Specifications

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A Digital Video Primer
• Adobe Photoshop: You can transform layered Photoshop images into animations. Import
Photoshop les as compositions, one at a time or in batches. Aer Eects preserves layers,
common layer eects, adjustment layers, alpha channels, transfer modes, vector masks, guides,
and more. You can then apply visual eects to color correct, stylize, or manipulate each layer,
and animate these layers over time. Use Photoshop paths as masks or motion points. Text also
remains fully editable and formatting is preserved when you import Photoshop les.
• Adobe Illustrator: Add carefully craed typography or eye-catching graphics to your video produc-
tions. Import layered Illustrator les as compositions, one at a time or in batches. Choose whether
Aer Eects preserves the layers or merges them on import. en resize the Illustrator layers to any
resolution without losing detail, and animate them with complete control. Copy paths in Illustra-
tor and paste them into Aer Eects les as masks or motion points. Preserve transparency and
transfer modes. Continuously rasterize Illustrator layers in both 2D and 3D.
• Adobe Premiere Pro: Import Adobe Premiere Pro projects as compositions. Each video, audio,
and still-image clip appears on its own layer, arranged in the correct time-based sequence in
the Timeline panel. Nested sequences in Adobe Premiere Pro appear as nested compositions
when the project is opened in Aer Eects; transparency, Cross Dissolve, and motion key-
frames in Adobe Premiere Pro appear as keyframes in Aer Eects; cropping in Adobe Pre-
miere Pro appears as a mask in Aer Eects. You can then manipulate these clips to create the
sophisticated eects and animations best produced in Aer Eects. If you use the Aer Eects
lters included with Adobe Premiere Pro, those eects and their associated keyframes are also
imported. In addition, you can embed a link in the Aer Eects movies you output so that you
can use the Edit Original command in Adobe Premiere Pro to open the original project.
• Adobe Audition: Import and export audio from Adobe Audition. Use the Edit Original com-
mand in Aer Eects to open either a single audio le or the session that created it in Adobe
Audition. Aer Eects recognizes the changes and updates your project automatically.
• Adobe Encore DVD: Use Adobe Aer Eects to create motion menus for the DVDs you author
in Adobe Encore DVD. As with other Adobe applications, you can use the Edit Original com-
mand in Adobe Encore DVD to open and adjust source les in Aer Eects.
Getting video out of your computer
Once you have nished assembling and editing clips, it’s time to get your nal production out of
your computer and on its way to distribution. ese days, creative professionals are expected to
deliver video that can be used in multiple media. Broadcast and lm professionals alike are now
creating web-based work, while web designers may need to create animations that are output in
video formats. DVDs have also become an extremely popular way to combine high-quality video
and audio content with menu-driven interactivity. To address this growing need for exibility,
Adobe Premiere Pro and Aer Eects oer a wide range of options that enable you to produce
high-quality deliverables for any medium.
e program you edited in the timeline does not actually contain the material from which it was
pieced together. Rather, it references your source les. Before export, make sure that the timeline
is ready to output at the quality you require. For example, replace any oine les with high-
resolution les suitable for nal export. To get your edited program out of your computer in one
piece, you can:
• Record the timeline to physical media including videotape or motion picture lm, assuming
that you have the proper hardware for video or lm transfer, or have access to a service pro-
vider that oers the appropriate equipment and services.
• Export a video le for viewing from a hard disk, removable cartridge, CD, DVD, or the web.
• Export portions of your timeline as clips.
• Capture stills or sequences of stills.
From Adobe Premiere Pro, you can also export:
• An EDL (edit decision list)
• An AAF (Advanced Authoring Format) le
The integrated vector paint engine in After
Eects provides Photoshop-style brushes
and powerful cloning capabilities.
ROTOSCOPING
Rotoscoping involves painting on individual frames
over a series of frames to create an animation or to
remove unwanted details from your footage. This
type of painting can be accomplished either in After
Eects or Photoshop.
For rotoscoping in Photoshop, export the Filmstrip
format from Adobe Premiere Pro or After Eects. You
can render all or part of a composition as a lmstrip, a
single le that contains all the frames of a composi-
tion or only a portion of them.
Video compression is not used in creating a lmstrip
le, because rotoscoping requires each and every
frame to be available in its entirety. Filmstrip les can
be very large, but you can break a lmstrip le into
any number of smaller les.
A lmstrip opens in Photoshop as a series of frames
in a column, with each frame labeled by number, reel
name, and timecode. If the column created by the
lmstrip frames is more than 30,000 pixels tall, the
frames continue in a second column. The number
of frames displayed depends on the duration of the
footage and the frame rate selected when you render
the lmstrip.