Why do textures look different in AE sometimes when imported from PS?

[Brendan Coots]

When you are working with them in Photoshop, what file settings are you using? Make sure that any PS work is RGB (not cmyk), 72dpi and uses a standard color profile like sRGB or your monitor’s preferred profile. The problems you are experiencing sounds like a color profile mismatch.

[Daniel Haskett]

hi mate,

thanks for your help, ok here is what my photoshop settings are for all my work –

300dpi
RGB
8-Bit

how do i check what the standard colour profile is?

do you think any of the problems im hving could be to do with 300 dpi? could that explain also why everything is going so slow!?

[Steve Roberts]

Don’t use a standard DPI for all your work, guys! You care about image size in pixels, not DPI! Do the math: paper size (inches) X DPI = digital image size (pixels).

You don’t want it too small (fuzzy on scaleup) or too big (slows you down).

Scanning at the same DPI all the time is like saying “I always drive at 50 miles per hour wherever I go”.

[Daniel Haskett]

sorry so what do you mean?

should i have it at 72dpi?

dan

[Steve Roberts]

No, I mean figure out how big the image needs to be in square pixels (full frame: 720×540 or zoomed in: maybe 1600×1200) which will be different depending on whether the image is small in frame, full frame, or zoomed in.

In the case of a Ken Burns push-in, you’d zoom into a group shot to show somebody’s head full frame, so that head would have to be 720×540. If the head area is 1″ by 3/4″, then you’d want that to be 720×540, so you’d have to scan at 720dpi (720 pix / 1″) or the next size up.

(image size in pixels) / (image size in inches) = DPI setting

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[Daniel Haskett]

thats great thanks for your help!

so with regards to the projects ive already made at 300 dpi, if i were to resave them as 72 dpi then would that mess them up? is having them at 300dpi gonna affect the image quality or it’ll just mean much longer render times?

cheers!

dan

[Steve Roberts]

At this point, I recommend making proxies (check the help). But for next time …

Forget 72 dpi.
Forget 300 dpi.
You need to calculate a specific DPI for that specific shot in that specific comp if you want to be precise.

The dpi is the last figure in the chain. Here’s another way to do it.
-First is the size of your movie in square pixels, say 720×540.
-Next is the desired enlargement of the image to be scanned. If it fills the video frame, that would be 1x, whereas a big closeup into the photo might be 10x. If bigger than 1x, roughly gauge the enlargement by imagining a rectangle on your photograph enclosing the closeup area. If it’s a quarter of the photo, then the enlargement is 4x.
– Next is the desired size of your photo in ***pixels***. Take the first figure and multiply it by the second: (let’s just use the width) 720×4 = 2880 pixels wide. So your scanned image would have to be 2880 pixels wide to fill the width of your comp.
– Now we look at the paper photo. Let’s say it’s 10 inches wide.
– Now we calculate the scanning DPI, which is the same as “pixels per inch”: too small, and the image won’t hold up to enlargement in AE. Too big, and your computer will slow down. To calculate the DPI, take 2880 pixels divided by 10 inches = 288 pixels per inch, or 288 DPI.
– Put the paper in the scanner, and choose the next DPI up from 288. If it’s 300, so be it.

But if you wanted to enlarge it 2x, the DPI would be 144, so you’d make it 150 dpi.
In that case, 72 would have been too small for 2x enlargement, and 300 would have been too large for 2x enlargement.

Do you see? Calculate the DPI.

If you want to save time, and you only work in SD, make a list of rectangle-sizes-on-photos (3″ wide, 6″ wide, etc.) and what DPI it would take for them to fill an SD frame. Then you don’t have to calculate all the time.

But for now, use proxies so you don’t have to re-scan. Don’t ask me how big your proxies should be — that’s between you and your comp.