Articles
Author: kamikaze
Date written: 2003-04-02
How-to: Photo Sequences
I've heard a lot of requests for information on how to make a good sequence, so I wrote this little tutorial... hopefully it will come in handy. It's not insanely professional, but with Photoshop and some practice you can turn out some really good pictures.
Okay, to make a sequence you need, of course, several pictures (or frames) of a skier hitting a jump, grinding a rail, etc. You can get these by using nice camera that will reload as fast as you pull the trigger, so you get a lot of shots right in a row. Or, you can get it on digital video, then select frames from the video (suggested method).
So you've got this video on your computer, and you want to make a sequence from it. First, you have to get the eight or so different frames that you will use in the sequence. The only video player that I know of that lets you copy frames is Quicktime, although I'm sure some video editing programs can do it. Anyway, get your video in quicktime format and open it in Quicktime Player. Notice when you right-click on the video image, you have the option of 'copy' to copy that frame. When I make a sequence, I keep the video player open, and I also have my image editing program open (I recommend Photoshop, but something as simple as Paint will work).
It always works best for me to start from the end and work backwards. So, go to the end of your video and pause it on a suitable frame of the skier skiing away from the jump (or whatever). Note that you can move through frames manually on the video using your arrow keys. Find a frame you like, and copy it. Then go to your image program and paste the frame onto a white background. The placement of this first frame is important, because you want to make sure to leave room on the sides and top for the other frames that will go in. So, if my sequence is a jump going from left to right, then I'm going to put my last frame on the bottom right of my background.
Now comes the fun part- combining two pictures into one. Remember that sequencing works best if the camera doesnt move during the picture. If it does, you have different angles of perspective and things get funny. Anyway, go back to your video and go several frames back, so the image of the skier is just coming down from whatever he was doing. Visually, he should not be overlapping the spot where he is in the final frame. Copy this image, and paste it into your editing program. Now comes the important part- you have to trim off all the excess stuff on one side of the skier, so that it doesnt overlap the final frame of the skier when you put it over the top of the other picture. So if your sequence goes from left to right, you want to erase everything in the frame that's to the RIGHT of the skier (remember, you're working backwards here). Then, drag the frame over onto the first frame you put in (which is the last frame of the sequence). Line up the backgrounds of both pictures so they flow together- the end visual effect is one picture, with two different positions of the skier.
Then, repeat all the way through the video until you're at the beginning, with the skier taking off the jump.
skogenjake: i got owned hardcore. i though he was a real little cunt
