Alpha channel in videos

Hi,
i would like to use an video alpha channel. VP6 files with alpha channel are not displayed in a javafx applet. Is there any other format which supports alpha channels in javafx? The corresponding MediaView has compositable == true.
Thanks
Thomas

What else does Adobe "as always" do differently?
I know Adobe Photoshop is very different to FCP Photoshop
FCP7 is very different to PPRO also . eg. PPRO is loved and supported by ADOBE ....and FCP 7 is an abandoned orphan courtesy of Apple
Just winding you up IvanThe ConvertEditor.

Similar Messages

Alpha channel video makes for a larger-than-target bitrate flv

I'm looking for some information regarding the final bitrate of alpha channel encoded video. We are producing transparent flvs. When targeting a number, say 200kbps, in Adobe Media Encoder, the final encoded flvs has a bitrate of sometimes as high as 350kbps or 400kbps. And that's just the video.
When I encode without the alpha channel with final flv video bitrate is basically exactly what I targeted.
I'm assuming GSpot and MediaInfo to look at the final flvs.
Why doesn't Media Encoder produce and flv at the target bitrate? Why the higher bitrate? Is there a way to set the final target for an flv? Is there better software?
Thanks,

Since the lounge is for non-technical discussions, you need to start at
http://forums.adobe.com/community/premiere and select the forum for the product you are using
I will GUESS you are using some flavor of Premiere Pro, so that is most likely where you should post

Better Alpha channel handling

I've asked for this a lot: alpha channel saving with PS is terrible, and could use an update. And today, I was embarrassed by a bug that caused our game engine to perform poorly as a result of the way Photoshop handles the alpha channel.
The bug: make a 1024x1024 canvas, give it an opaque alpha channel (100% white, every pixel), then Image Size it down to something smaller, like 128x128. Now look at your alpha channel: grey pixels all along the border. ARRGGGHHH!!!1!1! It interpolated, I'm sure, using black alpha outside the canvas that doesn't actually exist, changing, in a powerful, fundamental way, the nature of the alpha channel. Video cards care about this stuff: 99.9% opaque is not 100% opaque. This is terrible.
The request: That PS intelligently offer better defaults when saving an image with an alpha. Right now, it offers, "What was the last bit depth you saved an image to?" Regardless of the fact that the previous image may have no relationship to the following image being saved, the default offering is always "what I did last time". This enables very easy pruning of alpha channels that should be there, or adding opaque alpha channels that shouldn't be there, bloating the file size.
I'd like PS to determine if an alpha channel is present, and base its default choice on that. If one is present, default to 32-bits. If an alpha channel si not present, default to 24-bits. That easy.
If multiple alpha channels are present, I'd like a dropdown menu to pick which one I want. Right now, if you save a PSD with multiple alpha channels to a 32-bit TGA, it throws all alpha channels away, and saves the image with a solidly opaque alpha channel, the choice no one asked for.
For texture work, or works where the graphics card is the destination, not the printed page, this cavalier handling of alpha channels is definitely not sustainable.
I'd love to never have to ask for this again.

Generally speaking the resize of an image on a layer in which the canvas is exactly the size of the data will result in transparency peeking in around the edge (i.e., I'm agreeing with you here, just using Photoshop terms). I've always thought this was kind of poorly thought-out too. As you say, the algorithm must default to using 0 vs., say, replicating (or "clamping") to the alpha of the pixels right on the edge.
I suppose theoretically, the thinking is that if you were to EXPAND the canvas, the area around the image would be transparent anyway, and a subsequent resampling would then have the same result as the above.
Knowing this, one way to work around the problem would be to create a slightly larger image, then Canvas Size it down to your intended resolution. That way there's layer data beyond the edges with which the resizing algorithm can work. I realize that's probably not a practical solution in general, but a trick to keep up your sleeve if you really do need that 128 x 128 image with alpha solid to the edge.
-Noel

