anywhere in an MP4 stream, and your editor needs to de-mux an MP4 into an image sequence anyway under the hood, then re-mux once you've made your edit. Not a good idea with your precious animation that took so long to render, leading to a loss of quality. Therefore, it's better to save it as an image sequence in the first place. Finally, you may need an alpha channel for post production. Say there are areas with transparency in your scene that you'd like to replace with a background image. That's really easy to do with a PNG sequence, but it's not always possible when you have an MP4 file, as some formats do not save an alpha channel. There are probably many other reasons too, but those are some of the more popular ones.

[@UberNemo]

@@WPguru And it also works nicely with a png sequence to mov with alpha channel preserved. Really cool! No need for ffmpeg anymore for that.

[@UberNemo]

​@@WPguru Why doesn't the MP4 (or other compressed formats) have alpha support? Seems it would be even easier to compress (background is alpha). I need to convert an animation now saved as a 16200 frames PNG sequence out of Blender to a video format that I can then comp into After Effects. What would you recommend? The PNG have alpha and are 50% lossless compressed. It works fine in AE as a QT Anim MOV but I was looking for a more memory-friendly format for the video generated. Are other alpha-compatible video formats such as ProRes 444 or GoPro CineForm more compact than QT Anim MOV ? Thanks!!

[@WPguru]

Not every container/compression format supports alpha channels, I don't know why MP4 doesn't have it. Quicktime used to be a great option, until Adobe decided to drop support for the Quicktime 7 era formats and codecs 😩 Currently your best options for preserving the alpha channels are indeed Cineform and Apple ProRes.

[@UberNemo]

@@WPguru Sorry for abusing your expertise again, last question: is there a max number of PNG files you can import this way in PS? Considering only 30fps (HD or 4K) then even for 10min we're already talking about 18000 files! The numbers add up very quickly! Thanks again for a fantastic channel! Just joined in :)

[@anamariasosamojica1500]

made ma day awsome

[@haylemariamgebrie603]

Thank you, but make it Short and objective....

[@madhumadyy]

tqs bro

[@neerajvasoya3931]

He said 2016 was bad year😂😂😂

[@magbarmagbar2842]

Thank you!

[@PeterRichardsandYoureNot]

is that a Danish accent I hear?

[@WPguru]

German and British, some weird mix with parts of Americanisms in there.

[@NazHaz]

Tanks man

[@antonymorsas]

Bes video

[@Zanbur3D]

dang

[@walnutcloud]

haha, 2016 is bad. Wait for 2020

[@marthagon2213]

very helpful thank you!

[@VangeloGoria]

I can not se the "options" botton on photoshop CS6 when i try to open images....

[@WPguru]

I *think* Photoshop needs to see the images with the same name and a number at the end, otherwise it doesn't recognise them as a sequence. See if it makes a difference. I've only tested this with Photoshop CC, not sure if this is available in CS6.

[@yolkmoose823]

thanku so much!

[@erfut]

Thank You, that was very helpful

[@Catthyp]

Thank so much!

[@texasFilmLock2]

Thank you!

[@MrMadvillan]

This is really great thank you!!!!