[Tim Kurkoski]

This usually means that you are using a demo version of a plug-in or codec. Look at the effects you’re using or find out what codec your AVI file is using, then contact the publisher of said software and purchase a license for it.

[Tim Kurkoski]

Happens instantly for me, at least with a simple solid and changing opacity keyframes. What property are you setting the keyframes on? Try starting a new comp and seeing if a simple setup works, and if it does start looking for details that makes your comp more complex, and post back with more info.

[Tim Kurkoski]

Two questions:
1. What version of the Adobe Reader (or Acrobat) are you using? You should have at least 7.0.5.

2. Is the WMV file stored in the same relative location to the PDF file on the server as it is on your hard drive?

If the locations are correct, it could be something on the server side. Use the embed option in the Clip Notes dialog to embed the WMV file in the PDF, then you shouldn’t have this problem.

[Tim Kurkoski]

To get the best results, you should start a project in Premiere Pro that uses the 1280×800 settings. If you’ve already started working at a different resolution project, you can import that project into the new one. (You can’t change a project’s resolution once it’s started, which is why you need to create a new one to use different settings.) Not using the native resolution of your LCD will result in one of three things:

1. Stretching, which will distort your images and look bad.
2. Scaling, which will expand your images. It could possibly create some artifacting but probably won’t be bad.
3. Cropping, which will create black space around the outside of the slide show.

Whether or not you burn the DVD with Premiere Pro depends on what you want to do with the disc. Premiere Pro 2.0 allows you to create some limited menus, but without a lot of customization. Premiere Pro 1.x only allows you to create a disc without menus (playback begins when you start the disc). A DVD authoring program, like Adobe Encore DVD, lets you create custom menus and do a lot more with the disc.

If you do use an authoring program, you would export from Premiere Pro as an MPEG-2 or AVI file. The video data on a DVD is in the MPEG-2 format, but it is inside a special file wrapper (a .VOB file). Additionally, the MPEG-2 format has to meet certain specifications. Premiere Pro has presets for all of this and will create a DVD compatible MPEG-2 file for you. Most authoring programs can take file formats other than MPEG-2 and convert them for you, but AVI is the recommended format if this is the case- WMV is highly compressed and could result in a loss of quality.

(.DVD is not a file format used by DVD video discs.)

[Tim Kurkoski]

Step one: Create a new sequence.
Step two: Drag the other sequences by their icons from the project window into the new sequence. The individual nested sequences will be treated like movie clips within the master sequence.

[Tim Kurkoski]

You can use a higher resolution by using custom project settings. If you’re going to play the video from your computer, you can use a resolution that matches your LCD screen’s native resolution for best appearance (as long as your still images look good at that size). Be aware that at custom resolutions, you lose some of the optimized playback options in Premiere, and performance may suffer a little (probably won’t for a slide show project, but just to let you know).

Regardless of the resolution, you can output to a WMV or MPEG-2 file and play it back from your hard drive. Use higher bitrates for best results, though if you use a high resolution remember that A) it will require an even higher bitrate to maintain the same quality, and B) higher bitrates require more processor power, so if you have a slow computer you could overpower it. I’d recommend that as you’re assembling the slide show, make some test renders and see how they work.

I am tempted to recommend you go the DVD route. The workflow is better defined, and in the case of a problem such as your computer breaks, you’ll have a backup method to play the slide show.

Good luck, and congratulations!

[Tim Kurkoski]

Why do your file sizes need to be small? For most design work, you’re better off not using compressed formats.

You can try using a 32-bit PNG file out of Photoshop, though I’m not sure how Illustrator will treat it. You can also use a TIFF file with compression turned on.

JPEG 2000 is another option, though I don’t know if Illustrator supports it, and at the very least you have to grab the plug-in for Photoshop off the install CD.

Otherwise, not many compressed files support alpha channels. PSD really is your best bet.

[Tim Kurkoski]

I think you’ve got your terms backwards. What you have is already a rasterized layer. Raster data is pixel-by-pixel information, and will pixelize when scaled. (How much it will pixelize is a matter of resolution and how big you scale it.)

It sounds like what you want is a vector layer. Draw an ellipse with the ellipse tool (same toolbar button as the rectangle tool). Make sure to change the option in the option bar at top to the pen so it makes a path, not a shape layer. You can Stroke the path with a line using the path tool, though be aware that strokes in Photoshop are rasterized. For better vector capabilities, use Illustrator.

Another option would be to draw two shape layers with the ellipse tool- a black ellipse and a white ellipse. Make the black one larger, link the two together, and set the white one as a clipping mask for the black one. (Or possibly the other way around, I always forget. Check the help files for info on clipping masks.)

Yet another option, if you have Photoshop CS2, would be to use a Smart Object. Make a really big ellipse, at least as big as the biggest size you need. Then make the layer a Smart Object, and scale as necessary.

[Tim Kurkoski]

What shortcut specifically are you having a problem with? Most of them are the same between AE 6 and AE 7. A few have changed, but not many.

[Tim Kurkoski]

The Write-On effect is still there, but now it’s under the Generate category.

In AE7 a lot of the effects were moved around to different categories. If you’re looking for an effect by name, you can go to the Effects & Presets palette, and simply start typing the name. Probably want to turn off showing the Presets, though, as the search will show any presets that use the effect you’re looking for as well, with an annoying hierarchy tree in the way.