When I import a PSD file, the layer names are getting shortened

[Visual FX Artist]

I just started to see that my imported PSD files layered names are getting shortened..

ie.   3 Business-Model-Red-Line is importing as.   3 Business Model/Spaces.PSD

Without the proper names it makes it makes it difficult to identify the layers I want to animate..

Has anyone experienced this? If so, have you identified how to fix this?

See image attached:

I'm using teams, I do not have ingest settings turned on...

Thanks

[Averdahl]

I just started to see that my imported PSD files layered names are getting shortened..

ie.   3 Business-Model-Red-Line is importing as.   3 Business Model/Spaces.PSD

By @Visual FX Artist

I created a psd file in Photoshop 22.5.1 and imported it as Layers in Premiere Pro 15.4.1 and it seems to work here. I did some tests with the name, iow dropped the dashes to see if it was the issue but it did not matter. On the image you can see the layers in Photoshop and in the bottom how they are named in Premiere Pro. I am on Windows and guess that you are on a Mac or using different app version than i do. Right or wrong?

[Visual FX Artist]

I am generating the PSD from After FX via export. I do this as it structures the PSD layers the way I want for animation in Premiere or After FX

1. File Created In Illustrator - Vector Graphics

2. Opened In AfterFx

3. Exported from After FX to PSD

4. Opened In Premiere  - Layer Names shortened.  This seems to happend intermittently as sometimes the names are not shortened. 

See Image.  

[Averdahl]

What happens is you just use the letters A-Z and 0-9 in the layer names, starting in Illustrator? Avoid & and other charaters and just stick with A-Z and 0-9 when naming the layers.

Back in the day deviation from this could cause odd problems but work generally better today, but i still avoid using &, %, #, etc, etc, etc when naming layers, clips, project names, etc, etc.

[Visual FX Artist]

Thanks for the suggestion, but that would make it extremely difficult to manage and know what's on each layer. Some of files have a lot of layers and I need to know what's on them when looking at the layer names.  I don't think the Special Characters are causing this because it's happening with other files that don't have special characters (see attached).  By the way, I'm on a Mac.. I'll try

[Michael Grenadier]

I'm seeing dashes in your screenshot.   try replacing with underscores...  worth a shot.    The issues with "special" characters are a legacy of file-naming restrictions from the age of dinosaurs...  and perhaps there's something lurking buried in the code....   Again, if you can post a sample psd file that's having these issues, maybe one of us can figure out a satisfactory workaround. 

[Michael Grenadier]

are you using slashes in your file names?  That may be the problem.  I think forward slashes are reserved characters that should never be used in a file name.   Same is true of *, ? and a number of other characters...   

[Michael Grenadier]

or is this just the way premiere displays layer names...  thought I'd figured out the problem...

[Visual FX Artist]

No Slashes in name.  Here's the work flow.

1. File Created In Illustrator - Vector Graphics

2. Opened In AfterFx

3. Exported from After FX to PSD

4. Opened In Premiere  - Layer Names shortened.  This seems to happend intermittently as sometimes the names are not shortened. 

See Image...

[Michael Grenadier]

What happens if you open the psd you exported from ae in photoshop, save
and then open in Premiere?

[Visual FX Artist]

It doesn't fix the problem. I tested that many times.  I think I'm hitting some type of bug since it's intermittent. 

[Michael Grenadier]

what happens if you replace the - with an _?  and yeah, drop the ampersand...  The only other thing I can suggest is that you post a sample photoshop file that has this intermittent problem, and I will see what happens on my system...  And I don't think you answered Averdahls question about whether you are on a mac or windows?  

[Visual FX Artist]

I tried your suggestions, but that doesn't fix the issue. It might be that my preferences have to be reset for the application... File is attached, Try it out. My guess is that it's going to work on your machine because the import pop up shows the names properly.

Either way, thanks for your help and I'm on a Mac

[Michael Grenadier]

will try and check this out tomorrow.

[Visual FX Artist · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I have examples without the dashes and I'm experiencing the same thing. The good news is I think I figured out what's happending.. The files are saved on my local NAS Server. I did a test saving file on server and on local machine. The file saved on local machine did not shorten the name, the file on server had it's name shortened.  (See Attachcment)

[Michael Grenadier]

makes sense...   never easy to figure out what's going on from a distance...  And shared storage can create issues.   

Glad you were able to figure it out.

[Warren Heaton]

What is the format type of the NAS?

If it uses a format type that does not support long filenames you can run into issues like this.

When saved to a drive format that does not allow for long filenames, Photoshop allows for the long layer names as it sees the layers as part of the document.  Premiere, on the othe hand, sees the Photoshop document as a folder containing the layers which are seen as the documents, so long layer names can suddenly become problematic.

Also, is the NAS configured to work as a video file server?   

[Visual FX Artist]

Hey Warren, this problem is getting worse, since layer names are shortened, the layers will start to intermittently disappear. I am guessing this what's causing the problem.. I am using a new Synology NAS 1621xs+ which is used by many creators. I have no problem with files using other applications, ie. Davinci Resolve... and I'm using a CAT 6A connecting at 10 Gbs

• Can you elaborate onn configuration for video file server?
• The files are all mounted as a volume on my iMac using smb 
• The file names are not long...  See attachment..

It looks like I'm going to have to import all files directly from my Samsung T5 SSD which is synced with my server which  doesn't appear to shorten the layer names  vs  using the smb volume.  This is a bummer, because I'm going to have to fix tons of work. However, I would really like to identify the issue because I have a teams account which is suppose to support file sharing over the network for it's Productions Features.  

Any advice would be greatly appreaciated.

[Warren Heaton]

From your screenshot, the only thing I might suggest is to go with all lowercase characters, no spaces, and use an underscore ("_") rather than a dash ("-").

If you only have one video editing workstation, you want to use directly attached high-speed local storage.

Trying to work directly from an SMB file server, even if it's not for video editing, is not a good idea.  Even if working with an Excel spreadsheet, I would copy it locally from the SMB file server and then copy it back.

NAS products are good for being a multimedia hub used to play, collect and share photos, videos and music; however, they're not suited for video post prodcution file server.  There's no shortage of YouTube videos about using your NAS for video editing.  That's unfortunate.

There sre some NAS products that are optimized for seamless video editing workflows with multiple users like LumaForge Jellyfish products (https://www.lumaforge.com/jellyfish/mobile); however, you usually want a SAN, not a NAS. 

[Visual FX Artist]

Thanks for your suggestions. I'm using my SSD connected to my drive client via theNAS network, seems to be under control now. I'm familiar with LumaForge, it's a nice product, but not for me at this time. 

Thanks again!

[fx kaan]

Hello, I had this problem too. If you select this when opening the psd file in After Effects, it will be fixed. If you open it as a merge layer, you will have the same problem.