# Converting still frames to a movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 8, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-still-frames-to-a-movie/542388 "2010-06-08T03:44:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-still-frames-to-a-movie/542388/1 "2010-06-08T03:44:38Z")
I turn to you, Teeming Millions, for help with something with my work: I have a set of about 100 still images, that I want to convert into a movie. Each image should be a single frame of the movie, just exactly as it is. The stills are currently in PNG format, though I can convert them to any standard format if needed, and I’d prefer the output to be in MPG or some other standard, non-proprietary format. So, of course, what I need is a tool that will do this, either something I’d already have on my computer (OSX 10.6) or that I could get for free. I’d prefer something with a GUI, but command line is fine if necessary. Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-still-frames-to-a-movie/542388/2 "2010-06-08T03:50:00Z")
iMovie will do this. Do you have it? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-still-frames-to-a-movie/542388/3 "2010-06-08T03:54:30Z")
I have it and I tried it, but it seemed to want to do that thing where it pans each image across the screen, rather than each image being converted directly to a frame. How do I make it do what I want? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-still-frames-to-a-movie/542388/4 "2010-06-08T04:04:04Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I have it and I tried it, but it seemed to want to do that thing where it pans each image across the screen, rather than each image being converted directly to a frame. How do I make it do what I want? Turn off “Ken Burns effect.” What version do you have? ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-still-frames-to-a-movie/542388/5 "2010-06-08T04:05:35Z")
What version of iMovie are you working in? In iMovie 09 (not sure how it works on earlier versions), click on an individual photo. Then click on the Crop tool in the middle. Over the picture window on the right is now three tabs: Fit, Crop, and Ken Burns. It’s set to Ken Burns for you. Change it to “Fit”. I’m not sure if you need to do it for each photo separately, or if you can select all of them and do it at once. But that’s what you want to do to stop the dreaded Ken Burns effect. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-still-frames-to-a-movie/542388/6 "2010-06-08T05:03:45Z")
OK, [I think I’ve got it](http://cassandra.physics.montana.edu/rotate.avi), unless anyone has suggestions for improving it. It’s iMovie '09, 8.0.6, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-still-frames-to-a-movie/542388/7 "2010-06-08T15:04:59Z")
Two comments: 1. Your link doesn’t work correctly in Safari 4 (just get grey screen). 2. Some of the frames in your animation have rendering artifacts (distinct posterization). Other than that, it looks fine. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-still-frames-to-a-movie/542388/8 "2010-06-08T15:28:12Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Two comments: > > 1. Your link doesn’t work correctly in Safari 4 (just get grey screen). > 2. Some of the frames in your animation have rendering artifacts (distinct posterization). > > Other than that, it looks fine. I’d say that last part is very significant, though. It makes it look like things just suddenly jut out of the sphere. Assuming the images themselves look fine, you probably need to experiment with different rendering and bitrate settings. And perhaps making each frame a keyframe or something. Since I don’t have iMovie, I can’t tell you exactly how to do this. If you need it, someone else will have to help. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-still-frames-to-a-movie/542388/9 "2010-06-08T16:34:25Z")
I would have preferred mpg format, but I couldn’t see any way to export that in iMovie. I also find it interesting that the movie file is larger than the sum of all the still images, and lower quality to boot (the still images don’t have the rendering artifacts or the banding structure, just a smooth gradient). ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-still-frames-to-a-movie/542388/10 "2010-06-08T17:04:09Z")
I’m sure you know this already but 100 frames gives you a movie of about 4 seconds. BTW: Here’s a music video shot with each frame individually taken with a stills camera. For me. What’s striking about this is the power of the strobes normally used in photography but seen in a video format. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/9lfQHqGOPYA/maxresdefault.jpg ""SINNERS" By Hypernova - Directed By Richard Patterson") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lfQHqGOPYA) Here’s the making of it: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRrPFG20xKk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRrPFG20xKk) ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-still-frames-to-a-movie/542388/11 "2010-06-08T20:41:42Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I would have preferred mpg format, but I couldn’t see any way to export that in iMovie. I also find it interesting that the movie file is larger than the sum of all the still images, and lower quality to boot (the still images don’t have the rendering artifacts or the banding structure, just a smooth gradient). Share-\>Export using Quicktime-\>Movie to MPEG-4 Will create an MPEG H.264 file.