Importing Photoshop layers

Please use this part to report bugs & errors, ask questions & "How to..."
Post Reply
User avatar
David_Fine
Posts: 557
Joined: 29 Aug 2014, 16:39

Importing Photoshop layers

Post by David_Fine »

So I see that I have to change my Photoshop file from 16 bit to 8 bit in order to import them into TVPaint with layers. Two questions: Does changing them to 8 bit compromise the image quality in any appreciable way? Would it be better to save each layer as a separate file and then manually load each layer? Why doesn't TVPaint load 16 bit?
David Fine
iMac late 2014 3.5 GHz, 32GB RAM
Snowden Fine Animation Inc.
Vancouver, Canada
User avatar
slowtiger
Posts: 2889
Joined: 08 May 2008, 21:10
Location: berlin, germany
Contact:

Re: Importing Photoshop layers

Post by slowtiger »

Because TVP only works with 8bit per colour channel.

And IMHO this is enough.
1. You can't see a difference between an image done in 16bit converted to 8bit with your naked eye anyway.
2. You don't have a monitor which is calibrated for 16bit, so it can't display enough different shades anyway.
3. The 16bit are mostly a reserve for image calculating - in the end it's 8bit (print), 10bit (some TV) or 12bit (DCP) at most anyway.
4. Animated characters are never coloured with a subtlety which needs 16bits for correct representation.
5. Only in nearly black and nearly white parts of an image the 16bit really matter, and this is the job of a compositing program anyway.
6. If you can't maintain the 16bit resolution throughout all of your workflow, there's no use to start with it.

(I could provide a more detailed explanation, buut will spare you that, as long as nobody asks for it.)
TVP 10.0.18 and 11.0 MacPro Quadcore 3GHz 16GB OS 10.6.8 Quicktime 7.6.6
TVP 11.0 and 11.7 MacPro 12core 3GHz 32GB OS 10.11 Quicktime 10.7.3
TVP 11.7 Mac Mini M2pro 32GB OS 13.5
User avatar
David_Fine
Posts: 557
Joined: 29 Aug 2014, 16:39

Re: Importing Photoshop layers

Post by David_Fine »

This is what I was interested to know, the real world application of 8 or 16 bit. Thanks.
David Fine
iMac late 2014 3.5 GHz, 32GB RAM
Snowden Fine Animation Inc.
Vancouver, Canada
User avatar
schwarzgrau
Posts: 1238
Joined: 23 Jan 2012, 22:08
Location: Offenbach / Germany
Contact:

Re: Importing Photoshop layers

Post by schwarzgrau »

In some cases 16bit matters: Probably not for flat color, but if you got a pretty subtle gradient for example, you're getting banding pretty fast.
Image
(pretty extreme example, but you get the idea, what I'm talking about)
Windows 11 22H2 / TVP 11.7.0 PRO WIBU / Cintiq 22HD
Windows 11 22H2 / TVP 11.7.0 PRO WIBU / Mobile Studio Pro 16" (2019)
Android 13 / TVP 11.7.0 / Galaxy Tab 7 FE
INSTAGRAM
User avatar
slowtiger
Posts: 2889
Joined: 08 May 2008, 21:10
Location: berlin, germany
Contact:

Re: Importing Photoshop layers

Post by slowtiger »

Ha - you may tweak and optimize your gradient as much as you will, but in the end it will look only as good as the screening format permits - digital TV uses heavy compression (different for different TV channels), so you will not even get nice clean banding but ugly blocky compression artefacts.

But of course you're right, flat gradients look better in greater bit depth. Though in real world one would add a certain amount of noise or grain instead.
TVP 10.0.18 and 11.0 MacPro Quadcore 3GHz 16GB OS 10.6.8 Quicktime 7.6.6
TVP 11.0 and 11.7 MacPro 12core 3GHz 32GB OS 10.11 Quicktime 10.7.3
TVP 11.7 Mac Mini M2pro 32GB OS 13.5
User avatar
schwarzgrau
Posts: 1238
Joined: 23 Jan 2012, 22:08
Location: Offenbach / Germany
Contact:

Re: Importing Photoshop layers

Post by schwarzgrau »

Yea, the final format is usually 8bit (in DCP cases 12bit), but if I use subtle gradients I tend to use 16bit while working on it and put some slight grain or noise on top of the whole film before I convert it to 8bit. So there are some cases where 16bit makes sense, but they're pretty rare, that's right.
Windows 11 22H2 / TVP 11.7.0 PRO WIBU / Cintiq 22HD
Windows 11 22H2 / TVP 11.7.0 PRO WIBU / Mobile Studio Pro 16" (2019)
Android 13 / TVP 11.7.0 / Galaxy Tab 7 FE
INSTAGRAM
User avatar
slowtiger
Posts: 2889
Joined: 08 May 2008, 21:10
Location: berlin, germany
Contact:

Re: Importing Photoshop layers

Post by slowtiger »

Even if it's just 1 scene asking for 16bit, it still doesn't make much sense if the following steps in the pipeline don't recognize it. Is my editing software up to the task? I just researched a bit and found that Final Cut X can import images up to 16bit, and it's possible to export 16bit from there. (See https://images.apple.com/final-cut-pro/ ... _Gamut.pdf for some workflow tips, especially how to set up FC first.)
TVP 10.0.18 and 11.0 MacPro Quadcore 3GHz 16GB OS 10.6.8 Quicktime 7.6.6
TVP 11.0 and 11.7 MacPro 12core 3GHz 32GB OS 10.11 Quicktime 10.7.3
TVP 11.7 Mac Mini M2pro 32GB OS 13.5
Post Reply