Anyone have tips for importing photoshop files into After Effects?

[Filip Vandueren]

Well, are you zooming into those images upto 100%
Or are you using fit to screen ?
Then they would typically be scaled at somewhere between 18-30% in a PAL or NTSC project

If that’s the case, you can get away with scaling them down in After Effects beforehand (keep the original scans if you need them for print)

Or are you doing HD-work ?

[Steve Roberts]

Search the help on “proxy” or “proxies”.

Alternately, if you’ll never be zooming in on the images, there’s no need to scan them to that size.

(thinking NTSC here)

DPI is only a number that translates inches into pixels when scanning. If your video frame is 720×540 (use square pixels when thinking about scanning) and you will never be zooming tight into your images, then scan them at whatever dpi will result in a 720×540 image or slightly bigger:

A 10″ wide image should be scanned at 72 dpi. (10×72=720)
A 5″ wide image should be scanned at 150 dpi. (5×150=750)

Use width or height depending on your needs. If it’s a tall portrait, shown full height on TV with space on either side, the scanned height should end up at 540 pixels or a little more. If you’re zooming in on the image to cut off the top and bottom, then the scanned width should end up at 720 pixels or a little more.

If you’re scanning a panorama and you expect to pan across it in your program, make sure the image height ends up at 540 pixels or more:
If it’s 5″ high, try 100-120 dpi. (5×120=600)

If you’re zooming in, calculate the size of the smallest area of the shot into which you will be zooming. If that area is an inch high, then you need to scan at about 600 dpi so that area becomes 600 pixels high (540+) onscreen.

My point is: scanning at a high dpi doesn’t give you better quality images per se, it gives you more pixels in the image. And if you need them, great. If you don’t, then pick the right dpi for your needs. Or else you’ll slow down your workflow to a crawl.

Steve