OT: Sony Please. PSD layer support

p@mast3rs wrote on 11/11/2006, 6:01 AM
Ok, I have been working this week on show intros for my classes at school and have found the way Premiere allows me to control each layer is awesome. Why oh why can we not be able to do this in Vegas? Is it it a license issue? Implementation issue? Please, can we please have PSD layer support without having to save separate layers from Photoshop?

Thank you.

Comments

farss wrote on 11/11/2006, 6:13 AM
DVDA 4 supports PSD layers so I guess it's not a licencing issue.
p@mast3rs wrote on 11/11/2006, 6:53 AM
Thats my point. If we can do it in DVDA4, why not V7?
farss wrote on 11/11/2006, 7:18 AM
Well I guess it's a question of just how it'd be implemented.
I think currently Vegas reads media using a decoder but the interface doesn't provide much tweaking of how the media is read.
To be able to control PSD layers the media properties would have to be able to pass data back to the decoder and the data stored in the project, not the media itself. That'd possibly require a significant change to how Vegas works.

When you change media attributes in Vegas the change is global.
For the PSD layer support to be really usefull I guess you'd want to be able to have multiple instances of the PSD file in the one project with different layer attributes, don't see how the current Vegas structure could support that.
Grazie wrote on 11/11/2006, 8:08 AM
I'm with Patrick.

Are we absolutely, positively, totally 100% that Vegas supports PSD layers - that layers that ARE given the correct extensions? Is this PSD layers OR just the "three" that we can get from a PSD format? - If I have 10 PSD layers do I get to play with 10 tracks? Is that we are looking for? In any event I'm working with PSP!

I'm still with Pat!
rmack350 wrote on 11/11/2006, 4:17 PM
Because the PSD file is essentialy a multitrack composition, maybe the most obvious way to handle them is for each one to import as a veg file.

Might be obvious but it probably requires re-thinking what nested veg files are all about. Maybe the first step is for sony to give them a different file extension and refer to them as "compositions" or something.

Rob Mack
rmack350 wrote on 11/11/2006, 4:19 PM
There are several formats with multiple layers so it's not just photoshop files.

Might also consider that acid projects have multiple layers...

Rob Mack
Spot|DSE wrote on 11/12/2006, 2:54 AM
One workaround for the "layer per track issue" is the concept of a nested PSD file that can be expanded and worked on as a separate set of events. This was tossed around a few years ago, but never seemed to gain traction. Now that nesting is part of the app, it would be a nice time to revisit the idea. I'd like to see PSD files as well, be supported without creating a messy timeline.
farss wrote on 11/12/2006, 3:02 AM
It sounds attractive but digging into it deeper I can see some issues.
You add one PSD with 10 layers and then one with 3 layers, what happen then, ten tracks or thirteen tracks?
Plus PSD files can also contain vector as well as raster data, layers can be linked also I think.

A good clue might be to find out how and how well PPro supports PSD files.

Bob.
TeetimeNC wrote on 11/12/2006, 8:08 AM
Spot, this sounds really appealing to me - seems like it would be a natural extension of the nesting concept.

Jerry
[r]Evolution wrote on 11/12/2006, 1:45 PM
Spot/DSE <-- Sony should really listen to this.

My work flow when working with PSD's where I want to control the layers is:

* Save each Layer as it's own PSD. (combining layers that needed to be together) - I used to use PNG's but if you use PSD's they will AutoUpdate any changes.(It's just quicker)
* Load these PSD's onto a NEW timeline in the correct order they should be per PhotoShop.
* Manipulate/Move my PSD layers on this timeline for the length it needs to be.
* Nest this timeline into my project timeline where it should be.

-Repeat as many times as need be.

I got this workflow from working with Avid NLE's Avid asks you if you want to bring in a Flattened PSD - All Layers - or Certain Layers. If you choose to bring in more than one Layer it will create a PSD Nest on the timeline. -if nothing else... Vegas should inheret this behavior.
rmack350 wrote on 11/12/2006, 9:52 PM
Yes, this is what I was describing. Add to this support for layered PNG files from fireworks, XCF file from GIMP, and whatever corel is using in their paint program. Also add support for other layered media, like audio projects with tracks - after all, Vegas is also an audio tool.

The point, of course is to make it easier than what you're doing.

Rob Mack
rmack350 wrote on 11/12/2006, 9:55 PM
Varying number of tracks is not a problem. each psd file has to be the equivalent of a nested veg file. Nested veg files can have disparate numbers of tracks.

Vegas would import all layers that are visible, keeping folders as one track.

Rob Mack