User Guide

CHAPTER 12
374
Rendering a Movie
To export a single composition frame as an Adobe Photoshop file with layers:
1 In the Composition window, display the frame you want to export.
2 Choose Composition > Save Frame As > Photoshop Layers.
3 Type a filename and click OK.
Creating a filmstrip file for editing in Photoshop
Use the Filmstrip format to paint directly on video frames, a process known as rotoscoping.
You can render part or all of a composition as a filmstrip, a single file that contains all the
frames of a composition or portion of a composition. Because video compression is not
used in creating a filmstrip file, these files can be large. You can break the filmstrip file into
any number of smaller files by setting the work area to a different portion of the compo-
sition before rendering each portion.
A filmstrip opens in Adobe 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 filmstrip 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 filmstrip.
When editing a filmstrip in Adobe Photoshop, use the following guidelines for best results:
• You can paint on the gray lines dividing the frames of the filmstrip without damaging
the file. After Effects will display only the part of each frame that lies within the frame
border.
• You can edit the red, green, blue, and alpha channels in the filmstrip file. Use only
channel #4 as the alpha channel.
• Do not resize or crop the filmstrip.
• Flatten any layers you add in Adobe Photoshop.
Note: If you simply want to export a single frame, you don’t need to use the Filmstrip format.
See “Exporting a single frame of a composition” on page 373.
To render a composition as a filmstrip:
1 Be sure that the composition you want to render is active. If you want to render only
part of the composition, set the work-area markers to define the part you want to render.
UG.book Page 374 Wednesday, February 21, 2001 12:05 PM