Importing image sequences in Video by Zaweba

Plenty of moving pictures do not start life as video files. Time-lapse cameras save a still every few seconds, 3D and animation programs render one numbered picture per frame, and stop-motion is a folder of photos. Video by Zaweba turns any of those into a clip with a single command.

Joining stills into a clip

Choose File > Import image sequence and point it at the numbered stills. The app joins them in order into one clip, and it does so losslessly, so the frames keep the quality they were saved with. On the timeline the sequence behaves like any other clip: trim it, cut it, colour it and put titles over it.

Numbering is what tells the app the order. Files named with a steady pattern and a counting number, padded with zeros so they sort properly, give the most reliable result. If a render or a camera has left gaps or odd names, tidy them first.

Where sequences come from

Time-lapse is the classic case. A camera on a tripod takes hundreds of photos of a sky or a building site, and the sequence becomes a few seconds of smooth movement. Stop-motion works the same way, one photo per small change of a model or puppet.

Renders from 3D or animation software are another. Saving frames as separate images is common in those programs, because a crash part way through loses only the frame it was on rather than the whole file. Importing them as a sequence gives you the finished shot.

Scientific and screen-capture work sometimes arrives as numbered stills too, and gets the same treatment.

Animated GIF and APNG

Animated GIF and APNG files play on the timeline as moving clips rather than freezing on the first frame. That covers short animated logos, reaction loops and simple graphics people often send in these formats. APNG is the better of the two for quality, so ask for it if you have the choice.

Getting a good result

Think about the frame rate. A sequence has no time of its own, only an order, so the speed it plays at decides how long it lasts. Many photos at a fast rate gives a short, brisk clip; the same photos slower lasts longer but looks steppier. Try a couple of speeds before you commit.

Check the picture size against your project. Camera stills are often much larger than the frame, which leaves room to crop or move across the image, but they also make the clip heavier to play. If playback struggles, lower the preview quality while you work.

Flicker is common in time-lapse, where exposure changes slightly from photo to photo. The colour tools in Video by Zaweba can help even it out, though steady camera settings at the shoot do more.

Keeping the source safe

An image sequence is often many files, and losing a handful of frames in the middle is easy when folders get moved. Keep each sequence in its own folder, and use the Project manager to collect it with the project when the job ends. That way the clip stays whole wherever the project goes next.