Adobe 12040118 Tutorial - Page 122

default imports them as a sequence. You can see what After Effects is about to import by looking at the bottom of the Import dialog box. You can also import images and sequences by dragging files and folders into the Project panel. To prevent After Effects from importing unwanted files when you want to import only a single file, or to prevent After Effects from interpreting multiple files as a sequence, deselect the Sequence option in the Import dialog box. After Effects remembers this setting and thereafter uses it as the default. You can import multiple sequences from the same folder simultaneously by selecting files from different sequences and selecting Multiple Sequences at the bottom of the Import dialog box. When importing a sequence of still images, you can use the Force Alphabetical Order option in the Import dialog box to import a sequence with gaps in its numbering (for example, Seq1, Seq2, Seq3, Seq5). If you import a sequence with gaps in its numbering without selecting this option, After Effects warns you of missing frames and replaces them with placeholders. After Effects uses settings of the first image in the sequence to determine how to interpret the images in the sequence. If the image files in a sequence are of a layered file type-such as Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator documents-then you can choose to import the sequence as a standard footage item, or as a composition in which each layer in each file is imported as a separate sequence and appears as a separate layer in the Timeline panel. Note: When you render a composition that contains a numbered sequence, the output module uses the start frame number as the first frame number. For example, if you start to render on frame 25, the name of the file is 00025. A sequence of still-image files (left) becomes one image sequence when imported into After Effects (right). Import a still-image sequence as a single footage item 1. Choose File > Import > File. 2. Select any file in the sequence. To import a subset of files in a sequence, select the first file, hold down Shift, and then select the last file to import. 3. Choose Footage from the Import As menu. 4. Click Open (Windows) or Import (Mac OS). 5. In the [filename] dialog box, choose one of the following from the Choose Layer menu: Merged Layers Imports the sequence as a sequence footage item in which the layers in the file, if any, are merged into one layer. Choose Layer Imports the sequence as a sequence footage item in which the same layer from each source file-for example, layer 3-is imported and used in the sequence. If you choose this option for a PSD sequence, then you can also choose whether to ignore layer styles or merge them into the layer. You must also choose a Footage Dimensions option: Layer Size matches the dimensions of the layer to the content of the layer; Document Size matches the dimensions of the layer to the size of the original document. 6. Click OK. If at any time you decide that you want access to the individual components of the footage item, you can convert it to a composition. See Convert a merged footage item into a composition. Import a still-image sequence as a composition When you import a Photoshop or Illustrator file as a composition, you have access to the individual layers, blending modes, adjustment layers, layer styles, masks, guides, and other features created in Photoshop or Illustrator. The imported composition and a folder containing each of its layers as footage items appears in the Project panel. 1. Choose File > Import > File.