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Need to access an image sequence… which has been divided in many folders…
It’s fun to try to apply AE in a scenario it was never designed for, huh?
I’m trying to view an image sequence in After Effects.
The trick, however, is that each frame is located in a different folder. I know in this instance the easiest way of doing things would be to collect the images, make sure they are numerically (or alphabetically) correct within the same folder, and then import them in.
However.
The desired outcome is to have AE accessing multiple folders and pulling a single image from each, collecting that into a video. I am also trying to have it so that I could tell AE to use (across the board) whichever image from all the folders I choose, be it the first, fifth, or fiftieth.
The only thing I can see doing right now is importing each folder as a seperate sequence, chopping and arranging each sequence in the timeline to be a single frame each, enabling time remapping on all layers, and making an expression that links to each time remap input from a null object that paraphrases, “when null’s time remap is 7, make all others 7.” Pre-comp that, and I have the sequence.
If I’m dealing with 9 folders, this sounds okay. With 90, this sounds like a pain in the ass. Anyone have a less work-intensive and/or cleaner idea?
Anyone wanna guess why the hell I’m doing this?
Thanks for your time, everybody.
rich rama
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4 Replies
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Looks to me like you’ve got the best possible workflow to tackle this problem.
Not Sure why you’d need to [richrama] “chopping and arranging each sequence in the timeline to be a single frame each” ?
If it’s apllying the Expression to all the different layers that’s a pain to you: you can “copy expression only” off of the first, select 89 layers and hit paste.
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Speaking of “Copy Expression only,” you can run into trouble with this. I had a comp with about 300 solids and on the top one I had the fill efect with an expression for Fill Color. I copied this expression using Edit > Copy Expression Only and pasted into onto 299 or so other layers, without realizing the otehr layers didn’t have the “Fill” effect. I then had to click through 299 error messages. Not fun.
~Colin -
Thanks for the replies!
I guess I’ll proceed with my first idea. Thank you for the confidence.
r.
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I had the same problem some time ago. Import the folders into your AE project, then choose the first, select all stills and pull them to the new compostion symbol on the bottom of the project window (I think you need to keep STRG pressed while doing)… then you are asked for the length and and blending of the layers to be sequenced. Do that with all folders in new compositions (it takes some time for AE to import and sequence the stuff and I had crashes when using to many pics in 1comp, I guess there is a limit) and then sequence the single compostions into a new one to build your whole “clip” where you can crop, recolour etc.
Karim
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