Create freeze frame quickly (to turn a normal video into stop motion)

[Guest]

I've worked a fair amount with Final Cut in the past but this project needs to be done in Premiere Pro CS4 (or I guess after effects cs5 trial) because I'm on a windows machine.. I have a video that I am trying to turn into a stop motion clip. 

When doing this in FCP, you can click Modify>Make Freeze Frame or even better, Shift+N to make an image. The image then pops up in a new window which can be dragged into the browser or timeline.

Now that I am in Premiere, I cant find an efficient way to do it. The only way I read as to how to create still images from video clips are to "Hold the Frame" or to Export as a still image. Neither of these methods will work for me because I need to create 150+ images and both require to many keystrokes (thus taking an extremely long time). Sounds like laziness but I prefer to think of it as practicality

What is the best method to turn a video into stop motion? Is there any way to quickly and easily make still images like there is in FCP with Shift+N? Is there an easier way in After Effects as opposed to Premiere (I've never really used it before)?

Thanks.

[the_wine_snob]

Do you have CS4.2? Things are back, similar to how they were in CS3 and before, where you can Export a Still Frame easily. I understand that CS5 is now much simpler (more simple?), and that AME is no longer involved.

Good luck,

Hunt

[Guest]

I have CS4.0. Would it be easier if I upgrade? I guess I could get the trial of CS5 but I would like confirmation that its a lot easier (it would take a while to download).

Im looking for a way to create a still frame with a keyboard shortcut or one or two mouse clicks

Thanks for the help.

Was reading some more and posterize time will not work because I want to pick which images are the still frames .

[the_wine_snob]

CS4.0 allows for a Frame-cap, but it is an involved method. I would definitely upgrade to CS4.2, as it fixes many issues, plus improves this.

Good luck,

Hunt

[Guest]

I'll try this. Thanks!

[Guest]

I've upgraded but I still dont see an easy, one stroke method to frame-cap.

Is there a keyboard shortcut or somewhere I can click in the menu? Sorry if this is picky or I am not understanding what you're saying.

Thanks for the help!

[the_wine_snob]

Well, it's not "one-stroke" in any version of CS4, but has been improved in CS5. In CS4 you will still go to AME, and have the same choices, save one, as with earlier versions, where it was never a simple, one-button solution. The one missing element is the checkbox for Add to Project, but that is still better than in earlier versions of CS4.

Good luck,

Hunt

[Guest]

I hate to be a nuisance but I'd really like to figure out how to do this project.

Forgetting everything we've talked about so far:

How would you go about turning a video clip into a stop motion animation?

I can't use posterize time because the frames I want are not evenly spaced out.

Is this simply not doable and I should have shot it differently? I guess I could reshoot if I had to but it'd be a hassle. How would I shoot to turn it into stop motion? Just shoot normally and use posterize time?

Thanks.

[shooternz]

To shoot stop motion you shoot "STOP MOTION"

That is you set the camera to expose X Frames at  Y Time over Z Duration

Like -  2 frames every 1 minute over 24 hours

(You can also manually take an exposure / frame at a time that you wish,)

You could export what you have as a Tiff or tga sequence then select the frame(s) you wish to use and pull them into a new sequence.

Hope your movie isnt too long!

[david_pro]

Hey there Mr. treehugger.

If you still haven't figured out how to create a freeze frame, check out this video.....

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/learn-premiere-pro-cs5/gs05-exporting-a-still-frame/

David

[sync2rhythm]

Freeze Frame in CS5 is as simple as it is in Sony Vegas now...just hit the 'Camera Button' under your Preview Monitor.

This will 'Export a Frame' to your desired location and Format Type on your computer.

You can then Import it or go into Photoshop or whatever you need to do with it.

Just remember, that if you start your project in CS5 you'll have to finish it in CS5 (not backwards compatible).

Same goes if you will need to update it later... after your Trial ends.

If you have CS4 maybe you should stay there till you're ready to take the CS5 plunge.

In CS4 you can export a Frame via Adobe Media Encoder.

The steps are same as they are for exporting Video except in AME you would select Windows BMP... remembering to DeSelect the box for 'Export As Sequence'. This will just export your Single Frame. If you 'Export As Sequence'... this will give you an Image Sequence (multiple BMPs) of however long you've selected.

As you can see, there were many more steps involved in CS4 than needed.

Thank you Adobe.

You can also Right-Click and do "Frame Hold" without exporting anything.

This will essentially create a Velocity KeyFrame of 0% or a STILL Frame.

____________________

I just watched the Video link posted above... and it says exactly what I wrote.

I guess if I had watched it before posting I wouldn't have written that novel for you.

Message was edited by: sync2rhythm

[the_wine_snob]

Thanks for the update to Export Still. Did they add back the capability to Add to Project, like in pre-CS4 versions?

Appreciated,

Hunt

PS - you can tell who does not yet have CS5...

[VidBlgga]

Definitely too late for ortreehugger, but it occurred to me that what he was trying to accomplish can be done easily, without too many clicks, except it needs to be split differently than it is done in FCP or any other software that separates the frames of a video clip and adds them to the timeline automatically.

The easiest way to do this would be to:

1. Go through the source clip and press the cammera button on each frame that is needed/desired. Premiere Pro will name them sequentially and save them in the same directory. Do not add them to the project just yet.
2. After all the frames have been captured, import them into the project in one single operation.
3. Similarly, select and grab all the frames from the project window and add them to the timeline in one go. The full video is now stop-motion and the only time consuming portion was the selection of the frames.