Photoshop files in After Effects CS4 not rendering layer styles

[brady_b]

Greetings,

I am fairly new to After Effects CS4 and have run into some trouble working with Photoshop files imported into my comp.

What I am trying to do is create a simple animation for an ad banner that my employer has asked for. The animation is done, however, I wish to export the finished product as an SWF to be embedded in multiple websites.

During the actual building process the files appear as they should, with layer styles which I have applied to text and other elements in Photoshop. When exported to SWF and previewed, the layer styles do not appear, instead just the actual color of the shapes, text, etc.

Is there a setting somewhere in AE that needs to be modified before I export so all my Photoshop files render correctly with applied layer styles?

And I know what some of you may be thinking: "why don't you use Flash for animated banners, or even Photoshop for animated GIF's". To answer, I do not know a thing about Flash and don't have time to learn right now. I am more comfortable with AE and have had success exporting great looking SWF banners from within. Besides, my boss doesn't want the same ole animated GIF and would like something more "attractive".

Thanks for your help and consideration.

-B

[brady_b]

Just for shitsngiggles, I re-imported my PS file into AE and noticed there is a option in the dialog to "merge layer styles into footage". I will try that and see what happens...

[brady_b]

Yes, that worked. So when you import PS files with layer styles you must choose the option "merge layer styles into footage" to keep the layer styles when the final project is rendered.

Next time I will do just a little more tweaking before I post any inquiries.

Thanks.