Imported psd layers (from Illustrator) don't show

Report · Oct 17, 2021

Hi,

1) I exported a layered Illustrator file as a psd.

2) I imported the file in Premiere, selecting Individual Layers.

3) When I move the psd folder into the project's timeline, I just see a string of yellow folders; e.g. there are no images. If I click or double-click one of these yellow folders, there's just a black screen.

4) I then tried importing as Sequence instead, but the result was the same as before. No images were automatically placed as sequences on the timeline, which as I understand it would be the expected result.

So, what am I doing wrong?

Is it a problem that the psd file contains a lot of sublayers? I tried to merge those in Illustrator, but that's not possible; e.g. sublayers are not flattened into one single layer but just merged into another sublayer. If I try to do what I really want, which is to flatten all sublayers into one image per layer (because I think that might solve my Premiere issues), all main layers are instead flattened, which is not what I want...

Report · Oct 17, 2021

I realize now that the string of folders that are placed on the timeline when I import using the Individual Layers option are in fact separate layers.

I noticed that because one of these layers -- the project's only bitmap image -- is in fact visible when I move the cursor across it.

But all the Illustrator vector images are represented by black rectangles.

And, again, instead of placing all these layers on top of each other as expected, they're are placed in a sequence...

So, bottomline:

1) Vector images don't show, and

2) Imported layers are placed horizontally on the timeline as a sequence, instead of vertically as expected

Report · Oct 17, 2021

Okay, more details:

When I scale all imported images to fit the screen, I can now see the separate vector elements.

But nothing is shown correctly:

All blending modes are ignored
What should be a blue drop shadow around a shape instead appears as a solid blue shape
Because the images are not layered, but instead shown as a sequence, what should have been transparent image parts placed on top of a white background are instead shown on Premiere's black background.

EDIT: I now manually dragged each of the 15 psd layers into its own corresponding track on the timeline, on top of each other where they're supposed to be placed. But several layers are missing, and, again, blending modes are ignored.

So I'm beginning to think this is more of an Illustrator issue, and that the only solution is to export all Illustrator elements as three separate png's instead of as a psd.

Only problem with this solution is that those three files need to be placed exactly on top of each other, pixel-accurate, and I don't know if that is possible.

EDIT 2:

As mentioned above, I instead exported foreground, middle and background as three transparent png's instead of as a psd file.

The good news is that Premiere placed these three images perfectly on top of each other so everything aligns. This is definitely the way I'm going to proceed; the process is a little tedious, but the result is perfect.

Report · Oct 17, 2021

I think if you want seperate layers you should do everything in Ps and not Ai.

Premiere rasterizes vector images on import.

Report · Oct 17, 2021

Thank you for your reply!

I thought of that, there's definitely something weird about exporting AI as a psd in the first place. But I'm not comfortable with Photoshop the same way as with AI, and I don't think Ps can handle really large video files (but I could be wrong).

As for rasterizing, I'm actually impressed by the results I got from exporting png's from Illy --> importing into Premiere --> exporting/importing back into Illy; the still is rasterized, but I wouldn't say in a destructive way. I think the solution is to make the original png's a bit larger than their intended display size in Premiere which doesn't even take any resources; my png's were like 2-3mb while the psd that didn't work was like 40 or so...