[Martin Jordan]

Hey Dave,

I just figured out how to do this.

The process I just mentioned is correct. BUT…the last thing I need to do after I’ve completed that last step of invert, then I take both text outline layers and precompose them…then set that layer to multiply.

BAM! There is is.

Thanks for your time and your input. I always enjoy your posts and your “sharp” humor from time to time.

Quad-Core, 2.93GHz, OS 10.6.2, 32GB Ram, 4TB RAID 5 Internal, RAID Card, ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB, 4TB External Raid, FCP Studio 7, AE 9.0.2, Squeeze for the Web, MacBook Pro (MBP) 2.6 GHz, Dual Core, 10.5.7, Panasonic HPX300 Camera.
The entire Adobe Creative Suite 4, Design Premium.
Owner of Full Graphics Design Firm Houston, Tx 20 yrs.
Mac user since 1988.

[Martin Jordan]

Well, I’m creating this just like the Adobe Total Training shows how to do it.

What I do is use the text tool to type some text. That becomes a layer.Then, Cntrl right click that layer and change it to “Create Masks from text”. That becomes and outlines text layer.

Then delete the original text layer. Then, duplicate the text outlines layer. Dbl. click the bottom text outlines layer and that opens that layer. The text is there in outlines. Then, you take the brush tool, pick a color, make sure Write On is selected and start tracing the text as you would write it.

When that’s complete, open all the keyframes in that layer and adjust each stroke to write at the speed you want.

Then select the bottom text outlines layer again, hit “M” to bring up all the mask layers and delete them.

Go to the the top Text outlines layer, hit “M” and click just the the first mask layer and check the box for invert.

That all works great by it self. But, when you go back to the main composition, I can’t figure out how to have that text work over my .mov file. The text file is all white because of the inverted mask.

Hopefully that’s enough info. to explain my dilemma.

Sure would like your thoughts on what other steps I may be missing.

thx

Quad-Core, 2.93GHz, OS 10.6.2, 32GB Ram, 4TB RAID 5 Internal, RAID Card, ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB, 4TB External Raid, FCP Studio 7, AE 9.0.2, Squeeze for the Web, MacBook Pro (MBP) 2.6 GHz, Dual Core, 10.5.7, Panasonic HPX300 Camera.
The entire Adobe Creative Suite 4, Design Premium.
Owner of Full Graphics Design Firm Houston, Tx 20 yrs.
Mac user since 1988.

[Martin Jordan]

Well, using my brush tool to trace I do have it set on Write On as you mentioned. But I don’t see anywhere options of “Set it to draw on transparent, not draw on original” in the paint options area.

Is that somewhere else?

Quad-Core, 2.93GHz, OS 10.6.2, 32GB Ram, 4TB RAID 5 Internal, RAID Card, ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB, 4TB External Raid, FCP Studio 7, AE 9.0.2, Squeeze for the Web, MacBook Pro (MBP) 2.6 GHz, Dual Core, 10.5.7, Panasonic HPX300 Camera.
The entire Adobe Creative Suite 4, Design Premium.
Owner of Full Graphics Design Firm Houston, Tx 20 yrs.
Mac user since 1988.

[Martin Jordan]

Todd,

Ya know, I told my partner when I made this post this morning that Adobe would defend their position and this post could start a fire storm.

We all understand the benefits of 64 bit. But let me elaborate more.

It’s my guess that you don’t shoot or edit video. To produce professional video it takes a lot of capital. Camera’s, lenses, lights, hardware, RAID drives, cards, cables, P2 cards and on & on I could go. And then there is all the tools to edit, output and so on. 10’s of thousands of dollars to create a smooth, professional workflow. And then the hassle, research and working out all the bugs to make it all work right.

