Alpha Channel Problem from After Effects into FCP

Hello
Using After Effects I've masked out a figure in some footage so I can composite it into a timeline. When I import the new .mov I render out (using RGB + Alpha channels and Millions of Colours +) into FCP the figure is surrounded by a solid black background.
I've repeated the process a few times and then tried importing the .mov into FCP on another computer. This actually worked, the channel became transparent and the mask was there. So this should mean there's something wrong with my version of FCP?
I'm using After Effects 6.5 and FCP 5.0.1 on my Mac and FCP Studio 2 on the computer it worked on.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

Wait a second, there was a huge thread here a few weeks ago about bad alphas. The victims eventually (IIRCC) were forced to do a complete reinstall of EVERYTHING Tiger/Leopard and FCS2. It was an ugly shouting match and reinstalling/reverting to an earlier version of QT did not solve it for them. Check the revs of software on the two machines and compare them carefully.
bogiesan

Similar Messages

  • HDV from After Effects to FCP - seeking advice...

    I'm editing a concert which was shot with 5 cameras in Sony HDV (1080i), and FCP can actually play all 5 cameras in a multiclip synchronized with the canvas! (Dual G5, 1GB RAM) Well, it throws up an "Out Of Memory" red screen now and then, but I just ignore that and keep editing.
    Now I'm creating an opening in After Effects set to HDV 1080i, and I'm wondering how to export (actually, MakeMovie) it. I've tried Animation / no compression and HDV / Keyframe every 15 frames. The Animation is about 20 times the file size of the HDV; they both play in FCP RT with some stuttering, they both render in the same amount of time, and they both look identical after rendering.
    Can anyone suggest any other ways to export from After Effects so it will play without rendering in FCP?
    I have a haunting feeling that if the GOP of the imported clip does not match the GOP of the timeline, I have to render. But I don't know how to detect the GOP of either.
    Arghhh... how I suffer for art! Any suggestions would be welcome!

    Hi James ... Yup, that's right, stacked on top of each other with opacity lowered on both as well! (I do like Macpros my old G5 went red when talking about HDV in the same room!!). I have though managed to replicate Seths problem by not using the same size comp. settings in AE. ie if my comp settings in AE are 320x 120 and I try resizing when rendering that seems to throw FCP off track, but if the AE comp settings are 1440 x 1080 and rendered at the same using HDV 1080 then FCP treats the quicktime footage as the same as Sony HDV.

  • Low quality video after import from After Effects in FCP 7, but not FCP5

    Hi everyone,
    I trying to export a video from final cut pro. This video has motion graphics I built in After Effects, as well as footage from my T2i camera. I then took it into FCP to drop in audio and edit all my elements together.
    When I exported a 30 second preview a few days ago in FCP5, the .mov file retained the quality of the export from AE and looked great - no quality lost, smooth animations, high quality video.
    However, I then upgraded to FCP7, and now the quality is lower and the video components are a bit grainy when I export using the same settings. I've tried tweaking the settings, different ways of compression, but nothing is giving me the same clean export. I've even tried changing the sequence settings and putting my footage back down.
    The only other thing that's different is I compressed my T2i footage to ProRes422 before taking it into After Effects, however even the 15 seconds of original footage I didn't compress is grainy now (and so is the original and new graphic work) so I don't think that's it. When I change the timeline sequence settings, I can get it looking good in the preview - but as soon as I render it or send it to compressor it loses quality again.
    The ONLY differently between the two exports was upgrade Final Cut, but that doesn't make any sense to me. I've even tried reopening the preview FCP file (which then asks me to update the file to FCP7) and when I do it exports grainy as well - and NOTHING else has changed in that file or the export settings since my initial export of a 30 seconds preview.
    Does anyone have any suggestions on what the issue may be? Or, what settings I can use to retain the quality when exporting?
    Thanks,
    Lauren
    Message was edited by: kiwikiwi

