Apple Final Cut Pro 5 - Manual (Page 1157)

370 Part II Project Interchange
The sequence Final Cut Pro creates has the same number of layers as there are in the
imported file. The background layer appears in track V1 and each consecutive layer is in
the same order as the original Photoshop file. If you change the order of the video
tracks, the layering order changes. If the background in the Photoshop file is
transparent, then the background of the new sequence is transparent as well and
defaults to black.
Layer opacity settings, layer modes, and visibility are preserved, but layer masks are not.
If a Photoshop layer mode has no corresponding compositing mode in Final Cut Pro,
that layer mode is ignored.
The background layer
becomes a clip in track V1,
with other layers on the
tracks above.
A Photoshop file is a
sequence with its own
tab in the Timeline.
Don’t Add or Delete Layers From an Imported Photoshop File
Final Cut Pro keeps track of each imported Photoshop layer according to its position
relative to the bottom layer. While editing a layered Photoshop file that’s already been
imported into Final Cut Pro, it’s not a good idea, under any circumstances, to:
 Add additional layers
If you add a layer, any layer pushed above the topmost layer that was imported
into your Final Cut Pro project is ignored when you go back to Final Cut Pro.
 Delete layers
Deleting previously imported layers can have even more unexpected results. If you
must add or remove a layer from a previously imported Photoshop file, do this in
Photoshop, and then reimport the file into Final Cut Pro. For additional information
about importing layered Photoshop files, see Volume I, Chapter 22, “Importing
Media Files Into Your Project.”