Use long runing dump to determine frame to invoke diffusion. Compress with MP4. ffmpeg -i elk4000/elk%5d.bmp -q:v 1 -c:v mpeg4 elk4000.mp4 Compress with MJPEG. VLC doesn't handle long videos. ffmpeg -i elk1000/elk%5d.bmp -q:v 1 -c:v mjpeg elk.mp4 Elk astro fade out after frame 2300