Adobe 65008009 - After Effects CS4 Using Manual page 112

Last updated 12/21/2009
Because After Effects includes the Photoshop rendering engine, After Effects imports all attributes of Photoshop files,
including position, blending modes, opacity, visibility, transparency (alpha channel), layer masks, layer groups
(imported as nested compositions), adjustment layers, layer styles, layer clipping paths, vector masks, image guides,
and clipping groups.
For a video tutorial on importing Photoshop files, go to the Adobe website at www.adobe.com/go/vid0252.
Richard Harrington provides a pair of video tutorials that show how to prepare an image in Photoshop for animation
in After Effects with the Puppet tools:
•
Part 1
•
Part 2
Before you import a layered Photoshop file into After Effects, prepare it thoroughly to reduce preview and rendering
time. Avoid problems importing and updating Photoshop layers by doing the following:
• Organize and name layers. If you change a layer name in a Photoshop file after you have imported it into After
Effects, After Effects retains the link to the original layer. However, if you delete a layer, After Effects is unable to
find the original layer and lists it as Missing in the Project panel.
• Make sure that each layer has a unique name. This is not a requirement of the software, but helps to keep you from
becoming confused.
• If you think that you might add layers to the Photoshop file in Photoshop after you have imported it into After
Effects, go ahead and add a small number of placeholder layers before you import the file into After Effects. When
you refresh the file in After Effects, it will not pick up any layers that have been added since the file was imported.
A convenient command within After Effects is Layer > New > Adobe Photoshop File, which adds a layer to a
composition and then opens the source of that layer in Photoshop for you to begin creating a visual element, such as
a background layer for your movie. The layer in Photoshop is created with the correct settings for your After Effects
composition. As with many of the Creative Suite applications, you can use the Edit Original command in After Effects
to open a PSD file in Photoshop, make and save changes, and have those changes appear immediately in the movie that
refers to the PSD source file. Even if you don't use Edit Original, you can use the Reload Footage command to have
After Effects refresh its layers to use the current version of the PSD file. (See
item" on page 142 and "Edit footage in its original
Note: One good way to prevent interlace flicker from thin horizontal lines in still images is to run the Interlace Flicker
Removal action in Photoshop before you bring the still images into After Effects. Photoshop includes several video actions
for utility purposes such as this.
Color modes
Layered Photoshop (PSD) files need to be saved in RGB or Grayscale color mode for After Effects to import them as a
composition and to separate the layers. CMYK, LAB, Duotone, Monotone, and Tritone color modes are not supported
for layered files; After Effects will import a file that uses one of these color modes as a single, flattened image.
(Regarding the other color modes available in Photoshop such as Bitmap and Indexed: Photoshop does not support
layers in these color modes.)
To determine or change the color mode of a document in Photoshop, choose Image > Mode. (The color mode is also
displayed in the title bar of the document window.)
Masks and alpha channels
Adobe Photoshop supports a transparent area and one optional layer mask (alpha channel) for each layer in a file. You
can use these layer masks to specify how different areas within a layer are hidden or revealed. If you import one layer,
After Effects combines the layer mask (if present) with the transparent area and imports the layer mask as a straight
alpha channel.
"Create a layer and new Photoshop footage
application" on page 82.)
USING AFTER EFFECTS CS4
Importing and managing footage items
106