Create Time Lapse with Still Photos in Adobe Photoshop

Prepare a series of images in Adobe Photoshop to create a professional-quality time-lapse video.

Adobe Help Video: https://helpx.adobe.com/ca/premiere-pro/how-to/create-time-lapse-sequence.html

With this tutorial you will use Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premier Pro:

First step is to get the image files ready.

Take a look at all the files you wish to merge into your time lapse video. Depending on the amount of photos you will need to adjust the file names of your jpeg files.
We need them to be numbered in sequential order with no spaces. Hyphens or underscores will work fine. Make note of how many files you have. For Example, if you have 10,000 photos your sequence will need to include 5 zeros (00000) to make sure your photos are showing in order. So your file name will have to look like clouds-00001.jpeg
They need to be all in order with “no gaps” in sequence. For example: clouds-01234.jpeg, clouds-01235.jpeg etc.

Open Adobe Photoshop:

Click file OPEN

Find folder with all photos in sequential order.

Click photo on the first photo in the sequence and then click OPTIONS (bottom Left)

Select “IMAGE SEQUENCE” Then Click OPEN

Frame Rate select 29.97 from drop down click OK
You will notice in your layers panel there is a video group with layers
Switch Workspace to “MOTION”
If the playback is choppy: we can adjust the playback resolution (don’t worry it wont downgrade the quality of the video) Click on the Gear Change Resolution to 25%

First thing you might want to adjust is the speed on which the photos are played back. 
“Right click” on the Layer’s Timeline and adjust speed to 200% or whatever you would like the pictures to play through.
You can make video image adjustments in the “Adjustments” panel to give you a clearer photo or adjust colors etc.
You can also adjust the full length of your video by dragging the toggles on top of your video/layer timeline to shorten or lengthen your video.  
Once you have adjusted your length and speed and color adjustments – you can export!


Click FILE > export > Render Video…
Select Folder: where you want it saved. 
Choose: Adobe Media Encoder
Format: H.264 High Quality
Document Frame Rate: 29.97fps
Range: It will save your adjustments to your work area or you can specify which frames you wish to export.

Click Render. It will save in the location you specified to save in.

If you are happy with the time lapse MP4 Export then you can take it into any program to add extra slides etc or upload to youtube as you wish.


Editing your time lapse in Adobe Premier Pro

OPEN ADOBE PREMIER PRO

File > Open your exported MP4 file from previous steps. In the location that is was saved in.

Once your video is open in Premier Pro: Right Click on the video in the bottom left.
Select “New Sequence from Clip”
Edit what you did in photoshop by doing a simple “Pan and Zoom”:
Move your timeline marker to the end of your video
Select the “Keyframes” by clicking on the “Position” icon and “Scale” icon on the left “Video Effects” Panel
Go to the Beginning of your clip and Focus on your specific object by adjusting the Scale and Position to highlight your object on screen.

You can preview your full clip until you are completely satisfied with the finished product.

Export from Premier Pro by selecting File > Export > Media…

When your finished video is ready to start the export, open File, go to Export, and then to Media. A pop up with several settings will appear, and you can select one to export the video.

Choose the Video to Export:

When exporting, you may opt to have the whole video or a part of it exported. The settings of export video premiere pro offer you the freedom to select the entire clip or a part of it before rendering. If it’s a part of the clip you want to export, drag the handles at the preview from the beginning to the end of the video you want. The handles on the right side take you to the end while the left ones take you at the start of your clip. There is a Source settings menu where you can check your selected video portion. It offers the option to crop the video’s resolution before sharing it on a platform.

Choosing the format:

You have several options for selecting a video format of your choice. It may be confusing if you are not well versed in them. The ideal format to use when exporting adobe premiere is the H.264. The format’s compatibility with various devices makes it the right one for you. It makes your work easy as it can compress your video and, at the same time, retain its quality

Choose a Preset:

To start, select Preset, and from the dropdown menu, select quality and resolution settings. From the options that appear, you can use any you desire for exporting the video. In the export video premiere window, you will find several presets that you can use for your video playback or the destination site.

To be on the safe side, choose presets that will match with the site you wish to upload your video to. Another point to note is that when setting your video quality, do not place it too high than its resolution. It may spoil your video footage as the resolution will be higher.