In Photoshop Extended CS5 and Photoshop CS6, you can transform a video layer as you transform any other layer in Photoshop. However, you must convert video layers to Smart Objects before you can transform them.
You can create new video layers by adding a video file as a new layer or creating a blank layer.
For a video on working with video layers, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0027
You can use various methods to specify when a layer appears in a video or animation. For example, you can trim (hide) frames at the beginning or end of a layer. This changes the layer’s start and end points in a video or animation. (The first frame to appear is called the In point, and the last frame is called the Out point.) You can also drag the entire layer duration bar to a different portion of the timeline.
Note:
For best results, drag the layer duration bar after the bar has been trimmed.
Layers (In timeline mode) with the layer duration bar selected to drag (Photoshop Extended CS5)- Move the current-time indicator to the frame you want as the new In or Out point, and from the panel menu, choose Trim Layer Start To Current Time or Trim Layer End To Current Time.
This shortens the layer duration by hiding the frames between the current-time indicator and either the start or the end of the layer. (Re-extending the ends of the layer duration bar reveals the hidden frames.)
Note:
To delete footage in one or more layers, use the Lift Work Area command. To delete a specific duration from all video or animated layers, use the Extract Work Area command.
To hide frames at the start or end of a video or animation layer, trim the layer. To start or end video at a different time point, move the video layer.
If you move video layers, changes become permanent when you save the file. If you trim video, however, you can restore it by re-extending the ends of the layer duration bar.
From the Animation (Photoshop Extended CS5) or Timeline (CS6) panel menu, choose one of the following options:
Move Layer In Point To Current Time
Permanently moves the start of the layer to the current-time indicator.
Move Layer End Point To Current Time
Permanently moves the end of the layer to the current-time indicator.
Note:
You can also use the Lift Work Area command to hide frames in one or more layers, or the Extract Work Area command to hide a specific duration in all layers of a video or animation.
A section of the footage in selected layers can be deleted, leaving a gap of the same duration as the removed section.
Layers before applying the Lift Work Area command (Photoshop Extended CS5)
Layers after applying the Lift Work Area command (Photoshop Extended CS5)
To delete portions of video and automatically remove the time gap, use the Extract Work Area command. The remaining content is copied to new video layers.
, and
choose Split Layer.
Original layer before using the Split Layer command (Photoshop Extended CS5)
Resulting two layers after using the Split Layer command (Photoshop Extended CS5)
As you add more layers to your video or animation, you might want to organize them into a hierarchy by grouping the layers. Photoshop preserves the frames in your video or animation in grouped layers.
You can also group a group of layers. Besides nesting your layers in a more complex hierarchy, grouping a group of layers lets you simultaneously animate the opacity of all the grouped layers. The Animation panel displays a group of grouped layers with a common opacity layer property.
Grouping video layers in Photoshop is similar to precomposing in Adobe After Effects.
When you rasterize video layers, the selected layer is flattened to a composite of the current frame selected in the Animation panel. Although it’s possible to rasterize more than one video layer at a time, you’ll only be able to specify the current frame for the topmost video layer.
Note:
To rasterize more than one video layer at a time, select the layers in the Layers panel, set the current-time indicator to the frame you want to preserve in the topmost video layer, and then choose Layer > Rasterize > Layers.
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