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  • Rapid change between two images

    Posted by Walt Ribeiro on April 15, 2016 at 8:44 pm

    I’m have two images – Photo A and Photo B, and they are both different sizes in my video. I’m trying to rapidly change between the two of them every 4 frames, or just at a steady rate of some kind. I would like the effect to last 20 seconds. I can’t seem to find a plugin or workaround.

    Any help?

    One way is to stack Photo A on top of Photo B, and then apply an Oscillate Behavior to Photo A’s transparency (which would show Photo B on a steady rhythm). This would be perfect, but both of my pictures are not the same dimensions. So Photo A doesn’t entirely cover Photo B.

    The other option is to Copy+Paste each picture as separate layers in the timeline with Mark-Outs and Mark-Ins every few frames. But if you need to repeat something for 4 minutes, then that’s a horrible option.

    Is there a simple plugin or technique I’m missing out on? Thanks in advance for any help!

    Luke Jones replied 10 years, 3 months ago 3 Members · 2 Replies
  • 2 Replies
  • Mark Spencer

    April 15, 2016 at 8:48 pm

    I would keyframe the opacity of the top one from 0-100% over 1 frame, then in the Keyframe Editor, set the end condition to repeat. Done.


    Mark Spencer
    Freelance Producer/Editor/Motion Graphics Artist
    Apple-certified Master Trainer
    Author, Motion 4 from Peachpit Press
    https://www.applemotion.net

  • Luke Jones

    April 21, 2016 at 5:05 pm

    Depending on what you need, you could also achieve this without keyframes or behaviors.

    Option 1: Make the images a sequence. Create an 8 frame project with the two layers and set the length of each layer. From the Share menu, export them to an Image Sequence. Import your image sequence, go to the properties>timing and set the end behavior to loop. Now just extend the length of the new layer. If you need to adjust the timing, you could use the speed parameter to slow playback down, or speed it up.

    Option 2: Clone a group. Put the two images in a group and set the length of each layer. Clone the group (k). Like the previous option, use the end behavior in the properties to set the end condition for the clone to loop. Extend the length of the clone layer.

    Both options will flatten the images (no z depth difference in the clone), but if they just need to flicker on and off will work. The second option has more flexibility because you can still animate each source layer if needed or be more flexible with the timing.

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