3d objects, 3d models, and 3d images, Exchanging still images, Exchanging movies – Adobe After Effects CS4 User Manual
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USING AFTER EFFECTS CS4
Workflows, planning, and setup
Last updated 12/21/2009
To see a video tutorial on rotoscoping with After Effects and Photoshop, visit the Adobe website at
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The animation and video features in Photoshop Extended include simple keyframe-based animation. After Effects
uses a similar interface, though the breadth and flexibility of its animation features are far greater.
3D objects, 3D models, and 3D images
In general, After Effects 3D functionality is limited to the manipulation of two-dimensional layers in three dimensions.
Photoshop, however, can manipulate complete 3D models and output two-dimensional composites and cross-sections
of these 3D models from any angle. After Effects can import and render 3D object layers from PSD files. You can set
a layer based on a PSD 3D object layer to honor the active camera in an After Effects composition. When the camera
moves around such a layer, it views the 3D object from various angles.
To see a video tutorial about using 3D object layers from Photoshop in After Effects, see the Adobe website:
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After Effects can also automatically create 3D layers to mimic the planes created by the Photoshop Vanishing Point
feature.
To see video tutorials about using Vanishing Point data from Photoshop in After Effects, see the Adobe website:
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Exchanging still images
After Effects can import and export still images in many formats, but you will usually want to use the native Photoshop
PSD format when transferring individual frames or still image sequences between After Effects and Photoshop.
When importing or exporting a PSD file, After Effects can preserve individual layers, masks, layer styles, and most
other attributes. When you import a PSD file into After Effects, you can choose whether to import it as a flattened
image or with its layers separate and intact.
It is often a good idea to prepare a still image in Photoshop before importing it into After Effects. Examples of such
preparation include correcting color, scaling, and cropping. It is often better for you to do something once to the
source image in Photoshop than to have After Effects perform the same operation many times per second as it renders
each frame for previews or final output.
By creating your new PSD document from the Photoshop New File dialog box with a Film & Video preset, you can
start with a document that is set up correctly for a specific video output type. If you are already working in After Effects,
you can create a new PSD document that matches your composition and project settings by choosing File > New >
Adobe Photoshop File.
Exchanging movies
You can also exchange video files, such as QuickTime movies, between Photoshop and After Effects. When you open
a movie in Photoshop, a video layer is created that refers to the source footage file. Video layers allow you to paint
nondestructively on the movie’s frames, much as After Effects works with layers with movies as their sources. When
you save a PSD file with a video layer, you save the edits that you made to the video layer, not edits to the source footage
itself.
You can also render a movie directly from Photoshop. For example, you can create a QuickTime movie from
Photoshop that can then be imported into After Effects.