Stacking video frames to make still image - help please

Talking theoretically, as I have never done anything like that, the 60 track method I suggested might work.

Actually you probably wouldn't need 60 frames as you are not filming a pure point source but one with light spill around it caused by overexposure and motion blur. So you could maybe omit alternate frames ........ or even more.

Have you tried the classic method using a still camera of simply opening the shutter and taking a brief time exposure of the duration of the meteorite's visible descent?

A still camera would give far better images and also a wider angle of view.

Hi Tom, I can't remember anything like this being asked before.

I can't visualise what effect you are after. Maybe someone else knows what you mean ?

You can have up to 99 video tracks so I suppose you could use 60 to put the frames on. You can also adjust each track's opacity.

I don't know whether that will be of any help to you.

There is also the "Stop Motion Blur" filter which is found in Effects>Video Filters>Video which can give a stroboscopic type effect to movement.

As my knowledge of FCE is limited I have asked if anyone else has further info to give you.

Regarding developers, FCE is really rather unimportant in Apple's scheme of things. They are very slow to respond to even large calls for change.

So something that would only benefit a tiny minority of users is unlikely to get any response ....... basically there is no money in it.

Of course there are altruistic enthusiasts out there who may enjoy a challenge like you set but I wouldn't hold out too much hope.

I have asked Tom Wolsky, who knows pretty well everything there is to know about FCE and he says there is nothing suitable in FCE, just the feature in Photoshop, which you say is not in your version.

I would say the best advice has already been given, which would be to use a still camera with a long shutter speed. However I suspect you already have your footage and would need to wait for another opportunity to do this. I'd say the next best option would be a motion blur filter, I think stacking each frame would have its problems.

You can easily export your 2 seconds of video to single frame images by exporting to an image sequence, you could then import each still as a layer into photoshop. You would probably find that other stars (having 60 images on top of each other) would be very bright and stand out like a bird of paradise's mating ritual, unless you adjusted the opacity of each which you would likely need to do for the whole of the image excepting the shooting star. I'd say it can be done, but it sounds like a bit of work.