[Joe Bird]

Got AE? Then import your .psd file into ae as a comp. turn off any unused bkg files and check your alpha.
(click on the chip white area by the rgb chips at the bottom of the window) Render out a single .tga file,
RGB and alpha, set alpha to straight output. This is not the most elegant solution for working in psd, but I find it is more interactive as far as previewing the composite alpha and previewing the key.

[Joe Bird]

Use the same controls as extrude: C1,(caps) R1 (bevel) in the selection line of the material tag.

[Joe Bird]

its C1, C2 for caps, R1, R2 for rounding…

[Joe Bird]

If I understand the question correctly….
One way is to use a sweep nurb to give it that sweeping extrusion look.
Make a spline that bends parallel to the Z axis and use it as the sweep path for your type.
and you can easily animate the growth…

[Joe Bird]

As Adam says, this is probably a real east paint job, especially with flat mapping, but for those instances when more complex map painting is required, and you don’t have bodypaint, check out this tutorial from 3dKiwi: https://www.c4dcafe.com/portal/article_read.asp?id=18
It utilizes a free program called UVmapper, and it works great!
HTH

[Joe Bird]

If you mean export the c4d cam for AE… In render settings/save, check compositing file, set to ae project. No need to re-render. hit save. import .aec into AE, viola! a c4d cam in ae (inside a comp.)
Potential gotchas,… make certain your original render settings are intact, like frame count, also make certain camera is active in render viewport…
HTH

[Joe Bird]

I think the original post was trying to address the render time issue: “save them as DV PAL 48hz but it takes about 1 minute to render 1 second Id say, outrageous! Is there a way to get a good quality of video but without the painful waiting? “ As far as I know, 1 minute for 25 frames is pretty good. 1 minute per frame, not so much. That being said, frame size and frame rate are probably the only things that will consistantly save time. I also agree that Sorenson 3 is the way to go… codec wise.
Cheers

[Joe Bird]

Heres’s a thought: because the footage is DV and is being keyed via keylight, I would “transcode” the footage.
you might try to output the footage as an uncompressed or animation codec quicktime. At least this would eliminate the DV format as the problem.
Also, check frame rates and size in comp vs source footage. for instance 720×480 source in a 486 comp can lead to strange banding in the fields
as the field frequency get screwed up.

[Joe Bird]

I have no experience with a Wacom, although I’ve read threads regarding this. Seems that there is a pref for
graphic tablet in the application prefs. I think you turn on “Graphic Tablet”.

[Joe Bird]

Check out this “White Paper” from Apple:
https://www.apple.com/mpeg4/h264faq.html

Also, there’s some discussion about this very subject in the Cow’s HD forum.