Adobe AFTER EFFECTS CS3 PROFESSIONAL User Manual page 607

Creating a sequence of PSD files is a good way to transfer frames to Photoshop for touchup and editing. You can then
import the image sequence back into After Effects.
When specifying the output filename for a still-image sequence, you actually specify a file-naming template. The
name that you specify must contain pound signs surrounded by square brackets ([#####]). As each frame is rendered
and a filename created for it, After Effects replaces the [#####] portion of the name with a number indicating the
order of the frame in the sequence. For example, specifying mymovie_[#####].tga would cause output files to be
named mymovie_00001.tga, filmout_00002.tga, and so on.
The maximum number of frames in a still-image sequence is 32,766.
See also
"Render and export a movie using the render queue" on page 584
Export a single frame of a composition
You can export a single frame from a composition, either as an Adobe Photoshop (PSD) file with layers intact or as
a rendered image. This is useful for editing files in Adobe Photoshop, preparing files for Adobe Encore, creating a
proxy, or exporting an image from a movie for posters or storyboards.
The Photoshop Layers command preserves all layers from a single frame of an After Effects composition in the
resulting Photoshop file. Nested compositions up to five levels deep are preserved in the PSD file as layer groups. The
PSD file inherits the color bit depth from the After Effects project.
In addition, the layered Photoshop file contains an embedded composite (flattened) image of all the layers. This
ensures that the file is compatible with applications that don't support Photoshop layers; such applications display
the composited image and ignore the layers.
A layered Photoshop file saved from After Effects may look different from the frame viewed in After Effects if the
frame uses features that aren't supported by Photoshop. For example, if the frame contains a blending mode that isn't
available in Photoshop, a blending mode that most resembles it is substituted in the layer, but the embedded
composite image (viewable only by applications that don't support Photoshop layers) looks the same. Alternatively,
you can render the frame using the Composition > Save Frame As > File command to export a flattened and rendered
version of the file to the PSD format.
1 Go to the frame that you want to export so that it is shown in the Composition panel.
Do one of the following:
2
• To render a single frame, choose Composition > Save Frame As > File. Adjust settings in the Render Queue panel
if necessary, and then click Render.
• To export a single frame as an Adobe Photoshop file with layers, choose Composition > Save Frame As >
Photoshop Layers.
See also
"Work in the Render Queue panel" on page 585
About Filmstrip format
In Adobe Photoshop, you can edit video frames, or even paint directly on them—a process known as rotoscoping.
One method is to first export the video frames from your video application in filmstrip format.
AFTER EFFECTS CS3 601
User Guide