Layers are permanently disabled after importing a video

In Photoshop, my layer group and its contents were intiially visible, since they were the topmost layers.  I needed a screenshot/frame from a video, so I temporarily imported the 1 GB video and exposed the video timeline. I navigated the playhead to the frame I needed (:28 seconds), copy merged/pasted, and then quickly deleted the video because I didn't need it anymore. Once that happened, I closed the Timeline panel.

I no longer visually saw the aforementioned layer group and its contents, despite it showing that opacity was 100%, the group and its layers weren't hidden, etc. Yet, the layer options, such as blending mode and opacity control were all disabled.

I was able to fix the problem by importing all layers, including the screenshot into a new Photoshop file.

I suspect that it disabled the settings because I believe those blending and opacity controls are specific to each frame. Although I deleted the video, perhaps the playhead was still somehow set to :28 and those layers were given an arbitrary length of 5 seconds; therefore those layers weren't present on the 28 second mark. Theoretically, after deleting the longest running video/layer, the playhead should automatically jump to the last frame, which would be :05 seconds in this case. The fact that the layers were disabled indicates that the playhead may have been at :28, despite there being no layers extending that long.

Anyway, perhaps the layers should turn red and/or display a tooltip that these controls are unavailable because the selected layer(s) are outside of active time on the timeline.

So to recapitulate:

When you import a video, Photoshop's layers are no longer just static images; they exist in a temporal context. When you scrub the playhead to the 28-second mark, you are telling Photoshop to display the layers that are visible at that specific time. Even after you delete the video layer, the playhead's position may remain at 28 seconds. Since your static layers (the original ones) only had a default duration (e.g., 5 seconds) on the timeline, they are effectively "invisible" at the 28-second mark. Because the layers are outside of their active time on the timeline, Photoshop (I guess correctly) shows nothing. However, it's a bug that it also disables the blending mode and opacity controls for the layer group without showing WHY.

My Proposed Improvement

I suggest making the controls red or providing a pop-up note. For example

1. Visual Cue: The blending mode and opacity controls in the Layers panel would not just be grayed out; they would be highlighted in red or have a visible warning icon next to them. This could instantly draw the user's attention to a problem.

2. Informational Note: When the user hovers their cursor over the disabled controls, a small tooltip or pop-up message would appear. This note would concisely explain the reason, such as: "These controls are unavailable because the selected layer(s) are outside of their active time on the timeline."

3. Actionable Solution: The note could even suggest a solution, like "Move the playhead to the layer's active time range to edit these settings." This would guide the user to the correct action without them having to guess and lose time figuring out a solution.

This approach would transform an ambiguous "bug" into a clear, understandable, and solvable user issue. It acknowledges that, from a logical standpoint, the controls are indeed unavailable at that specific frame, but it doesn't leave the user in the dark. It respects the temporal nature of the layers while maintaining a good user experience.

Please let me kno