Using video with alpha channel

I purchased a video clip from istock, the video clip is an .mov and has a alpha channel included. The video clip is santa clause over a black background and tagged at the end is a white solid of the video (I assume this is the alpha channel) How do I use the alpha channel to help key out the vidoe clip that I need. here is a link to the actual video clip I purchased. http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-video-11011749-santa-claus-with-alpha-channel-ntsc.php
Thanks Ja

As Szalam said, the b/w image can be used as a luma matte.
Also check if the actual piece of footage has an embedded alpha channel, i.e when you import it AE should know there is an alpha channel and let you know in the top of the project window when you select the element (or "interpret footage").
Alternatively just drag the footage to a comp and enable the checkerboard background to see if there is transparency. These three approaches are the same...just different ways of finding out about the alpha channel.

Alpha channel videos problem on AIR 3.8 beta Android

Hi, I've found a strange behavior on the beta 3.8 SDK. When I load and play a FLV video with alpha channel it becomes completely black, but if I re-load it, it shows well. This does not happen on applications created with the release, 3.7 version of the SDK.

I think I am encountering the same issue with Air 3.8. Although I am not using the alpha channel and the video is a quicktime (.mov),
the video appears black (I can hear the audio playing).
I cannot switch back to 3.7 because that gave a error uploading the apk to the new google play console because of signing issues,
the upload issues were fixed in 3.8.

Alpha channel basics from Canon 7D video

Maybe I'm missing something basic here, as I am pretty new to messing with alpha layers/channels on VIDEO. I otherwise have a pretty good understanding of alpha when it comes to animations, photos, etc.ffects
I am trying to make the black in a video of some flames into an alpha layer so I can use them as particles in After Effects.
( like in this video http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorial/green_smoke/ )
I understand the codec/format restrictions for alpha channels, but the problem is I can't seem to get the black to come out as an alpha layer at all.
I've tried Quicktime with the None codec and FLV and the other formats that are supposed to support alpha channels.
I THINK what's wrong is that the format that the Canon shoots in doesn't have an alpha channel natively so exporting the video into different formats is not having an effect. If this is the case, how does one go about making the black parts of a video into an alpha channel.
I know there are ways to make green into an alpha channel (greenscreening). I can't for the life of me figure out how to get premier OR aftereffects to recognize the straight black as an alpha layer though.
I've looked at some 30 tutorials trying to figure this out, but it would appear I am incapable of asking the right question to get the answer I want.
There's the export settings.
Perhaps someone can point out my gross missunderstanding of what I'm trying to do, or otherwise set me on the right track.
Below is a clip from within aftereffects... the arrow shows that the clip SHOULD have alpha properties... i think, but when I turn off the alpha channel EVERYTHING dissapears.
Do I need to d something in aftereffects? I dunno, I'm lost.
If someone thinks they can help I am willing to make a youtube video showing what I'm doing.

awesome... exactly what I was looking for
you'd think when spending an hour or more asking the question "how do you add an alpha channel to a video" this would think this would come up
having a weird issue now with it rendering a box in the lower right hand corner though... it bugs me that I don't know why it's there... but i'll just crop it out
again... thank you!

How to export a video with an alpha channel that can be switched off

Hi!
I'm stuck with something that I think might have a simple solution:
I need my video to have an alpha channel while still keeping all the RGB information in place too. This is for Syntheyes, which can take the alpha channel for a video and use it as a garbage matte while tracking.
The problem is that if I draw a mask around my video and then export as a PNG (with alpha), the RGB information seems to be gone even when I choose to ignore the alpha channel. I know how to edit the alpha channel in Photoshop while still keeping the RGB elements untouched, but how should I do that in AE?
Any help will be appreciated!

Okay I will answer my own question:
This worked as soon as I did a proper export as a PNG image sequence. I did my tests with only single frames by using the "save frame as file" -function, which did not work properly (the rbg information was gone).
So the simple solution to this question was:
Draw a mask on the video layer and export with alpha. The RGB will be there, even though the mask hides it in AE.