    Thank you so much! Although it's not exporting quite as clear as before, it's much, MUCH better now that I've corrected the timeline dominance - I'd say 95% better; and it will be re-compressed by my clients for web streaming so it doesn't need to be perfect - but the initial quality was garbage.
    I suspect when I exported my T2i footage as a ProRes file, than imported into After Effects, then back into FCP something happened along the way that messed up the quality slightly. Although the only difference in my method between FCP5 and 7 was converting to ProRes; which I only did for editing purposes as the native T2i footage needs to be rendered... which ended up being redundant as all my After Effects work needed to be rendered anyway. Ho hum.
    Do you think the ProRes conversion could account for the quality loss? It wasn't just the footage that was grainy/fuzzy, it was also the After Effects graphic work, which is why I didn't think the converstion could be the culprit. Hm. I'll have to look into this more!
    Thanks again - and so sorry for my delayed reply, I went on vacation shortly after I posted that message and only just got back to this project now
    Message was edited by: kiwikiwi

  • After Effects into FCP DV NTSC

    What are the best settings to use when exporting a After Effects file for use in a FCP NTSC DV based timeline?
    I'm looking for codec, files size, upper or lower field, quality settings ect. Square vs. rectangle pixel aspect ratio.
    Thanks in advance.

    I agree with the captain. You want your AE render to match the NTSC-DV sequence preset in all respects: 720x480, lower field first, NTSC-CCIR 6601 pixel aspect ratio, in either the 4:3 or anamorphic flavour depending on which format you're working in.
    The AE preset NTSC-DV comp settings should be fine. But if you want to be extra sure, export a short reference movie from your FCP timeline, then import this into AE, then drag it to the "make new composition" icon at the bottom of the AE project window, and you will get a new composition with the settings you require. You can then remove the ref movie from this new comp and use it as your output comp. You still have to choose the NTSC-DV codec in the AE render window, but your resolution and pixel aspect will have been set for you.
    Best of luck.

  • Error when exporting from After Effects into Media Encoder

    Hi there. I am using After Effects CC and am trying to export>add to Adobe Media Encoder CC. Upon doing so, instead of the file being placed into Media Encoder CC, I get an error message
    I just updated to most recent update of After Effects via the Cloud today but no difference. Instead, After Effects just creates a folder on my system to house a duplicate composition file with "tmpAEtoAMEProject" at the beginning of file name. I can use the render queue out of After Effects just fine.
    Can someone give me a solution to how I can export out to Media Encoder CC? Probably something simple I am just missing. I don't know much/can't find much about how to know if Adobe Dynamic Link components are installed. Oh, and I have also tried to just drag the files into Adobe Media Encoder too but I still get this warning. If it helps, I am on an imac OSX 10.8.5. Thanks!

    Hey there. Yes, I have uninstalled AE, restarted, and reinstalled. Still get the same error shown in screenshot in my original question posted.

  • Export from After Effects to FCP

    Hi,
    I'm creating a 3 minute presentation at 1920 x 1080.
    I'm just wondering what would be the best way to export from AE and from FCP?
    At the moment i'm exporting animation compression quicktime movies from AE and bringing them into FCP. It seems to struggle when moving up and down the timeline.
    I was going to export from FCP as a Windows media file as the playback is on a PC at an exhibition but I was wondering if anyone has any advice on how to export for smooth playback. I'm thinking that I may have to export the movie in segments
    Many Thanks

    1920 x 1080 with an animation codec is going to generate a HUGE file. No surprise your timeline has come to a standstill.
    Why not render it to match your other clips/format of your finished film?
    I guess some kind of HD format given the size.
    There's no best way to export, you need to know what export settings to select in order for it to fit your workflow or destination format.
    If the file is for playback on a PC in kiosk mode, why HD? I very much doubt an internal PC HDD could keep up with 1920x1080 playback without some extra beef in the hard disk department i.e and RAID system.

  • Lost audio from after effects to FCP

    I am exporting movies as quick time and going from AE to FCP. In the first two clips I had no issues at all. The second two clips I totally lost my audio. All the clips are from the same footage...same file size etc...why would that happen?

    Same export module too?
    By default, the "loseless" and the "loseless with alpha" export modules in AE does not export audio... you have to costomise the module and be sure that "export audio" is on...

