Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/707472
S I G N & D I G I T A L G R A P H I C S • August 2016 • 45 Layers panel. Individual layers can be tar- geted and altered. To convert a video to frames, choose Set Timeline Frame Rate from the Timeline Options menu and set the rate to 24 frames per second (or less depending on the quality of the video you want). Lower numbers produce lower file sizes (see Figure 7). Then, from the same menu choose Convert Frames > Flatten Frames into Clips. The frames are converted to Layers. Choose Make Frames from Clips, and finally con- vert to Frame Animation (see Figure 8). Select the individual layer or layers and make alterations. More Frames Frame animations are convenient for certain types of editing. You can set the duration of each frame and how many times the animation plays, so if you want a continuous loop for example, choose Forever from the duration menu. Furthermore you can "tween" between frames which applies transitions to posi- tion, opacity or effects (see Figure 9). Since you have access to the correspond- ing layers, you can make alterations as you please. Render As I mentioned before, a frame ani- mation can be saved as a GIF for the Web. You'll need to convert it to cre- ate a video. After you've applied your effects to the layers and reviewed the animation by clicking the Play button, stop the animation and choose Convert to Video Timeline from the Timeline Options panel menu. This feature preserves the layers and converts the animation to a video timeline. Finally, you'll need to render the video. From the—you guessed it—Timeline Options panel choose Render Video (see Figure 10). The dialog box that is pre- sented is complex, but to start, change the frame rate to 24 frames per sec- ond and keep the defaults. After you've worked with video a bit you can alter the output for specific sizes and formats, but for now, the default file format, MPEG4 is adequate for most situations. And So… Now you know that Photoshop has pretty nifty video editing capabili- ties. The main advantages for using it are its simplicity and the plethora of creative effects that you can apply to your moving images. Naturally there are professional software programs designed for more extensive video edit- ing like Apple's Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premier. Videos that have been altered and rendered in Photoshop however can easily be imported into these programs as clips, and you can take advantage of Photoshop's powerful image edit- ing, color correcting and special effects capabilities while working in the smooth interface of a dedicated video program. It's common practice in the biz, but if you're not in the biz and want to have some fun with your moving pictures, give Photoshop a try. SDG Figure 8: Choose Make Frames from Clips, and then convert to Frame animation. Figure 9: "Tweening" between frames applies transitions to position, opacity or effects. Figure 10: Rendering the video displays a rather complex dialog box. To start, change the frame rate to 24 frames per second and keep the defaults.