 Videoguys' Hands-On Review
Adobe Photoshop CS2 - Upgraded for Video Editors
Adobe Photoshop CS2 is a major upgrade to the popular digital image editing and creation software. As a Photoshop user I thought it was quite telling to see this product announced last April at NAB, a trade show for videographers & producers from the National Association of Broadcasters. It's no secret that Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard for color correcting, processing & formatting still images, but with every new version it is also becoming an even more essential tool for video editors. Adobe Photoshop CS2 adds many new features for helping you create professional video productions with photo montages, graphic overlays, DVD menus and more.
 HDV Support
The overwhelming "buzz" at this year's NAB surrounded the new HDV technology with camcorders from Sony, JVC and Panasonic and HDV Support announced in some form for all major video editing systems. But, did you know that Adobe Photoshop CS2 also added HDV support? If you create a new file and choose from the Preset file sizes you will now see three new formats designed for HDV production. With just one click you can format a photo in HDV 1280x720, 1440x1080 or 1920x1080, all with guides, for use with your native HDV footage. In all honesty, only the 1440x1080 format is completely new since the other two sizes were included in the previous version of Photoshop CS but were labeled as HDTV as the standard resolutions for 720p and 1080i HD video. The 1440x1080 resolution is unique to the HDV spec and the combination of this reduced frame size combined with MPEG compression results in more manageable video files while maintaining exceptional video quality. This preset is especially useful if you are using a new Sony HDR-FX1 HDV camcorder with a native HDV editing solution like the Canopus Edius NX for HDV. When you want to incorporate a still image into your HDV production just go to Photoshop's File > New > Preset and choose the HDV 1440x1080 preset to create a new file. Now you can open the photo you need to use, copy and paste it into your video template, resize it to fit the frame and Voila!, you now have a made-for-HDV image.
Preview to TV
What better way to tell how your photograph is going to look on video than to output it to a video monitor? Adobe Photoshop CS2 allows you to preview your video out through a standard IEEE-1394 FireWire port for real-time preview of your images. File > Export > Video Preview > opens up a dialog box that allows you to select your device setting These settings include Standard or wide screen and Output options including scaling and placement of your image on the TV monitor: Center, Crop to 4:3, Letterbox, and Crop to Letterbox. If you really want to take maximum advantage of this new feature you'll want a digital to analog media converter to convert the FireWire output to Composite, S-Video or Component video to connect directly to the monitor intended for video playback. I use the ADS PYRO AV Link because it is the most affordable media converter available with Component video output.
This allows me to preview images formatted for widescreen videos on my Plasma TV for the most realistic representation. The AVLink API-555 is also a good recommendation for your Photoshop peers who have not ventured into video editing yet because it includes a copy of Adobe Premiere Elements software - Adobe's entry-level video editing solution that should be enough to spark their interest. And, when they're ready to upgrade, they'll already have the best image editing software available in Adobe Photoshop CS2, a universal input/output solution with the AV Link and full support for whichever ediing software they choose including Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid Xpress Pro, Sony Vegas, Pinnacle Liquid Edition, Canopus Edius and more.
Smart Objects
I have used Sonic's DVD authoring software as well as Adobe's Encore DVD and one of the best features for me has been the ability to create my DVD menus and buttons in Photoshop and have Encore DVD recognize the layers as buttons. This makes it super-fast and easy to set-up my disc's navigation. Now, Smart Objects gives you or your graphic designers even more creative freedom by allowing you to resize, rotate or warp raster and vector graphics without affecting their resolution. This means you can create a button in Adobe Illustrator CS 2 and edit it in Adobe Photoshop CS2 while maintaining the high-resolution vector data. This is also extremely useful for creating high-quality 'bugs,' especially for clients who provide vector graphics for logos, package designs, etc.
Customizable Workspace
 I'll admit it, I'm a sucker for customization! Photoshop has allowed you to move your palettes and save your workspace so it will have the same look every time you open the program. It has also allowed you to change keyboard shortcuts to ones you are most likely to remember. But now, it also allows you to highlight menu items and commonly used tools. This is an extremely helpful feature for the videoographer who may only use Photoshop as a tool to complement his productions but is not familiar with (or very interested in) all that the program has to offer. In this screen shot you will see that I highlighted the Video Preview item in the Export menu because I personally find it more difficult to find the menu items I need quickly when they are nested in cascading menus like this one.