  • SOS! Sequence settings from After Effects to FCP

    Hi All!
    I have edited a short film in FCP from Digi beta rushes. I did the post production and finalization in AE and now I need to get the sequence back to FCP so I can export it to a digi beta as a master copy. Which is the best way to do this loosing the least quality possible?? Which is the format? TIFF? Targa sequence? HELP My deadline is tomorrow PM.
    Cheers.

    10 bit uncompressed, using the same setup you started with. I.e., AJA or Blackmagic.
    Jerry

  • Transferring from After Effects

    I am trying to key out a green screen using After Effects.  The program itself does a better job with the footage I am using than FCP.  After I finish my work I am having trouble importing the footage back into a file that FCP can read.  Does anyone have any suggestions or tips on how I could export from After Effects into a file that FInal Cut can read or is there a possible direct way to send that footage to FCP.
    Any help would be appreciated.
    Thanks!

    There are two ways to do this, use ProRes4444 or use the Animation codec. Open up the help system that comes with AE and look up how to set your rendering (not exporting) queue to produce a movie that contains the alpha channel.
    bogiesan

  • Problems exporting Animation codec from After Effects CS3 to FCP

    Hi,
    I wonder if anybody can help: I am having troubles with video transfer from After effects CS3 to FCP 6
    my workflow is to edit and export in FCP as quicktime movie - work on the clip in AE and then export as Animation/best quality/Millions of colors+. The footage is SD Pal 1024 x 576.
    the problem is that the files don't seem to play back properly in quicktime - very jagged and lots of ghosting. I assume this is due to the memory heavy features of the codec.
    However any file over 10 seconds will not be imported into FCP natively and a message reads final cut pro does not support this file type.
    I overcame this by opening the clip in quicktime and then exporting again with exactly the same settings - this then reads in FCP - although this seems over the top
    I now want to work with a 10 min finished comp in FCP but when I try to do this it picks up the ghosting that had appeared when playback in quicktime. However when rendered/ exported from the FCP timeline it retains the ghosting
    in short I can burn a successful DVD of the footage as is from AE but it is not suitable to FCP.
    I have tried exporting the clip in quicktime as quicktime DV pal but this retains the ghosting. Is this a hard ware problem or is my work flow wrong?
    thanks
    Paul

    Converting from A to B means either a lossy conversion or a significant increase in storage requirements (up to 5x with DV as the starting point). You are best served with keeping conversions to a minimum.
    > cause this compressor doesn't like images
    What is that based on?
    > in several forums I have red that "automatik" inside of encore does often not work properly
    This is in contradiction with the general feelings on this forum.

  • Sound problem with exporting from After Effects

    Hello everybody,
    I exported a windows media video from premiere cs5 (it was shot with the cannon 7d).
    The video has 1 video channel, 1 audio channel that contains a conversation, and another audio channel that contains only music.
    After I exported it, I imported the video into After Effects cs5, I added some effects, and then I exported it as a windows media video.
    The audio settings were:
    Mode- music
    codec- windows meida audio voice 9
    audio format- 20kbps, 22.05 khz, mono
    Even though the video from Premiere was flawless, the one from After Effects contains the conversation perfectly, but the music is very low and even erratic.
    Did anybody experienced this problem?

    AE doesn't deal with multiple channels. It always assumes that a file with 2 channels is stereo. You need to export the audio from Premiere separately or create a proper stereo mix, not throw two interleaved mono channels at AE...
    Mylenium

  • PROBLEM SOLVED "export clips from Color back into FCP & add transition"

    If I have two clips that you cannot place a transition in between here is the only thing that worked for me.
    I discovered this problem after I exported my movie clips from FCP 6 to Color and imported the color corrected files from Color back into FCP 6. I could no longer add transitions to any of my clips unless I made the following changes.
    1. 1st check to see if the video clip has an audio track underneath it. If they are not linked Select the audio and the video track to be linked, hit Command "L" and you will see an underline under the audio and video name to show that they are now linked. Do the same for the adjoining video and audio track.
    2. Next select all of the clips after the video clip you just selected by typing "tttt" this changes to the "Select All Tracks Forward Tool". Click on the track after the video track you just linked and it will select all of the tracks thereafter. Hit the "A" button to change back to the selection tool and move all of the selected tracks away from the previous video/audio track.
    3. Next type "RR" this will change to the "Ripple" tool. Now click on end of the video track on the previous video clip and type -15 (for negative 15 frames). Then click on the beginning of other video clip to the right that you linked and type +15 (for plus 15 frames).
    4. Type "tttt" to change back to the "Select All Tracks Forward Tool" the hit the "A" button to change back to the selection tool and drag all tracks back together again.
    5. You may then drag and drop your transition in between both video clips.
    I hope this helps someone...this is the only thing that worked for me!!!
    Number1talent