AE is obviously a main component concerning editing for most of us. Thousands of dollars are spent for ONE workstation to equip it with all the extra tools to create what our clients want. Then Adobe comes along and says, “oh, by the way, your tools (32 bit plugins) will now no longer work with our new version because we didn’t want to take the time or resources in development to port to it. We could have…but we didn’t. So now we want all of you to take the time, your resources, your money and retool.

You probably won’t like this example but…
That would be like I own a construction company and equip my van with thousands of dollars worth the tools and then new laws & restrictions come down the pike and it says I can’t use those kinda tools anymore. I have to buy a whole new van full of new tools.

I remember several years ago QuarkXpress ruled the roost when it came to Page layout programs. They had a HUGE market share in that area. Quark got very cocky about that, made upgrades that were very pricey and basically had the attitude of, “hey you don’t like it, go somewhere else.” Of course there was no other place to go. Adobe’s “Pagemaker” was the only kid on the block and was a joke and they knew it.

So Adobe took a long time AND a lot of resources to develop what is now known as “InDesign’ to take Quark head on. They made sure that moving over to InDesign would be as seamless and as painless as possible to Quark Loyalists. They did a remarkable job and literally put Quark on their heels. Quark has since gotten off their high horse believe me.

So, yes 64 bit is great, processing power and RAM and all that…but it forces loyal Adobe & AE users to make a decision. Do I stay with AE, do I pay for all the upgrades of my plugins (or some of my favorites that will not be upgraded at all) and go through all the bugs & fixes and other compatibility issues that will certainly be there.

Customer Service in my view is not throwing your clients under the bus or making their lives more complicated. Adobe choosing not to “take the time OR use resources” to make the transition to CS5 easy for 32 bit plugins…like the way they did to make it easy for Quark Loyalist to switch to InDesign is a sign to me that their growth, their long range vision of where they want to be is more important than making their current LARGE base of clients life less complicated.

We’ve been a design firm now for 20 years and we’ve spent a fortune over the years in keeping up with technology and equipping our studio with some of the best stuff that’s out there. So I have a little experience knowing what I’m talking about. It’s not just about the money even though it includes that. It’s all the hassle of what it took to get where we are and now this. Another thing that we have to jack with, pay for, maybe do without, work out the bugs etc, etc.

I just feel that this is a big blunder by Adobe and the impact of what it does to so many people & companies. They need to consider that a whole lot more in my opinion when they roll out new stuff.
Is this going to cause a sunami to those who chose us to be their partner in production or just some small ripples IN THEIR CLIENT’S LIVES.

All they had to do is port to 32 bit also and we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

Quad-Core, 2.93GHz, OS 10.6.2, 32GB Ram, 4TB RAID 5 Internal, RAID Card, ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB, 4TB External Raid, FCP Studio 7, AE 9.0.2, Squeeze for the Web, MacBook Pro (MBP) 2.6 GHz, Dual Core, 10.5.7, Panasonic HPX300 Camera.
The entire Adobe Creative Suite 4, Design Premium.
Owner of Full Graphics Design Firm Houston, Tx 20 yrs.
Mac user since 1988.

[Martin Jordan]

It really depends on the device that your going to output to that determines the DPI. 600 in any case is over kill. 16 bit is also over kill for mostly text. 8 bit is usually always good enough unless at this size you have huge continous tones or are outputting to say 200 lpi (lines per inch) Which you are probably not doing. Any CMYK printed piece doesn’t need to be more than 300dpi especially since most is text as you say.

No you can’t make it smaller now and size it up later. When ever your dealing with raster images (like a PS file) you can always go down BUT NEVER up.

With a poster this size your probably out sourcing it to a company to print it. Call them and ask them for their specs. Some output devices companies use may require RGB files, and sometimes only 100dpi. Their RIP software takes it from there. Most high end output devices today do much better in RGB. Now with that said, if your going to offset press, then yes, CMYK.

Whenever you are having anyone else print something for you, ALWAYs confide in them first in how to set up the job BEFORE you even start.

Hope this helps.

