Lighting & rendering · Beginner

Image sequence

An animation saved as numbered still images, one per frame, instead of one video file

What is an image sequence?

An image sequence is an animation saved as numbered still images, one file per frame, instead of one video file. Artists render this way because a crash only costs the frame in progress, single frames can be redone, and formats like PNG or EXR keep full quality for editing later.

Think of it like this

It is like a flipbook kept as loose pages in a box: if one page gets smudged, you redraw that page instead of the whole book.

Where it fits in a 3D project

  1. Create
  2. Surface
  3. Rig
  4. Animate
  5. Render
  6. Export

Render: Lighting the scene and turning it into images or video.

How an image sequence works

  1. 01Set the output format to an image type, such as PNG, in the output properties.
  2. 02Choose an output folder; Blender names each file by its frame number.
  3. 03Render the animation, and each finished frame saves straight to disk.
  4. 04Encode the frames into a video afterward, in Blender’s video editor or another app.

Image sequence vs video file

PropertyImage sequenceVideo file
FilesOne image per frameOne file for the whole clip
After a crashResume from the last saved frameOften start over
QualityLossless options like PNG or EXRUsually compressed
SharingNeeds encoding firstPlays almost anywhere

Render long or important animations as an image sequence, then encode a video file from it when you need something to share or upload.

Where an image sequence is used

  • Long or heavy renders that might crash partway
  • Redoing a few broken frames without rendering the rest again
  • Keeping full quality for compositing and color grading

Beginner tip

Turn off Overwrite in the output properties before rendering a sequence. If Blender stops partway, start the render again and it skips the frames already saved.

Image sequence in Morphic

In Morphic for Blender, Send animation uploads a rendered animation to your Morphic assets as an MP4, QuickTime or WebM file. It does not take image sequences, so encode the frames into one of those video formats first.

See Morphic for Blender

Terms related to an image sequence

Image sequence FAQ

Why render an image sequence?
Safety and quality. If the render crashes, every finished frame is already saved, so you resume instead of starting over. You can redo single frames, and lossless formats keep full detail for compositing and grading.
How do I render an image sequence in Blender?
In the output properties, pick an image format such as PNG and set an output folder. Then choose Render > Render Animation, or press Ctrl+F12. Blender saves one numbered file per frame in that folder.
How do I turn an image sequence into a video in Blender?
Start a new Video Editing file, use Add > Image/Sequence and select all the frames. In the output properties, choose a video format such as FFmpeg Video with an MPEG-4 container, then render the animation.
Image sequence vs video file: which is bigger?
The image sequence, usually. Each frame is a full image with little or no compression, so it takes far more disk space than the same clip as a compressed video. You trade space for quality and safety during production.

Updated October 29, 2026 · Browse all 3D terms