    I am working with mostly DVCPro ftg, with a few clips in MiniDV.  I did have roughly 10 clips with speed changes, but they exported fine two weeks ago, when I did this the first time.  (Actually, it didn't keep the speed changes, but it did export with media to FCP). 
    The clips do have reel numbers and seem to be of the right length per clip but there's just no picture and no assoicated media with which to relink the clip.
    I'm on Color 1.5.3
    Any possible ideas?  Thank you for your help...

  • Problem importing footage from Canon XF305 into fcp

    I have footage from a card having recorded on a Canon XF305. I literally dragged and dropped card onto my desktop making sure not to change any file names. I am now trying to import this footage from my desktop into fcp. I have downloaded the canon fcp plugin but everytime I try to import the footage using the canon plugin preferences I get an error message which reads... "AA0229" contains unsupported media or has an invalid directory structure. Please choose a folder whose directory structure matches supported media. Can anyone help me??

    Hi there,
    I've had no joy with this. Have tried everything. Just can't get footage into fcp any way I try. I have downloaded the plugin but I still get the same error message. "AA0229" contains unsupported media or has an invalid directory structure. Please choose a folder whose directory structure matches supported media.
    My work flow is as follows.
    Open final cut pro. Go to log and transfer. Go to preferences within the log and transfer window and click on Canon XF plugin. Then go to import. Click on file on my desktop which is labeled as CLIPS001. Then error message comes up.
    Memory card was dropped directly onto my laptop and onto a back up drive without changing any file names. Was thinking this would be straight forward.
    Any help will be hugely appreciated. Am I missing something simple?

  • Exporting from After Effects (field dominance issues?)

    Hi all,
    I created a FCP DV/NTSC sequence with field dominance set to none (I'm working with still images, this improves the quality a lot). I then export that sequence as a quicktime movie file and import that movie file into After Effects.
    The problem is after I'm done working in After Effects, I can't export a quicktime file without it looking really poor quality. When exporting, I preserve all the original FCP sequence settings, except the field dominance settings(doesn't seem to be an option in After Effects for this?).
    So pretty much I am trying to get a sharp picture when exporting in After Effects, so I can take it back into FCP. Please assist.

    Your workflow is quite limited by the DV NTSC sequence. If your sequence is all stills, you are not necessarily tied to that setting at all. Do you need to output to a VTR via FireWire ultimately? What is your final output?
    A better sequence choice might be DV50. You would export a QT movie, current settings. You don't actually export from After Effects. You render by adding your comp to the Render Queue. Good render settings would be DV50 (this would not require rendering in FCP), Animation, or perhaps ProRes 422 HQ if you have access to it. You would choose not to render fields.
    If it's all stills, it would be better yet to simply start in After Effects.

  • Exporting from After Effects to Final Cut Pro

    Hi
    Could anybody tell me the best way to export from After Effects, back in to Final Cut Pro? Do I need to get Automatic Duck for this, if so which one?
    Thanks for any help!
    Matt

    You need to add your composition to the render cue and then export to the same format and codec that you're using in FCP. Automatic Duck is a great tool for getting your FCP or Motion timelines into After Effects but most of the time I simply select a clip in FCP, export it as a reference movie, bring it into AE for processing, then render a file to use as a replacement in FCP.
    Search for After Effects Final Cut Workflow and you'll find some more tips including this one. It isn't bad for organization but it misses the point of using the same codec. All my FCP projects are ProRez HQ or ProREZ 444 so that's my choice. Also, if you use the entire shot, which is not a bad idea, then you can use the replace footage option in FCP which is more efficient than the demoed technique of dragging your rendered shot into the timeline and then trimming if needed.
    Hope this helps.

Maybe you are looking for