photoshop vs illustrator + awesome resource

[Mortimer]

Two parts to this:

First, I do my graphics in Photoshop and animate them in AE. Movie titles, logo's etc.

Should I be doing this in Illustrator instead? Haven't really learned it yet, but I know its vector based - if I make my graphics 300dpi in photoshop am I usually covered?

Pro's and cons to using psd in AE instead of illustrator?

Second part to this:

www.aenhancers.com

great resource for AE users, especially this:

http://www.aenhancers.com/viewtopic.php?t=40

Thanks guys!

[bigbossbmb]

Photoshop is fine if you're not scaling the image larger in AE... There are presets in PS for different types of frame size and pixel aspect. If you need to really scale something larger in AE, then you might want to use Illustrator.

[Mortimer]

So say I have created my image x by x and it takes up half the screen when the image is scaled at 100%. I decide to spin it a bit then have it come towards the screen, which results in scaling over 100%. Since AI is vector based I will have no problems with pixelation (sp?) as it exceeds 100% but in Photoshop files I can expect distortion of the pixels?

[kai]

I do 99% of my work for AE in photoshop. AE won't handle 300dpi files though, so you have to create them all at 72dpi/rgb. Just plan accordingly in advance for what you want to do with the art inside AE. If you're planning a big move towards the camera, just make it bigger in PS.

Or, do it in illustrator, but it adds a tiny bit to your processing load because it has to rasterize it. Not really noticable though.

[Mortimer]

Thanks Kai - great tips there.

Have you used any of the resources on www.aenhancer.com before?

[oneinfiniteloop]

I think the decision to use AE vs PS is also an aesthetic one, vectors usually have a noticeably different look than bitmap images, but planning with either format makes all the diff like Kai said.

[Mortimer]

Hey One,

Could you explain a bit more by what you mean in aesthetics and why one would prefer PS over AI ?

[oneinfiniteloop]

Vectors and bitmap both have limitations and advantages...vectors can scale as much as you want and stay perfectly clean and crisp, whereas bitmaps will pixelize at a certain point. Bitmap images can have a wider range of tonal gradation, and with vectors you generally have less range to work with, so to speak.

The jellyfish and other illustrations in this piece were done in Illustrator, notice the clean lines, solid blocks of color, etc...

http://www.exopolis.com/home/popup/mov.php?id=cove&type=pf

This one was done with bitmap images, 3d and photoshop I'm sure, notice the soft shadows, smooth grad's from light to dark, texture, etc...

http://huntergatherer.net/amp/amp.html

Both are good pieces, but they are good examples of the diff between the styles of vectors vs bitmap.

[kai]

Excellent examples & explanation.

[Mortimer]

Thanks for the examples ONE - this made my life a lot easier!!

I hope everyone reading this thread checks out the examples as well, great peices of work!