Animation Alpha in 16:9

I am trying to export a 16:9 FCP sequence in Animation Alpha to use in Motion. I did a chroma key with a 3rd party filter, and can't get the alpha channel to "send to" Motion.
Can someone who already knows how to do this just tell me how to get the aspect ratio correct using Compressor? I've been trying different pixel frame size combinations with different pixel aspects. I keep getting sqeezed, letter boxed, etc. I'm just wasting time.
Thank you in advance.

Can someone who already knows how to do this just tell me how to get the aspect ratio correct using Compressor? I've been trying different pixel frame size combinations with different pixel aspects. I keep getting sqeezed, letter boxed, etc. I'm just wasting time. < </div>
Getting the alpha is easy. You just have to look up how to do that in the FCP manual.
But the chromakeyer in Motion is incredibly superior to the keyer in FCP. I'd take the clip into Motion first.
The subject of aspect ratios can be searched for here, it comes up daily and there are thousands of threads to sort through. The problem for the wonks is every situation is slightly different: source footage, codecs in use, applications in use, it's really complicated.
bogiesan

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HDV to Animation Alpha loses alpha

I'm very very frustrated (sorry to start so abrasively). I've searched and searched these forums for about a week. I've rendered test after test after test. I’ve read as much in the manual as I could find. And, I've gotten nowhere. Someone please impart their wisdom to me...
I'm using a 3rd party filter to do a chroma key on HDV footage in an HDV sequence. It keys great. I can see the checkerboard in the canvas clearly where it should be. I’m trying to take that keyed footage to Motion to manipulate it. When I render using the Animation Alpha setting in Compressor, the alpha channel disappears. There is no transparency. The keyed area is solid black.
Any clue? Thank you.
MacBook Pro Intel Core Duo Mac OS X (10.4.9)

I used the "Animation NTSC Alpha" setting in Compressor.
In case you haven't, try this: Alter the Compressor option in your current timeline's sequence settings - prior to export from and/or rendering in Final Cut - to Animation and, under Advanced, set color depth to Millions of Colors+, as mentioned.
Now, when you render and/or export, you'll actually have an alpha channel that QuickTime understands. (When working in any other codec within Final Cut, even after keying, you can't actually generate an alpha channel during any kind of output or conversion)

.png animation files... how to import keeping alpha channel please!

My graphics man has buit me a animation on white swirly things on his system
and given me them as sequential files.
On gfx without alpha I open then in quicktime, open a sequential files then export to dv.
Now of course dv will not keep alpha channels so any help on how to take this animation alpha .png and get it into my fcp time line would be much appreciated,
regards
daz

Apple Animation is a high quality video codec that can support an alpha channel.
While there are other formats that also support alpha channel, Apple Animation is the codec of choice on the Mac because it lets us transfer files between different software packages without any hassle.
For instance, you could export a 3D scene from Maya, manipulate it further in After Effects then drop it into the FCP Timeline, all without converting it to something else at each stage.

How do you get 32-bit float effects to work with an alpha channel?

I make a few bugs and lower thirds, but I'm having a lot of trouble getting 32-bit float effects to correctly export with transparency.
When I make semitransparent animations with bright lighting effects, they look great in AE but I can't seem to find any way to bring them over to Final Cut and get them to look like they should.
I've attached this example of a bug with a screenshot from AE on the left and from FCP on the right. The colors dim and the vibrant blue gradients get flattened into a dull greenish color.
So far as I can tell, all my alpha and color management settings are correct. I've tried endless settings options and codec options to try to fix this, to no avail.
You can create an extreme case as an example by creating a semitransparent shape, cranking the color way up to a saturated superwhite color, and moving it around with motion blur. The render looks pretty much just like a 8/16 bit render, and nothing like it did in your canvas.
I have a feeling the way AE multiplies the superwhite color values with the alpha channel gets "lost in translation" when it is rendered to 4 8-bit channels. Is there any way to get it to look the way it does in the canvas?
Thanks,
Clint

Thanks so much for your ideas. I'd already tried experimenting with a number of color management options, including 'Preserve RGB' and turning off 'Convert to Linear Light' but they didn't fix it. I had also already tried using the "None" option from the codec menu.
I pulled it back into AE, and it looks the same as it did in FCP.
I'm starting to think the issue has something to do with AE rendering to a file differently than the way it renders to the canvas. For example, here's a fast moving 50% opaque superwhite shape in the AE canvas:
I rendered this using Animation + Alpha using Best settings and 32-bit float, and reimported it into AE:
I think the answer may lie in the fact that the first image looks solid white in some places, even though it is 50% transparent. It's almost like the excessive RGB values "bleed" over to the alpha channel. The rendered image (probably correctly) looks grey because it represents white at 50% opacity.
What I want to do though, is find a way to make my render look like my canvas. So it seems I need to do two things to the image:
1. Find a way to increase opacity in areas of excessive white, so that they are not grey in the render.
2. Find a way to "bake" the superwhite colors to a level below 100% white so that they show up in the render.
I tried the "Alpha from Max Color" effect and this seems to get kind of close, but unfortunately it discards other parts of the alpha channel (like drop shadows).
It might also be helpful to know that when I have AE output to an external NTSC monitor (via Intensity card) the monitor shows the exact same artifacts as the render.

