How to import a PNG sequence?

1. From the menu select "Final Cut Pro > User Preference",

2. Select the "Editing" tab

3. In the "Still/Freeze Duration" set the timecode to "00:00:00:01"

4. Click the "OK" button to close the window

5. Click on the Browser window and the tab for the project you wish to import the files into.

6. From the menu select "File > Import > Folder"

7. Select the folder with the png files and click the "Choose" button.

The folder should now be in your browser window. Clicking the disclosure triangle will list all the files imported.

8. Simply drag the folder to a sequence timeline and all the images will be placed on the timeline in order.

Done.

Ta

Please confirm that you set the still import preferences to one frame BEFORE you imported the still image sequence into the project. This must be done prior to importing the images not after them are in the browser.

I think something is getting lost in the translation here.

What do you mean "they just take up 4 minutes"? What takes up 4 minutes? Each picture has a duration of 4 minutes in the browser? All the pictures together take up 4 minutes of the timeline? You need to be much more clear and specific.

You need to delete all the pictures from the browser and start from scratch. If you carefully follow my instructions, when you list the imported files in the Browser window, each picture will have a duration of exactly one frame (per step 3). When you drag the folder to a 30 fps timeline, you should get a sequence exactly 16 seconds 20 frames long for 500 pictures.

Don't take any short cuts because you think you know the process. I verified the steps and they do work. If they are not working for you, then you have skipped a step.

Please repeat ALL the steps I detailed, exactly, and get back to us. If you are still having problems, please be VERY specific with your description of the problem. Do NOT use pronouns like "they", "them", "it", etc.

For example "When I drag a single picture into the sequence timeline, the picture's duration is exactly 1 frame long".

Not being specific will only cause confusion and frustration on both ends.

Ta

Assuming that you have Final Cut Studio 3 installed, you can use Compressor to convert that image sequence to a Quicktime file that you can use in your FCP sequence.

http://documentation.apple.com/en/compressor/usermanual/index.html#chapter=6%26s ection=2%26tasks=true

Or open QT7 and select: File>Open Image Sequence
This will open up a Finder window - navigate to the folder where the files are located. Have just the files you want located in this folder. Keep in mind your files must be named in a consecutive numerical sequence.
Select the first file & hit OK
Set the frame rate and your images will be converted to an image sequence.
Select File>Export>Movie to Quicktime Movie, select options to set up codec and dimensions, give the file a name, then save the material.

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FCP is not a still image editor/compositor/aggrigator program. Running lots of stills can cause it to choke. As a general workflow, it is much preferable to convert the stills into video outside of FCP - either through Compressor or QT7 as has been noted in this thread.

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