Hello,

I was wondering if you could help explain a procedure that I am trying to accomplish using FCP 4.5 HD and Photoshop CS:
What I am trying to do is export a single frame from FCP to PS, apply a filter in PS and then export the fram back to FCP and apply these attributes from the PS filter to the entire sequence in FCP.

Thanks for your help,

Adam Israel Valadez

I don't think you can do that procedure, but that depends on what you mean by "attributes".

You can copy and then right click paste attributes...
You can also export an image sequence to Photoshop for batch processing. Then use quicktime pro or FCP to convert the image sequence back to a movie. This allows Photoshop filters to be applied to video.

2- I don't think I understood your question clearly.

I guess what I mean is this: If I have a sequence in the timeline of FCP and I stop on one frame and export it to Photoshop, I would apply filters etc.. to it. Next, I want to take that same fram that was exported to Photoshop and put it back in the sequence that I originally exported it from. Along with this, I want to be able to apply the filters etc.. that I gave it in photoshop in the whole final cut sequence.

Thanks,

Adam

I don't think that can be done.... can it? Perhaps you can do something like this in Premiere since Adobe makes both products?

AFAIK, the only exchange you can do between FCP and Photoshop is import .psd files with all their layers intact. But maybe someone else knows more about this than I do. What filters do you need in Photoshop? Can't you do something similar with FCP's filters, augmented by third party packages like "Joes Filters"?

When Photoshop applies a filter, the numerical values of the pixels change. There is no way for any program to recognize how those new values were arrived at. ie. What filters were applied with what settings.

Photoshop does have a built in procedural object known as an adjustment layer which can include layer styles. Even Adobe After Effects only recognizes 4 layer styles, (bevel & emboss, drop shadow, inner shadow, and colour overlay) when a psd file is imported.
Other than these, all layers that get adjustment layers applied are normally duplicated and rasterized before the psd is brought into FCP, Premiere or After Effects so the adjustments can be seen by those applications.

What you want to happen, won't.

As was already mentioned, you can do exactly what you want, just not in the way you want to do it.

Export you movie file as an image sequence. Open photoshop and open the image sequence. Create an action that applies the filters and anything else you would like to do. Use the automate command in the file menu, selectr the action you just created and it will apply it to every frame in your sequence. You can then open a fram from your sequence in quicktime and export it back into a video format for FCP4, import it into FCP4, sync the audio and your done. Depending on your machine, the length of the clip, and what kind of filters your applying, the automate process can take a bit but you can do some pretty cool things.