I have some shots that I need to manipulate in photoshop to keep continuity.  Is there an easy way to do this?  Or do I just have to save each frame as an image in avid, edit them in photoshop, then save each frame and reimport into avid?  If so is there a specific file type/size I need to use to keep everything looking consistant?  I'm working with 720p HD video.

Tommy, this really is doing this the hard way!  If you don't have AE, which has equivalents to all of the standard Photoshop filters you can set up the operation you want to do as a Photoshop action.  This is the wrong place to go into details, but you will find a full description of how to record and play back actions in the Photoshop on-line help.

Export the footage from Avid as a psd sequence at native resolution, with RGB levels.  By using RGB levels you will minimise the risk of producing illegal video levels when you process the image in Photoshop.  Save this in its own unique folder.  On a representative frame record an action containing the photoshop operations that you wish to perform.  When you've finished the record close the frame you've worked on, but don't save it.

Now apply the recorded action to the folder where you stored your psd sequence.  Close Photoshop and open Avid.  Import the psd sequence into Avid, ensuring that you set your levels to RGB in the import dialogue.

That will give you the result that you want.

Just to add to jwrl's thoughts - you may be surprised what can be done inside Avid using the Paint effect (in the image category).

Photoshop CS3 Extended can load a video clip as a series of frames that show up as an AE-like timeline.  You can then process individiual frames, sequences of frames, or the entire sequence in a fashion similar to AE.  However, this does not have the same power and ease of use as AE or even Avid FX / Boris.  Depending on what it is you are trying to do, it may be way easier to do it with FX directly in MC, or with Boris, or AE.

Just to through another iron in the fire...

There's also this beta software you might consider

http://www.videotoolshed.com/?page=products&pID=3

jwrl:

Now apply the recorded action to the folder where you stored your psd sequence.

How does one do this?

Thanks

When you play back a pre-recorded action you are given the option to either operate on a file or on the folder containing the file(s).  When you operate on a folder Photoshop will open each file in that folder in turn, execute the action, and close and save it back into the folder.

jwrl:

When you play back a pre-recorded action you are given the option to either operate on a file or on the folder containing the file(s). 

Very nice . . .Thank  you!

This is the what I currently have.

I need the hand exiting the frame and the reaction in the same shot.  I figured I could easily superimpose the hand into the reaction shot in photoshop, but I have no idea if Avid even has any tools that would allow such a thing.

 duplicate the reaction shot and slip the arm to the right timing on vt2 (over vt1, original shot), put the animatte (key in effects pallet) effect on vt2 and draw around the arm with the mask tool, keyframe the mask to correct position over time to animate it to create desired effect.

see my attachment for a quick and dirty try at this.

I used PIP on the bottom track to line both the shots up and then used Animate to mask out the arm. I did this in about 5 minutes. It's very rough, but with a little more work (especially on the shadow) this could look really good. You're lucky because it's a quick move, so you won't spend hours working on it.