<p>Here's how you'd do it in Photoshop. I'm sure you could do something similar using <a href="https://www.gimp.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">GIMP</a> which is free software.</p>
<p>Example using <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY3TrpiUOqE" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this video</a>, saved as an mp4 using <a href="https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp" rel="nofollow noreferrer">yt-dlp</a> (or you could use an online video converter):</p>
<ol>
<li>From the File menu, choose 'Import Video Frames to Layers'</li>
<li>Select the range of frames you want to import</li>
<li>Select all the layers</li>
<li>Make them all visible (clicking on the eye icons):
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/AVhXPz8J.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/AVhXPz8J.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></li>
<li>Set the layer mode to lighten:
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/WHkYDtwX.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/WHkYDtwX.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></li>
</ol>
<p>Result:
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/Z45ttRkm.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Z45ttRkm.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-23T08:44:25.287Z
2024-05-23T08:44:25.287Z
tomh
<p>I'm doing a physics project with my math class.</p>
<p>My students recorded a videos of balls being dropped.  (We are studying acceleration and how to model motion with quadratic equations.)</p>
<p>The goal is to turn this video into a composite image where the path of the ball is shown by taking every few frames and overlaying this image.</p>
<p>I'm going to try to use Mathematica (this is something I'm already familiar with) but I wondered if there was something out there that was already put together.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-23T06:00:45.550Z
Are you on a mac or PC? Do you have access to Photoshop or any Adobe software?
tomh
<video><editing><software-recommendation>
Is there an efficient (and also free or cheap) way to turn a video file into a time based composite image?
David Elm
# Is there an efficient (and also free or cheap) way to turn a video file into a time based composite image?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-05-23)

I'm doing a physics project with my math class.

My students recorded a videos of balls being dropped. (We are studying acceleration and how to model motion with quadratic equations.)

The goal is to turn this video into a composite image where the path of the ball is shown by taking every few frames and overlaying this image.

I'm going to try to use Mathematica (this is something I'm already familiar with) but I wondered if there was something out there that was already put together.

**Tags:** video, editing, software-recommendation

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Are you on a mac or PC? Do you have access to Photoshop or any Adobe software?  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-05-23. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

Here's how you'd do it in Photoshop. I'm sure you could do something similar using [GIMP](https://www.gimp.org/) which is free software.

Example using [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY3TrpiUOqE), saved as an mp4 using [yt-dlp](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp) (or you could use an online video converter):

1. From the File menu, choose 'Import Video Frames to Layers'
2. Select the range of frames you want to import
3. Select all the layers
4. Make them all visible (clicking on the eye icons):
   [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/AVhXPz8J.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/AVhXPz8J.png)
5. Set the layer mode to lighten:
   [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/WHkYDtwX.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/WHkYDtwX.png)

Result:
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/Z45ttRkm.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/Z45ttRkm.png)


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