Loading images into Frame animation

Hey! What you’re doing is actually a common workflow in Photoshop, and there isn’t a super “hidden” feature that completely automates importing a bunch of still images into frames for a frame-by-frame animation—but there are a few tips that can make your process smoother:

1. Importing as Layers:
The method you mentioned—importing photos as layers and then creating frames that show/hide layers—is the standard way Photoshop handles frame-by-frame animation. For longer sequences, it’s tedious, but it gives you full control over timing and frame content.

2. Timeline > Import Video Frames to Layers:
Even though it says “video,” you can use this feature for sequences of images. If you name your images sequentially (e.g., frame001.png, frame002.png…), you can go to File > Import > Video Frames to Layers, select your first image, and Photoshop will load all the images in order as layers. Then you can convert that to a frame animation automatically. This is usually faster than manually importing each photo.

3. Scripted Import:
Photoshop allows scripting, and there are scripts online that will take a folder of images and automatically generate a frame animation from them. If you’re doing long animations, this is a huge time saver.

4. Tips for Long Animations:

• Keep all images the same dimensions to avoid resizing hassles.

• If possible, plan your sequence in a numbered order—it makes automated imports much easier.

• Consider organizing layers in groups by sequence if you need to make adjustments later.

So, to answer your question: there’s no single “one-click” feature for importing a folder of images directly into frame animation, but using Video Frames to Layers or scripts is usually the most efficient way for longer works.

I'd have thought that Stop Motion would involve many hundreds of frames, and that a video timeline would be a better fit.

Google suggests:

Stop Motion Studio

Life Lapse Stop Motion

iMotion 

I am sure there are others.

How many frames will you be dealing with?

Does the animation need to loop?

Is smooth movement critical?

Can you share an example?