Visual QuickStart Guide [Electronic resources] : Final Cut Express HD for Mac OS X

1.

In Photoshop, choose File > New; or press Command-N.

2.

Enter a width of 720 pixels, a height of 534 pixels, and a resolution of 72 pixels per inch (Figure 6.6 ).

This ratio of 720:534, or 1.33:1, is the proper proportion for creating text and graphics that will look the same on your NTSC monitor as on your computer monitor.

3.

Create your image file (Figure 6.7 ).

4.

Save the file as your original image file. Use this original graphics file to make any subsequent changes to the artwork.

5.

Choose Image > Image Size (Figure 6.8 ).

6.

In the Image Size dialog box, uncheck Constrain Proportions.

7.

In the Pixel Dimensions section, enter a width of 720 pixels and a height of 480 pixels (Figure 6.9 ).

8.

Click OK.

The vertical aspect of the image shrinks, which makes it look squashed (Figure 6.10 ).

9.

Save the file as your production graphics file. Use this production graphics file in your project.

10.

If you need to make changes to the artwork, use the original graphics file, which has the unaltered aspect ratio; then, when you're ready to save, repeat steps 4 through 9.

• You don't have to import an entire full-screen image if your image uses only a small portion of the frame. Position your elements in full-screen format, resize for the pixel aspect ratio difference, and then crop the artwork.

• If you're planning to zoom in on the image you're preparing, you should import a file with pixel dimensions that will allow the tightest framing to fill the entire video frame without scaling the image above 100 percent.

• You can import a variety of file formats, but the most common are the native Photoshop format (for images with multiple layers) and the standard PICT format (for single-layer images with alpha channels).

• You can also resize imported graphics clips and sequences in Final Cut Express, but you'll get better results using Photoshop's bicubic scaling for resizing because it uses a better resampling algorithm.

FCE Protocol: Updating Photoshop Files in FCE

It's easy to import Adobe Photoshop files into FCE, but if you need to change to a Photoshop file you've already used in a sequence, there are some hoops to jump through. Get ready to jump...

When you import a multilayer Photoshop file into your project for the first time, Final Cut Express constructs a description of this file that includes the number of layers and the frame size of each layer.

First hoop: It's not always easy to get Final Cut Express to update its description data of your Photoshop file. If you revise your existing image in Photoshop and save changes in the original file, you may not see the changes reflected when you return to Final Cut Express. FCE protocol dictates that the original proxy description of your Photoshop file is used.

How do you get FCE to refresh its memory and update your Photoshop file's description? Here are some suggested workarounds:

• After you've revised your Photoshop file, rename the file when you save your changes and then re-import it into FCE. Because you're re-importing the file with a new name, FCE will create a new description for it. The good news? Your Photoshop file revisions show up in FCE. The bad news? Now you have to manually replace the file with the revised file everywhere you've used it.

• If your file has the same number of layers and those layers have the same frame size, you should be able to select the Photoshop clip wherever you've used it in your sequence and then use the Reconnect Media command to manually re-introduce the clip and the Photoshop source media file.

Second hoop: FCE uses the frame size data it recorded when you first imported your Photoshop file in all effect calculations that use

x, y coordinatesmotion paths, scaling, warp filters, and so on. However (get ready to jump...), FCE does not include transparent pixels when it calculates a Photoshop layer's frame size. Say you've created text on a transparent background in Photoshop, imported your file into FCE, and then applied effects. Should you need to revise your text, when you return to it, you'll find that the frame size of your text layer has changed. Even if you successfully reconnect your revised Photoshop file to your FCE sequence, FCE will use the data description from the original import (with the old frame size) to calculate your effects. The result? Your text effects will look distorted, and you'll briefly consider quitting the business.

There's a workaround for this dilemma. It's not pretty, but you can save yourself some headaches down the road by anticipating changes to your text. Again, get ready to jump...

• When you build your original Photoshop file, place a single nontransparent pixel in each corner of the frame (Figure 6.11 ). You'll need to do this for each and every layer. FCE will use the rectangle created by those four placeholder pixels to calculate the frame size. You can change text to your heart's content inside the bounding box created by the four corner pixels, and your FCE frame size will not change. So if you can reconnect your Photoshop file, your effects will be calculated with the correct frame size data.

  Figure 6.11. Place a single nontransparent pixel in each corner of each layer of your Photoshop composition. If you revise your Photoshop text later, those corner pixels will maintain a constant frame size, and when you re-import or reconnect your revised Photoshop file, FCE will recalculate your previously applied effects with the correct frame size. Heyit's a workaround.

  [View full size image]

Final warning: Once you've imported a layered Photoshop file into FCE, you should avoid adding or subtracting layers in the file.

FCE identifies a Photoshop layer by its position relative to the file's bottom layer. Increase the total number of layers in the Photoshop file, and FCE will ignore any layers numbered above the previously topmost layer. Deleting a layer from a Photoshop file that you've already imported could yield a variety of unpleasant results, so you should re-import any file with changes to the layer count.

The best workaround? Once you've imported your Photoshop graphics, don't change your mind. Or get ready to jump...

FCE Protocol: Layered Photoshop Files

• A layered Adobe Photoshop file imported into a Final Cut Express project retains its transparency information, visibility, and composite mode.

• Layer opacity settings and layer modes are preserved, but layer masks and layer effects are not.

• If a Photoshop layer mode has no corresponding compositing mode in Final Cut Express, the layer mode is ignored.