Quad-Core, 2.93GHz, OS 10.6.2, 32GB Ram, 4TB RAID 5 Internal, RAID Card, ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB, 4TB External Raid, FCP Studio 7, AE 9.0.2, Squeeze for the Web, MacBook Pro (MBP) 2.6 GHz, Dual Core, 10.5.7, Panasonic HPX300 Camera.
The entire Adobe Creative Suite 4, Design Premium.
Owner of Full Graphics Design Firm Houston, Tx 19 yrs.
Mac user since 1988.

[Martin Jordan]

OK, I got it affter I read more notes in Adobe help.

thx richard

Quad-Core, 2.93GHz, OS 10.6.2, 32GB Ram, 4TB RAID 5 Internal, RAID Card, ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB, 4TB External Raid, FCP Studio 7, AE 9.0.2, Squeeze for the Web, MacBook Pro (MBP) 2.6 GHz, Dual Core, 10.5.7, Panasonic HPX300 Camera.
The entire Adobe Creative Suite 4, Design Premium.
Owner of Full Graphics Design Firm Houston, Tx 19 yrs.
Mac user since 1988.

[Martin Jordan]

Well, I tried what you said and it didn’t work.

I’m doing something wrong.

I made an image with comments to help better explain what I’m trying to do and maybe this will help you advise me better.

Thanks so much.

https://www.alphaomegadesign.com/time-remapping.jpg

Quad-Core, 2.93GHz, OS 10.6.2, 32GB Ram, 4TB RAID 5 Internal, RAID Card, ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB, 4TB External Raid, FCP Studio 7, AE 9.0.2, Squeeze for the Web, MacBook Pro (MBP) 2.6 GHz, Dual Core, 10.5.7, Panasonic HPX300 Camera.
The entire Adobe Creative Suite 4, Design Premium.
Owner of Full Graphics Design Firm Houston, Tx 19 yrs.
Mac user since 1988.

[Martin Jordan]

Great…thanks so much.

Quad-Core, 2.93GHz, OS 10.6.2, 32GB Ram, 4TB RAID 5 Internal, RAID Card, ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB, 4TB External Raid, FCP Studio 7, AE 9.0.2, Squeeze for the Web, MacBook Pro (MBP) 2.6 GHz, Dual Core, 10.5.7, Panasonic HPX300 Camera.
The entire Adobe Creative Suite 4, Design Premium.
Owner of Full Graphics Design Firm Houston, Tx 19 yrs.
Mac user since 1988.

[Martin Jordan]

Not ever working w/Duck before it was kinda hazy to me on how this workflow worked. That’s why I said ” sounds iffy”.

Thanks fellas for the detailed explanation.

Quad-Core, 2.93GHz, OS 10.6.2, 32GB Ram, 4TB RAID 5 Internal, RAID Card, ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB, 4TB External Raid, FCP Studio 7, AE 9.0.2, Squeeze for the Web, MacBook Pro (MBP) 2.6 GHz, Dual Core, 10.5.7, Panasonic HPX300 Camera.
The entire Adobe Creative Suite 4, Design Premium.
Owner of Full Graphics Design Firm Houston, Tx 19 yrs.
Mac user since 1988.

[Martin Jordan]

Thanks Todd.

I kept trying to do that but it wouldn’t let me do that.

But after your advice I deleted that file from the queue and then sent it to the queue again and the options were there.

thx so much.

Quad-Core, 2.93GHz, OS 10.6.2, 32GB Ram, 4TB RAID 5 Internal, RAID Card, ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB, 4TB External Raid, FCP Studio 7, AE 9.0.2, Squeeze for the Web, MacBook Pro (MBP) 2.6 GHz, Dual Core, 10.5.7, Panasonic HPX300 Camera.
The entire Adobe Creative Suite 4, Design Premium.
Owner of Full Graphics Design Firm Houston, Tx 19 yrs.
Mac user since 1988.