Video with alpha channel causing frame size distortion

I have a lower-third which I built in AE. The content only occupies about 2/3 the width of the frame however I made sure I exported it at the full frame size as the rest of the video in my Premiere project. Also, I exported it as a quicktime movie with PNG settings to incl. the alpha channel.
When I import it into Premiere CS4, I drop it in on the Video 2 layer over Video 1 which is the main VT and in the preview, it all seems to be appearing as you'd expect. If I hit enter to start rendering, when it finishes I find that the lower third has been stretched the full width of the frame and additionally, Video 1 has been stretched too. I know there's an option in Preferences > General to default everything to the frame size of the sequence but having that tickbox on or off doesn't make any difference.
Does anyone have any ideas what's causing it?

Windows. Alas neither of those options worked. In the end, it was terribly convoluted but I had to export the footage from Premiere without a graphics, then import the video into After Effects and layer my comp over it - then export the final version from AE rather than Premiere. It seemed a very back-to-front way of doing things but if it works...

Alpha Channel Not Showing On Video Clips

I have imported several video clips that I know have Alpha Channels, but when I import them into the timeline/sequence, the ALPHA Channel is appearing as a black background. What am I doing wrong or what setting should I check??

There was a known issue that I noticed over a year ago that was discussed in this thread:
http://forums.adobe.com/message/4831495#4831495
AFAIK it was never solved, but I haven't updated to the latest version of Premiere because of all of the bugs (cough cough)
Gerry

Alpha channel in initial video

whether i am using premier or final cut, exactly how would i
encode and save an alpha channel (to use in flash) in my video
before i import the video into the flash video encoder. what
setting(s) do i use in these programs? i am shooting the video with
a green screen background. thank you.

oh - well, ultimately you are asking about a feature in a
flash forum that flash doesn't support -
so you may not get too many responses (as you may yhave
noticed). I would then google for "Chroma
Key" to find some relevant information about the process - i
can assure programs you mention support
Chroma Keying out colors - just what are you trying to learn?
All the ins and outs? or if they
support the feature?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--> Adobe Certified Expert
--> www.mudbubble.com
--> www.keyframer.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
monstermash wrote:
> that might actually be my first choice, if i had those
programs. i'm working on a project plan and consulting a colleague.
i just want to understand.

Alpha Channel Video Preloader

We are creating a project that includes a number of alpha channel videos of the course narrator and other characters. Playback works well however, before each video plays, there is a brief "loading" message and then the video pops onto the screen and plays.
I understand the need for the pre-loader, however, I am hoping there is a way to add a "poster frame" to avoid the jarring impact of a person suddenly appearing over a realistic background. A little too much like a magic trick.
We would like to try a poster frame similar to the commonly used "Flash Media Playback" player provided by adobe for flash video on websites found here http://www.adobe.com/products/flashmediaplayback/index.html
Flash media playback allow the use of a jpg file that loads immediately before the video buffers.
Alternatively, are there any other "tricks" to make it appear that the video is present on the screen before it begins to play?
Appreciate any ideas on this.
Thanks
Jeff

Probably because you're not actually encoding "nothing" when creating transparency. An alpha channel is an additional 8-bit grayscale channel, and it probably can't or isn't compressed as much as the RGB channels, or else the transparency would not be clean. The only way to decrease the file size is to lower the total bitrate, which will subsequently have an impact on the quality of the "visible" video.

Video Converter with Alpha Channel support

Looking for a video converter (.mov to .flv) that supports alpha channels

The APNG app is available for free in the app store, you can use it to download a video in APNG format on the iPad. You would need to make the video with an alpha channel on the desktop, but then just type of URL into the URL at the top of the app and it should download and play. There is already support in the app for changing the background color that appears behind the video.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/apng/id447928057
If you are making a custom iOS app, then have a look at the AVAnimator library, it is what the APNG app was made with:
http://www.modejong.com/AVAnimator/

Motion tile a video with an alpha channel

Hi!
I'm trying to use the motion tile effect to fill transparent edges that are the result of stabilization with the prodad mercalli plugin. The problem is however that because the stabilization hasn't been done using keyframe movement in AE, it sees the transparent edges as part of the frame and applies the motion tile so that the transparent areas stay intact. In other words the motion tile effect doesn't see that the image is moving around because only the alpha channel is changing.
Is there any smart ways to solve this problem in AE so that I can apply the motion tile effect to get rid of the alpha transparency around the edges of the stabilized footage?
Any help will be appreciated!