Overview of other New & Upgraded Tools
Adobe Photoshop CS2 is a significant upgrade well deserving of the full version number as opposed to a .dot revision. As such, there are many new and upgraded features that are more general and will serve to benefit every Photoshop user including the video producer. These include:
 Vanishing Point Tool - Have you heard the old adage "Sex Sells?" If so, then you know exactly what I mean when I tell you that Vanishing Point is the sexiest new features of this program and the one that you are sure to hear about the most. Vanishing Point allows you to select the four corners of an object shown in perspective and the clone, paint or paste objects into the resulting grid for Photoshop to automatically convert to that same perspective. This may be a fun tool for creating title and credit screens and/or DVD menus. One example I've seen is the opening sequence to HBO's new series Entourage where the actor's names are written on billboards & store signs. This would be a very simple effect to imitate in your own productions thanks to Vanishing point.
 Adobe Bridge - This is a stand-alone application that replaces Photoshop's built-in file browser application. Adobe Bridge allows you to go through hundreds of photos to find the ones you need, label and resize for use in your photo montages or DVD menu screens or chapter point thumbnails.
32-bit High-Dynamic Range support - a truly professional feature designed for animators and video compositing allowing you to compile images to create one image with the deepest shadows and brightest highlights.
Multiple Layer Control & Smart Guides - I am grouping these two enhancements together because, once again, they are invaluable in creating high-quality DVD menus. Smart guides help you quickly align navigation buttons and multiple layer control would then allow you to move them together without the need to realign every time you tweak your overall design.
There are few software programs that I look forward to upgrading as much as Adobe Photoshop! With each new release Adobe has added more powerful tools in a more organized and logical interface. And, they continue to recognize the convergence of digital photography, videography and web design and they make sure they give each of you the professional tools you need. Currently Adobe Photoshop CS2 is available as a stand alone program, and upgrade from previous Photoshop versions, as part of the Adobe Creative Suite Standard or Premium, or, as part of the Adobe Creative Suite Production Studio.
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Videoguys Top 10
Tech Tips Using
Photoshop CS
for Digital Video
1. Open a new Photoshop file using a video template such as NTSC DV 720x480 and copy & paste your image to this template so Photoshop will automatically convert to non-square pixels for video.
2. Be sure to use template guides for safe action and safe title areas.
3. Prevent flicker. Images with thin, sharp lines such as the side of a building may flicker in video. Solve this quickly and easily by applying a motion blur of just 1 or 2 pixels. Drawn images such as lines or boxes will have a sharp edge that may also jitter. Use a Gaussian blur on these hard edges to prevent these problems.
4. Know your colors! Work in RGB color mode with a range between 16 - 235. The full black or white you use for print will not work well on video and this full-broadcast range will easily translate into any editing system including the 601 levels in Avid Xpress.
5. Save your images as TGA to preserve any transparencies/alpha channels.
6. If your titles are going to appear over moving video it may be impossible to find a color that is always readable and still looks good. For example, if you type in black and a person wearing a navy blue shirt walks across the screen the black may not be visible. To prevent this, always use a contrasting color to edge your type. This may be a stroke, outer glow, shadow or some combination of them all to guarantee visibility
7. When titling always set anti-aliasing. "None" may cause jagged edges and jitter while "smooth" or "sharp" will significantly improve the quality.
8. Use your layers. The Layers palette is a powerful tool that allows you to organize your work, make changes quickly and affect only the elements you want. More advanced projects may include layers, layer sets or layer sets within sets (this is a new feature of Adobe Photoshop CS).
9. Use your history palette. In the Edit>Preferences menu you can set the number of actions to store in the history palette. Beginners should set this number higher, but more advanced users will lower it to get better performance. I set my history levels to 20 and have still had excellent performance on most laptops & desktop computers.
10. Practice, practice, practice. Invest in training materials for Photoshop CS or any other software you use regularly and refer to them often. I have more than 10 years experience with photoshop and more than 5 editing and I am still learning new tricks.
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