Sequencing Still Images

Sequencing Still Images

We need to start by downloading this files (Tutorial Files 23.2MB). Unzip the file and import the folder into After Effects.

Now that you have imported media into your project you need to begin composing the project. Create a new Composition by clicking the Create a new Composition button (). Name the composition Text and make it 1 minute long (0;01;00;00). You will now need to change the background color of this new composition from black to white. Go to Composition > Background Color and change the color. Next, begin by adding the contents of the text folder to the new composition. Open the text folder and select all of it contents. To select all of the files, click the first one file then hold the key and scroll down the window and click the last file. This should select all files in between. Once they are selected drag them to the Text composition in the Project window.

Next, we will need to trim all the files down to 1 second and 0 frames (1:00). To do this we need to Select All A (Mac) or A (Windows), drag the playback head to 1:00 and then press Option + ] (Mac) or Alt + ] (Windows).

All of the clips should now be trimmed. At this point we could distribute these by hand across the timeline but that is hard and very time consuming. Instead we will use the Sequence Layers tool to distribute them. With all the layers still selected, right click on any layer in the timeline window and select Keyframe Assistant > Sequence Layers. With all the layers still selected, right click on any layer in the Timeline window and select Keyframe Assistant > Sequence Layers. In the Sequence Layers dialogue box, check the Overlap button, set the duration to 10 frames (00:00:00;10) and select Front and Back Layers from the Crossfade menu. Then click OK.

This action takes each clip and overlaps them by 10 frames leaving us with 30 seconds of material. If you hit T on your keyboard you can see that keyframes have automatically been placed on each layer controlling the fade. In the Timeline, scroll down to the last layer and drag its Out Point to the end of the Timeline. This will extend the last frame to throughout the end of the project.