Hi and thank you for helping out!
Unfortunately I didn't get this to work with shift channels. I'm not sure what you meant by separating the components? I put shift channels on the videoclip and told it to use alpha from the video of the alpha.
Actually I'm a bit confused on why shift channels should help. The way I see it, the problem is that the "motion tile" effect is seeing the "whole" pixel dimension of the video that also includes the alpha channel and is applying itself to the whole frame instead of just the opaque area (the actual stabilized video). Because of that the motion tile effect is tiling the whole frame, including the alpha of it which leaves transparent gaps between the two tiles.
Maybe there was a miscommunication between us or should I just try the shift channels effect again? If that's the case, then could you explain what you mean by separating components?
Thank you very much!

How can I get an AIR application to a video output via DeckLink card with alpha channel?

Hi there!
Anybody knows how to get an AIR application to a video output via DeckLink card with alpha channel?
The reason is because we want to develope tv show games with air.
Thanks.

See if these have iMac Nvidia drivers:
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/drivers/

Captivate and Alpha channel video insertion black background

I have been trying in vain to insert a green screen video into a Captivate presentation. I used Serif MovieMaker5 to export the video as a ".mov" with the chroma key as a transparency. It works great if I want to overlay the .mov format file over another video in other SW platforms, but when I run it through the "Adobe Media Encoder" (AME), the background ends up black. Importing it into Captivate just ends up with a black box containing the subject of the video on top of the slide.
I think I've tried every setting in the AME with no luck.
I've seen this problem elswhere on Adobe forums, but I haven't seen a solution. Why the black background after encoding with the AME, and is there a setting I have missed? Do I need to start from a different format...say .AVI, but the output doesn't give me an option for a transparent or alpha output. The problem seens to be with the AME, but I don't know for sure.
Any ideas? I'm using Captivate 5 and the Serif, MovieMaker 5 editing SW. The output seems to work everywhere in the ".mov" format, but not when converted to .f4v by the AME

I actually solved the problem by trying to use the Adobe Media Encoder (AME) on CS3. CS3 only codes in ".flv." It worked fine! I also noticed in CS3 that there was a check box for including an "alpha channel." I could not find one in AME CS5, but there was an "exclude Alpha" box. So I looked, and I see that the AME CS5 was exporting the file as ".f4V." For some reason, my installation defaults to .f4v, and it never occured to me to change to a ".FLV" output. When I did, a box to "include Alpha" appeared, and the video works just fine.
One of the issues was that the format was listed as "FLV/F4V" on the "Source" screen. I just assumed that, since FLV was first, that would be the default output. I never looked at the suffix of the converted file. Shame on me! I was also surprised that the default was F4V, since FLV is more common, and F4V is supposed to be an improved version.
CP GURU Wrote: I don't know "Serif MoveMaker", but isn't it possible to export to FLV / F4V directly instead of .mov? I normally use Adobe Premier or Adobe After Effects and here I can export an FLV/F4V with an alpha channel that works well in Captivate.
Unfortunately, the Serif MovieMaker SW does not output to "Flash." It's one of the better of the "inexpensive" video editing SW offerings. Since I am only making short training courses, quality isn't a big concern. The big thing is that it be easy, and have chroma key capabilities. It is, and does, and I'm happy with it. I would love to have "Adobe After Effects" (AAE), but the cost can't be justified. I am seriously thinking about a cloud subscription, but the eLearning suite is not included, and I'd rather spend my limited budget on upgrading to eLearning CS6.
Thanks for everyones help!!!!!!!!!!
Bob

Alpha channel in videos

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