Can't render an alpha channel in Compressor

This has allways been a problem for us.
Whenever I try to compress a sequence using compressor (2.0.1 on a 2Ghz G5 OS 10.4.8) and render an alpha channel it never works.
Typically I'll send a sequence containing only a lower third over a transparant screen to compressor, select the Amination + Alpha codec (all the settings seem correct: Animation, million of colors+, best quality) and I end up with the lower third over a black screen, no alpha channel. Also, if there is blank space in the timeline between clips that also renders as black, not transparant.
The strange thing is that when I export using Quicktime Conversion with the same Animation+Alpha settings it does work and I get nice clean transparancy.
Is this a bug with Compressor or am I missing something?
2.0Ghz G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Mikey & Jumpy,
Compressor does have a Animation Alpha Preset under Motion Graphics and after reading this post for several days i decided to test it for myself and sure enough, I can't get it to work. I've exported the same lower third through Quicktime Conversion and through Compressor. Bring them both back into FCP and compare the format in the browser. They match exactly except for the Compressor version doesn't have the alpha in the time line. I tried exporting a ref and importing that into compressor, same result. I tried importing the new file into After Effects to see if it would interpret different, same result.
The only conclusion i can come up with is the Compressor is writing an alpha channel, but its also writing a black matte in the RGB. But as far as I'm concerned I can't see a discernible difference between QT Conversion and Compressor exports.
Good Luck
Chris

After effects animation Codec won't import into FCP

Hi
I have used After Effects to do a green screen key on some HD 1080i footage.
I then went to export - quicktime movie - animation
I understand that the animation codec is the only way to export with an alpha channel so that I can put other footage in after my nice green screen key.
I set quality to best and frame rate to 25, I also tried frame rate as current and it exports and plays back fine in quicktime movie player, but won't import into final Cut.
The error message is "wrong frame rate"
Does anyone have any suggestions? I am quite new to after effects and wonder if there is something wrong with the way it is seeing the footage as I shot in widescreen and the image is squeezed as for a 4:3 TV aspect ratio.
Thanks.
Ajay

1. Check your AE composition settings (cmd-k) and be sure your frame rate is set to 25... AE uses the frane rate of your composition and not the settings in your export module...
2. Do not use the "export" command in AE... that is used only for special purposes only (i.e. for using "quicktime exporto compnents" not available under the export queue)...
3. use the "make movie" or "add to export queue" command instead
4. You expot module should be set as:
- best settings
- animation + alpha
do not specify any frame rate in the export module!! AE automatically uses the frame rate in your composition settings!!
5. Export and import into fcp...
I never had problems with AE animation+alpha and fcp 6.0.1

Alpha From To Effect is flickering - Captivate 6

I had added 10 image buttons in the slide and provided an animation “Alpha From to” and mentioned the value as Initial 0% and final as 100% and applied the same for all the other buttons too.. But when I animate and see the smooth effect is not coming. It gives some jerk or some flickering effect is happening and this is not happening for all the buttons 1 or 2 buttons only.. how to rectify this.. Please help me.

Thanks for the replies, unfortunately most of the objects are buttons so I have to add the effect manually which is already unwieldy given that I'll have hundreds of coordinated assets by the end of this project. The transitions don't seem to be working, however it was creating a cool effect for one thing. This is why I wanted to do these elements with videos, but alas...
Thanks for the replies, I'm still waiting for IT to respond but if this problem is continuing then I don't see an update helping this particular issue.

PROBLEM IN PUBLISHING

I made a simple tween animation, where in the texts will scroll left to right, up down and alpha from 0 to 100 vice versa
in the editor, ut was working fine,
all animations are ok,
until i publish them,
animations are not working,
tween animations alpha from 100 to 0 and vice versa isnt working
the texts are cut off.
all of the whole document is going nuts.
whats seems to be the problem?
hope you can help me out guys,
the .fla can be downloaded here:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/e78g2p

Based on a quick look at the file... you are using dynamic textfields. If they do not need to be dynamic textfields, convert them to static textfields. Otherwise, you will need to embed the font in them in order to animate them.
Also, I noticed a good number of Tween objects in your library. These are normally a by-product of incorrect tweening... Flash-generated filler material. When you tween objects, the key is to have the exact same object at both ends of a tween sequence, only changing the properties that you wish to tween. Don't combine objects into tweens and don't use different objects within tweens.

