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H
Haugen
Inspiring
January 2, 2018
Question

Make a GIF/timelapse where every image are lighten

  • January 2, 2018
  • 1 reply
  • 770 views

I have done a timelapse with stars, and now I want to create star trails. Easy enough. Make every image lighten. However, I want this to be a GIF. It starts with my first image, and as it goes through every image I want each photo to overlay each other, but as lighten so that I can get the trail.

If I import in After Effects, it only adds the image as a sequence, and I can't figure out how to add to every image. Any suggestions?

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    1 reply

    Trevor.Dennis
    Community Expert
    Trevor.DennisCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 2, 2018

    You'll need to turn on the relevant layers for each frame manually.   How many frames and layers?  You'll soon get into over large file size if too many, so it should be too big a job.

    H
    HaugenAuthor
    Inspiring
    January 2, 2018

    There are little over 500 images. Yes, it's a huge job. I have the computer power, I know it's possible, but I don't know how.

    Trevor.Dennis
    Community Expert
    Trevor.DennisCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 2, 2018

    That's a lot of frames. If you intend keeping the resolution high, say 1080P size of 1920x1080, the finished GIF is going to be 20Mb(ish).  No problem playing on your computer, but not something you'd expect someone to view on a website. Anyway, this is how it would be done.

    Open Bridge, and select all the files.

    Go Tools > Photoshop > Load files into Photoshop layers

    1. You'll have a document the size of the camera resolution with 500 layers, so downsize it right away to something manageable, but keep it high at this stage.  This will be your master document, so 4K would be a good compromise (3840x2160).  This will still generate a HUGE temp file on your Scratch drive.
    2. Select all but the first layers, and set the Blend mode to Lighten, or even Screen.  Turn them off (Ctrl ,)
    3. Switch to the Motion workspace, and with Layer 1 selected, click on Make Frame Animation. Use the drop-down and switch if it is showing Make video.
    4. You should have something like this (I've quickly faked this scene to demonstrate, so ignore the missing corners.)

    5. Now you need to go through one layer at a time.  Make new frame (green highlight) and turn on the next layer. Because you set the blend mode to lighten, only the stars that moved will show.

    And so on 500 times!  It actually shouldn't take you that long, as each step is very quick and easy.

    I've added a new first frame with no stars, and set the delay to two seconds, so there is a pause at the beginning of each rotation.

    Save this as a PSD file, then downsize to your GIF size and save it again with a different file name.

    Note that I have it set to Forever so that it loops.

    Go File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy)

    Note the file size (bottom left).  256 is the maximum number of colours for a GIF. Reducing that will reduce the exported file size, but with a loss of quality.  You get a good idea of the impact from the preview screen.

    Hit OK.  It's probably a good idea to use lower case with no spaces, so that it will be compatible anywhere you upload it.

    Find the file in Explorer (Finder) and open it in a web browser (they all support GIF animations)

    Job done.

    I hope that helps, but shout if you are stuck.

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