Is there a way I can transfer a smart object's animation to the original file?

Question

I am using Photoshop 2020.

I have a mockup of a laptop with a smart object as the screen. I created a scrolling animation within the smart object. Is there a way to transfer this animation so that it shows up in the original file? I want it to look like the website is scrolling on the picture of the laptop.

(I realize that doing this without a smart object is probably easier, however it can only be done with a straight-on view of a laptop since keyframes cannot be created with transformed objects. I would like the laptop to be at an angle)

Answer 1

This can't be done unfortunately. Photoshop isn't really a good choice for animating anything except for maybe hand-drawn animation to some extend.

You can still salvage your animation:

• render the contents of your Smart Object to video (File > Export > Render Video);
• use File > Import > Video Frames to Layers in your original file: this will load all the frames as separate layers;
• you can then select them all and transform to fit the screen of the laptop photo;
• open Timeline and use Create Frame Animation command to be able to animate your laptop
• Add frames while toggling visibility of your animation layers one by one
• next time use After Effects