Time lapse - max # of photos to insert?

[toejam]

Newbie here, so, please pardon my ignorance.

I've got security cameras that take snapshots throughout the day. I'd like to make a multi-month timelapse from my photo snapshots (they are in jpg format). There are literally hundreds of thousands of photos in the 3 month span I'd like to make my short timelapse video. I've tried to insert 6000 photos from one month and they never seem to get installed. I've tried very small batches of photos and a timelapse video is created.

So, what's the max number of photos I can insert into the timeline to make a timelapse video? I really hoped VideoStudio would be able to take as many as I throw at it and do the frame skipping and other magic by itself, but, seeming to get an indication that there is a maximum number of photo files I can insert.

I eagerly await any constructive feedback.

[asik1]

Well, if 6000 is too much but 1500 is not, than how cumbersome is to do 4 clips and combine them later?

[toejam]

6000 was the files for a very short span. I have 3 months worth of files, well over 400,000 photos. Breaking them up into 1500 snippets would be possible, but, not what I had hoped for from this "Award winning video editing software."

[lata]

Hi

I do not know if there is a limit? I suppose there must be?
How are you trying to add the images to the timeline?

Start a new project
Edit Tab
Right click the timeline for insert Photo
Browse to select the images
Once inserted they will all be selected, right click the images and choose Change Photo Duration, set as 1 frame, (00:00:00:01)

6000 frames at 30 fps will give 3.3 minutes of video

Post updated
Quick test and I managed over 7000 images,
You need to change the default image duration to 1 sec via Preferences edit, that will allow for more images.
Oh I had to use Drag and Drop from my folder to the timeline, hold the mouse for a while?

[asik1]

6000 was the files for a very short span. I have 3 months worth of files, well over 400,000 photos. Breaking them up into 1500 snippets would be possible, but, not what I had hoped for from this "Award winning video editing software."

I see, than have you tried to import groups as animation

I guess they numbered.

[lata]

Just managed to drag over 14000 images to the timeline having a default duration of 1 second, then Change Photo Duration to 1 frame.

Not tried Capture tab Stop Motion, just direct drop to timelines

[lata]

Hi
A few more tests
Using Capture – Stop Motion Import I am having problems….

But Drag and Drop directly to edit timelines seems to work

Make sure after selecting your files that you drag the first file, there was an issue with earlier versions where the clips were out of order.
Set Preferences Image duration to 1 second
Set your project properties to match your intended output file.
Drag images to timeline, I held the mouse till the No Entry change to a + curser
Adding 28,486 files took a while and the program seemed to stall, patience and the images were imported
Then I received an error “Encountered Improper Argument”, again patience and the program recovered.
Now all images showed on timeline, all were selected
Right click for Change Photo duration. I set 1 frame

If you have problems adding a lot of images, you do not have to add all your files in one go, you can add 4000, then another 4000 and so on, probably the best option.

Render the project to same as project properties.

[asik1]

Just managed to drag over 14000 images to the timeline having a default duration of 1 second, then Change Photo Duration to 1 frame.

Not tried Capture tab Stop Motion, just direct drop to timelines

Trevor, those were just from your last cruise?

[toejam]

Thank you very much for the feedback. This is my 3rd day using vs, so, I am quickly finding that there is more than one way to do what I am wanting to do. What has worked with small file batches is (steps below are approximate since my computer is attempting to load a batch of 6000 images):

1-right click in timeline window and select insert photo for time lapse/strobe
2-select files to insert, click "Open"
3-Popup window shows options for keep, skip, frame duration, preview: select keep 1, skip 10, frame duration 1
4-photos are inserted into the timeline

Where I'm getting stuck is after step 2 - once i click open I don't get the popup from step 3, just an empty timeline and no spinning cursor or any indication that vs is attempting to import 6000 images. I've waited hours for the images to be inserted. I'm curious about the length of time it took for your 28,486 images to be inserted?

It sounds like you're able to at least get past 6000 files, which leads me to believe this is not a vs issue, more like an issue with my computer.

[canuck]

After you click "Open" in step 2, you should see a progress bar showing the files being added to the timeline.

Do you see that if adding 1500 files?

[lata]

Hi
A few more tests
Using Capture – Stop Motion Import I am having problems….

But Drag and Drop directly to edit timelines seems to work

Make sure after selecting your files that you drag the first file, there was an issue with earlier versions where the clips were out of order.
Set Preferences Image duration to 1 second
Set your project properties to match your intended output file.
Drag images to timeline, I held the mouse till the No Entry change to a + curser
Adding 28,486 files took a while and the program seemed to stall, patience and the images were imported
Then I received an error “Encountered Improper Argument”, again patience and the program recovered.
Now all images showed on timeline, all were selected
Right click for Change Photo duration. I set 1 frame

If you have problems adding a lot of images, you do not have to add all your files in one go, you can add 4000, then another 4000 and so on, probably the best option.

Render the project to same as project properties.

hi
Sorry I did not make it clear, I had problems using Right Click - insert Photo, similar to what you are seeing, doesn't seem to work for multiple images, how many I don't know?

Please follow the above, drag and drop directly from your Windows Explorer Folder

try with a few images to get used to the process, then try a lot of images, be patient whilst the program thinks about it?

Oh , I do not understand your 3rd comment???

[toejam]

I'll try to drag and drop from file explorer and go that route. I tried it before with small batches of files, but, don't know how to get the popup window for setting keep frames, drop/skip frames and frame duration. Otherwise i get a video that shows each frame for 1 second, not what I'm wanting to do. This led me to use the "insert photo for timelapse" option instead of just "insert photo". If I could simply drag photos and then adjust the keep/skip frame data and frame duration, that would be a much simpler method.

3rd comment?

[lata]

Hi
I ran a few tests using Stop Motion, that seems to limit the images to 6000 ish
As does Insert Photo for Timelapse/Strobe

When I Drag and Drop from a folder directly to the timeline I can import loads, but as you say there is no option to Skip or Drop frames.
Given that your images are already snapshots / timelapsed and from a security camera I would not have thought you would want to drop any frames.
Once you have inserted images to the timeline you can change the duration of all clips to 1 frame, you may of course need longer to reduce playback, maybe 5 frames, but that is easily changed.

Ok
Insert Photo for Timelapse/Strobe will do what you want but limits the number you can import.

[toejam]

I've managed to load 6000 images in the timeline, however, can't adjust the keep/skip frames and frame duration.

Unfortunately, the security cam only takes snapshots on a trigger event, so, they aren't true time lapse images from the security camera. However there are thousands of photos each day. I'm wanting to condense 3 months worth of these images down to a short timelapse video. Over the 3 month span there are over 250,000 images. I've calculated that I'd need ~ 5000 images for a 3 minute video. I'd prefer to NOT have to pick through 250,000 images to get 5,000 that I'd want to use. Would love the software to do this for me. Perhaps I need to do a bunch of 6000 image time lapse videos, then join them together.

[canuck]

Sorry but I don't see how you are going to get much useful information from all those photos that were taken without using every one of those images since your do not have a true timelapse project
What triggers the taking of the snapshots and how many pictures are taken after the trigger? How would you know which pictures to use unless you scan through all of them?

I have just done a project where I loaded over 6000 photos (using the timelapse option on the timeline) and had no problem setting the keep/skip frames and duration. It did take a long time to "add" all the images especially if they ar large file sizes.