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Sebastián Inostroza
Sebastián Inostroza
Participating Frequently
December 15, 2020
Question

How can i make After Effects pixels fit perfectly in Photoshop pixels?

  • December 15, 2020
  • 2 replies
  • 1991 views

Hello, i'm doing an animation sequence that i need to import into Photoshop and make it fit with a specific image, the last frame of my animation (made on AE) should be the same as that specific image on PS.

The thing is, i exported that image from PS to AE (let's call it Image-01) and added it on AE as the exact last frame, with the same size and everything, so these can fit automatically.

But after i render my sequence from AE and try to fit the last frame of my sequence (let's call this one Image-02) with the Image-01, these won't fit like pixel perfect images, as you can see in the image i added here, the images look almost the same, but they tend to differ a little, and if i move the images 1 pixel in any direction to make it fit, these won't fit at all. This makes the image jump (really subtle) between one frame and other on PS when i turn on and off layers.

I saw that AE somehow can move images in decimals (1,5 or 1,7 for example) but my PS composition won't do that, it shows exact pixel perfect images (1, 2 , and even if i write 1,5 in the position box it will get back to 1 or 2, but it won't take a decimal number as a paramenter)

The important file here that i should keep the configuration like it is, the PS one, because is a main file with tons of other sequences, but the AE configuration can change so i can make the animations/sequences easily fit in any on my layers on PS in the future.

Thanks for your time, i hope you can help me with this. Thanks in advance.

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2 replies

Mylenium
Mylenium
Legend
December 15, 2020

Without knowing what specifically is going on, one can't say much, but judging from your image something is shifting around, resulting in a different antialising of your bevel layer style. And that in itself may be a clue already - if you use dynamic, editable layer styles, smart objects and so on this stuff will always change simply because AE employs different antialaising methods in addition to the sub-pixel positioning issues explained by @Martin_Ritter . Therefore the only way to be 100% sure is to export a flattened copy of your image and not work with an editbale PSD. Of course this works both ways and similar issues might arise if you export stuff as layered PSD from AE.

 

Mylenium

    Sebastián Inostroza
    Sebastián InostrozaAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    December 15, 2020

    Thank you, so i could work with exported PNGs? will these have some differences if:

    1. I export my main image from PSD to PNG

    2. In that image, i add some effects on it on AE.

    3. I export a PNG sequence from that animation. (short animation, seconds, for example)

    4. I import the PNG sequence to the PSD.

    Should these images fit? (first/last frame with my original image from the PSD?) or will the pixels change a little?

    Mylenium
    Mylenium
    Legend
    December 15, 2020

    The format doesn't matter. The critical point is to have everything flattened to prevent changes and in fact mucking around with a PNG and inviting potential color changes that way due to differences in color profiles, Gamma or how the color palette is generated on 8bit PNGs might act counter to your intentions. The rest is a case of "You won't know until you try." You simply haven't given us enough information to make a more specific assessment.

     

    Mylenium

      Martin_Ritter
      Martin_Ritter
      Legend
      December 15, 2020

      You shoud be able of importing the PS file with the image in question into AE and fit your animation to the image. If you zoom in in AE, you can get close to 800% to see the subpixel interpolation. Yu can move your animation in tiny amounts and toggle the PS file on and off to see, when it fits best.

       

      Also, you can go the other way around and export your animatin as image sequence. Then you use the last frame as image in PS.

       

      P.S: Sometimes a value of "1,7" don't work, but "1.4" will. This is inconsiquent through all Adobe products, so better try this, too.

       

      *Martin

        Sebastián Inostroza
        Sebastián InostrozaAuthor
        Participating Frequently
        December 15, 2020

        Thank you, i'm also using some precompositions on it (no antialiasing) and as the animation moves (on its center on this case) can it somehow move the pixel grid inside the image/colors? i'm trying to find the reason why does my image sequence differs very little from the original source.

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