Photoshop for Video

Old habits die hard. Using Photoshop to makes something look better is second nature. I've spent my entire career using it to fix photography, create special effects and illustrations, and even animate web graphics. But editing high definition video just seemed like something you should be doing with expensive high-end software and hardware systems.

Managing motion in Photoshop is nothing new - I've created my share of animated GIFS using simple animation frames. I've even assembled sequential jpegs to create movie clips.

But video? It required a paradigm shift, or at least that's what had to happen in my head before I thought that Photoshop could be a serious production tool in a high definition video workflow. But I thought I would try it, and this was my first result.

Bicycle Dolly - - Canon 5D Mark II from Bryan Keith Nixon on Vimeo.

It can only be done with Photoshop CS3 or CS4 Extended, which is an upgrade from the standard product. When you upgrade to Extended, you get a few things, but mainly, the ability to import any Quicktime movie as a video layer. It looks like any other layer, except there's a little filmstrip icon on it. The video layer is then represented in the video timeline, which is different than the frame timeline I was familiar with.

The easiest way I've found to begin is to start within Photoshop - just open a Quicktime movie from the file menu. It automatically places your movie on a video layer. Next, convert to smart object. Then go to town. You can add color correction layers, gradient blends, smart filters, textures, etc. For the most part, the results will be predictable across the entire video. Some of them can be varied over time if you learn how to manage the timeline. Then just export your movie with the compression settings of your choice.

You may wonder if the process is destructive. It's not. Photoshop doesn't harm a pixel.

I've simplified this a bit, but it's not that complicated. I've had a few Vimeo friends ask me to do a tutorial, and I may take the time to put something together soon. But I'm not an expert yet. I'm just a creature of habit, who hasn't had a lot of success learning how to use Final Cut and Color, or other traditional tools for improving video. With the advent of DSLR's capable of capturing beautiful HD, a lot of still photographers are starting to dabble in video. Maybe Photoshop is the answer for them, too.

Shot using a Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 50mm 1.8 with polarizer, mounted to an old Raleigh bicycle.