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Best workflow for designing titles in Photoshop?
Many of my projects involve text that I design in Photoshop, and I seem to be running into a problem that others have encountered. When I go back into the PSD file, edit the text, and re-link the file in FCP, my graphics are smashed down to a few pixels.
Taking the advice of one of the posters here, my current workflow is:
1. Open a new PSD at 720 x 480, D1 pixels
2. Create one “registration pixel” in each of the upper left and lower right hand corners of a layer. Set this layer’s opacity to 1%.
3. Design the graphics.
4. Merge all visible layers, including the registration pixel layer.
5. Save as a TIFF, preserving the transparency.
6. Go back and undo the layer merge, in case I need to come back and edit the text (which I often do).This seems like an awful lot of steps to go through for something that should be pretty simple. I suppose I could always write an automation script in Photoshop to do all this, but I’m wondering if anyone else has figured out a better way around this problem.
Thanks for your time.
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3 Replies
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I don’t know what you mean by “smashed down to a few pixels”, and I don’t know which version of photoshop you’re using either. I also don’t know why you are creating the “registration pixels”. I’ve never needed them.
I assume that by “1. Open a new PSD at 720 x 480, D1 pixels”, you are working on graphics to be used in a DV timeline (which is 720×480 with a pixel aspect ratio of 0.9). If you are truly working on a D1 timeline, you should be creating files at 720×486 with a pixel aspect ratio of 0.9.
In CS2, create a new file using the preset called NTSC DV 720 x 480 (with guides) for DV timelines and NTSC D1 720 x 486 (with guides) for D1 timelines. These assume you are wanting 4:3 aspect, not widescreen. Photoshop will default to showing you the pixels in a corrected view so that a circle is truly a circle, just like you’ll see it on TV. This will show you the pixel aspect correctly, but it will not show the full quality of the file. To see the full quality, you’ll have to turn off aspect correction (which will make your circle look like an oval, but that’s OK). To do so, under the View menu, uncheck Pixel Aspect Ratio Correction.
If this is helpful, but you are using Photoshop 7 or prior, let me know and I’ll give you my old workflow for that as well. I skipped CS so I can only assume that it handles pixel aspect correction the same as CS2. If not, it handles it the same as 7.
As for steps 2 – 6 of your workflow, like I said, I’ve never needed “registration pixels”, but otherwise, your right on track with what I do. I use keyboard shortcuts as much as possible and it really cuts down on the time in steps 4, 5, and 6. Merge visible is Shift+Command+E, then save a copy is Option+Command+S, then Undo is Command+Z, and Step Backward is Option+Command+Z. It goes really quick after you get the hang of it.
I have several friends that simply bring their PSD files right into FCP, and that’s OK I guess, but I like this way best.
Hope this helps,
Gary -
I like the TIFF method too. You get more RT as it plays as a single video stream rather than a multiple stream PSD file + it is editable. The only drawback would that you can’t animate the layers unless you break it back out into a layered PSD.
Kevin Monahan
Take My FCP Master’s Workshop!
fcpworld.com -
My workflow for this is similar, only I keep the PS docks as psd files, and import as sequences into FCP. Then I open those, and option/drag each layer I want to the right of the stack and then onto the same layer in my final sequence I want to paste it into. Command x, then back to my main sequence, command p and it’s done. Transparency preserved, original PS layers still preserved, done.
I staretd doing this a few months back when I noticed that 32 bit targas out of PS CS2 were not preserving transparency. Dunno if I was misreading something in CS2, but the above method has been so far painless, and I’ve used it on some pretty complex projects.
Have a wonderful day.
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