Confirmed here too.
An interesting thing is that I can take a logo with a transparent background PSD (only the one layer) and it behaves as expected.
Photoshop 7, XP Pro, Vegas 9.0d 32 bit

Mike

Yep. Confirmed. Created a new PSD in Photoshop 7.0. Flatten the image. No layers. The PSD would not import to Vegas.

But Sony will say this is NOT a bug but rather just the way it is --- Here's what the online "help" saysl:

You can add layered PSD files to the Vegas Pro timeline, with each layer of the file being an event on its own track.

Layered means layered - not flat. Just the way it is. Not really too cool -- but not really a bug either.

I can drop a non-layered PSD on a Pro 8 timeline but not on a Pro 9.0d timeline.
IMO this is a bug.

Mike

Agreed that you can use a flat PSD in V8 -- this would mean that V8 projects with flat PSD's will not be useable in V9.0d without some hassle to add a layer to the PSD -- as described at the top of the thread. That's clearly not cool. You'd think despite the help saying "layered PSD" they really meant all PSD's as in V8. Still --- if that's the way it is -- it's still very nice to be able to separate the layers into tracks.

Can you use a flat PSD in V9.0C ?

Thanks for the confirmation. I'll zip up my test project and PSD and file a bug report tomorrow. Luckily I normally use PNG's for most of my title and motion graphic projects.

xberk >> Yes, you could add flat PSD in V9.0c, that how I discovered this issue.

xberk, firstly good catch, and secondly you make a point, and in a sense it is valid - within limits. But I don't think that your point assists in getting SONY and us to where we want to be:-

Layered means layered - not flat. Just the way it is. Not really too cool -- but not really a bug either.

So, that would also mean that what we had had before has now been "hobbled", meaning we COULD import flat PSD graphics, but now we can't. I reeeeeally don't believe that this is what SONY wants us to experience?

Look, whatever has been created to make this awesome feature - PSD LAYERS INTO VEGAS - possible, has at the same time removed the previous option for flat PSDs. This has to be a bug and definitely not " Just the way it is".

Initially I was testing the layering and thought I must have been doing something incorrect with the layering! Obviously it was something far far simpler than even that. Yes, and now I know what it is I am actually experiencing, reproed here on VP9d on 32bit XP Pro.

I am no programmer, but could this be cured by something akin to:-

If LAYERS do LAYERS and IF NOT LAYERS do FLAT instead

It seems obvious (?) this function can see LAYERS. What it isn't seeing is FLAT. I'm glad I don't do programming . . .

Grazie

You haven't actually lost the ability to import a flat PSD, but vegas doesn't seem to like a PSD with only the default background layer (named "Background"). If you rename the background layer then the file imports into vegas even if that's the only layer in the file.

Sure, I'd call that a bug. It's not huge. You have to double-click the Background layer in the photoshop layers panel and then just accept the new name. This would get to be a drag if you have a lot of files, although you can set up an action to do it as a batch job in photoshop.

Rob

Considering the grief I have using older and newer versions of PSD files WITHIN Photoshop, it's little wonder there's a bug or two in the layered import.

PS7 is a fairly old version to be using, so they may or may not be supporting all versions. CS5 is about to come out, and I know that using old PS7 files in CS4 always requires saving it in the new format because features/functions aren't supported in older versions.

It would be nice if we knew which versions of Photoshop were directly supported and which were "mostly supported" under most circumstances.

Meh! I think Vegas is supporting a pretty vanilla set of file features, but I haven't looked in the new manual yet. This thing with files that only have a background layer would probably go back to photoshop 6, at least.

I'm a little slow on the uptake here but if you had projects filled with PSD files with only a background layer then this would be hellish when you open the projects in 9d. That's BAD.

Rob

This shows why you shouldn't add new features in point releases.

Bob.

Hello everyone,
I could very well be way off-base with my comment here ... I'm certain someone will set me straight.
(grin)
* * *
For all this time, PNGs have been our friends ... "Vegas likes PNG" is what I've heard since my entry a while back on many forums when anyone would ask about the formats for still images.
* * *
Over the recent past, 3D images in video have come up on many forums ... the sort of thing where a couple is looking at a desert scene and both their bodies and the desert background begin to move in different directions to reveal more of the desert as the people slowly move out of the way ... ala a tutorial I once viewed online someplace. That sort of shot cries for multi-layered still images.
* * *
So, it appears that the objective here was to give us multi-layered input that could get manipulated independently on a track of its own ... which explains the import to individual tracks.
* * *
So, after figuring we had the single layer image problem solved (PNG), Sony focused on bringing us PSD multi-layer features... which they have.
* * *
Now, I would have never found the problem as James has discovered simply because I would continue to use PNG for single layers and PSD only for multi-layers... and probably will now continue that practice especially since he raised the issue it contains...
That probably says quite a bit about me kicking the tires and looking for scratches while James looks under the hood and searches the undercarriage for leaks and seeps ... (grin)
* * *
I also fully understand that if it worked as a single-layer PSD in a previous version, it should continue to work now ... I can easily see the link with it working before, introducing a new still image feature, and now it is broken ... something they did with the multi-layer intro busted the single layer PSD feature ... but not for PNGs ... it appears to be an easy fix, but then again, I'm just looking for scratches...
* * *
I don't see it as any problem for us part-time users and hobbyists ... (wink)
The work-around is pretty simple - just continue to do what we have been doing all along.

I do agree with James ... it should (grin)
I'm also thankful for guys like James on this forum who test every feature and function as they are introduced to ensure that the quality is retained as new functions are obtained...

SALUTE ...

Until that time... Earl J.

PSD has certain advantages whether you can manipulate the layers or not. One of those is that you can lay out text and then easily change the text a week later. Change the file and it immediately shows in Vegas. The main deal is that it's very amenable to changes. I don't know how well it performs in Vegas if you've got hundreds of them on the timeline.

Adding the ability to spread the layers around opens up some new possibilities and saves some time. The scenario most familiar to me is in a product tour we do in which the voiceover says "Here's this, and this, and this, and that." We can have one layer used for the overall product shot, and then layers of arrows. This new feature is a quick way to break the PSD file up in a usable way and it fits well into the workflow we've been using for the last 10 years. We used to break the PSD file apart in AfterEffects (long ago).

On the face of it, the fact that a PSD file containing only the default background layer won't load in Vegas seems easy to work around...until you realize that this is going to foul up old projects.

Rob

> "On the face of it, the fact that a PSD file containing only the default background layer won't load in Vegas seems easy to work around...until you realize that this is going to foul up old projects."

Of course, Rob, you make a very sane observation and one I don't disagree with. However, should SONY reword the list of imported Media, presently saying PSDs? And what should that now say?

Grazie

They could say "PSD Files-Multilayer only" but it's not literally true. You can import a single layer PSD file as long as the layer isn't named "Background"

I think they just need to fix it. This doesn't get solved by parsing.

Rob

I think they just need to fix it.

Aye Laddie!

- g

anyone else have this issue?


i import a psd > place on timeline > i can see it in the viewer > i slide it above other video clips on tracks below > and it does not appear in viewer unless soloed