Stop Motion Animation Instructions for Adobe
Premiere Pro and Adobe Photoshop
Preliminary Image Processing:
Before we import your images into Premiere Pro, we need to check that they are correctly
sized. If they are unnecessarily large, you risk crashing the program. If they are too small,
your video quality will be negatively affected. Before you shoot your images, check your
camera’s image settings. You should try to shoot images that are saved as close to 1440
pixels x 1080 pixels as possible.
We’re going to use Adobe Photoshop to quickly adjust the size of all of our images. You
should undertake this step even if your images are exactly 1440 x 1080.
Turn to next page for Batch Processing InstructionsFollow the steps below (and in the video) to Batch Process your images, ultimately changing
them to 1439 X 1079 pixels. If your images aren’t these specific proportions, just make smaller of
the two dimensions equal to 1079 pixels.
If you’re interested, here is the technical reason for this change:
– images typically have square pixels (ratio 1:1)
– HD video typically has rectangular pixels (called anamorphic with a w:h ratio of
1.33:1)
– When we import still images into premiere it keeps the original square pixel ratio
of 1:1, unless…
– If your image is sized exactly 1440 x 1080, Adobe Premiere Pro automatically
converts your image to anamorphic pixel dimensions. This has the effect of
stretching the images sideways. To avoid this annoyance, make the height of your
image 1079px, not 1080px.
How To Batch Process Images for Stop Motion Using Adobe Photoshop
1. You should have all your images in one folder. They should all be in landscape format. If
you have the disk space, consider locking your original images so they can’t ever be
saved over.
2. Create a new folder titled “stop motion (final or test) resized”
3. Open the first image in photoshop by dragging it onto an open photoshop window.
4. Find the actions menu. If it is not visible, click windows>actions and make sure actions is
checked.
5. At the bottom of the Actions window, click on the “new action” icon.
6. Name the new action “stop motion resize” then press record. Check that the record button
at the bottom of the actions window has turned red.
7. Resize the image by clicking on Image>Image size. Make sure the “resample” box is
checked. Then make sure the units are set to pixels and then change the height to 1079
pixels. Press ok.
8. With the actions still being recorded, go to file>save as, and save the file in the folder you
created in Step #2.
9. Close the image, then go to the actions window and click the square “stop” button to finish
the recording. If the actions window disappeared when you closed the image, find it again
by going to the window menu and selecting actions.
10. Now go to the folder where you saved the resized image. Verify that the pixel dimensions
are correct and that everything looks good. Delete this test file.
11. Go back to photoshop and click on file>automate>batch.
a. In the “play” section of the window that pops up, select the action that you just
recorded.
b. In the “source” section, “choose” the folder that contains all of your original images.
Leave all the boxes unchecked.
c. In the “Destination” section, choose the folder where you plan to save the resized
images.
d. Check the box that says “Override Action “Save As” Commands. Watch the batch
processing video tutorial for ideas on how to use the file naming section.
e. Click ok and wait for photoshop to process your photos.
12. Once your photos are resized and you verify that everything is in good shape, proceed to
stop-motion instructions.