Custom Presets Don't Work

I can save a custom preset, but when I load it, it has no effect on the sound. I have to load default effects and tweak them every time. Is there a way to troubleshoot this and get it working properly?
Audition CC
Mac OS 10.8.2

I tried to recreate your problem rendering Quicktimes to Animation + Alpha, ProRes 4444 + Alpha, and just plain H.264 and I didn't experience any darkening in all three renders.
The Quicktime animation codec is pretty ancient and hasn't been updated since Quicktime Pro 7. ProRes 4444 (AKA 4x4) is also as good as Lossless and has Alpha with a Depth option of Trillions of Colors +. I would suggest using that. In the Output Module box where it says Video Output choose Channels: RGB + Alpha, Depth: Trillions of Colors+, Color: Premultiplied (Matted) with Format Options set to ProPres 4x4.

Non Rendering Layers

Making a flash website, and since I'm a lazy guy I grabbed a
template (seen here
http://www.templatesbox.com/free-flash-templates/003.htm),
obivously it need to be changed from a corporate one to something
different, so I changed the "slogan" layer to read something else,
but when I publish it, not only does it not show up, but neither
does the section in the header (seen to say "we develop the future"
on that link).
At first I assumed the culprit was just the method it uses to
flicker the text was somehow interfering with publishing, so I made
a whole new layer and animated alpha transparency instead, but even
my brand new layer didn't render. I really don't understand it.
Most confusing (or perhaps the best clue), is even if I make
no alterations and just stick the template into flash and just
publish it, it wont show those 2 text layers still. The top text
layer uses a mask to transition the text in, but I haven't
succeeded in getting that one to work yet either. Again I could
redo the layer using alpha, but my previous attempts would suggest
that it'll be equally futile.
I recently upgraded from MX to Pro 8, and wonder if that is
somehow a factor, but even using older versions of flash player
doesn't help.
I'm just over looking something obvious and stupid, aren't
I?

the "name" layer, is actually right below the slogan layer
that I'm having issues with, and I already did in fact change that
to a PNG of what I wanted successfully.
I appreciate the suggestion to scrap the template, but I'm a
fighter and want to make this one work. For the incompletes, I'm
just going to modify the "home.fla" and rename the published file,
which'll be an easy way to complete it (and possibly what the
template author had in mind).
The link seems to have moved on me, I think it's here now
http://www.templatesbox.com/free-flash-templates/003.htm

GRRRRR!!! AE CS3 crashes during render with quicktimempeg4.qtx as problem

Rendering will advance a seemingly random amount of frames, only to crash repeatedly. The info on the error points to quicktimempeg4.qtx as problem module. I have tried an array of codec packs, as well as quicktime 7.0.3 through the latest 7.4.1 update. Memory seems to be fine as I'm running Windows XP SP2, 2.8 Ghz Duocore, 4Gb RAM. Sometimes render makes it 4 frames, 72, 205, etc., but still crashes whether .avi, .mp4 or .mov render. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Thanks for the tips. I tried soloing about 30 of the videos for a render (with a 60 frame workspace just for testing), as suggested. Went with the QT Animation, alpha only, and it crashed after 1 second. Seriously, just instant crash. I did try render queue with an .avi export, no compression, and managed to get about 12 minutes into a decent render, but again crashes with quicktimempeg4.qtx as fault. I can export quicktime (.mov or .mp4) from Photoshop quickly and perfectly every time, no errors. So, its hard for me to think this is simply a quicktime or compatibility issue. I have had no problems whatsoever with Illustrator, Indesign, Flash, Photoshop, video conversion, etc. Occasionally with quicktime I will get a "buffer overrun detected" error when running multiple instances, but figured this was more of a memory issue. I'm totally flummoxed as this AE render error just seems to have no rhyme or reason at this point. The only unifying problem is that quicktime seems to be a problem. Although, when exporting .PSD files today, for individual screen captures on the same project, I had a crash that stated the OpenGL was to blame. So, I'll try disabling that per Jonas' suggestion. Of course any ideas are much appreciated!

AE CS6 Renders too dark

After upgrading to CS6, the Quicktime Animation codec suddenly renders way too dark in After Effects.
Quicktime in Animation codec is my preferred render codec, as it is as good as lossless plus adding alpha is an option.
Is there a cure for this problem?
EDIT: Seems things can go wrong while saving custom presets. Sometimes they just don't work correctly after saving.The third made preset worked, even though everything was the same.

I tried to recreate your problem rendering Quicktimes to Animation + Alpha, ProRes 4444 + Alpha, and just plain H.264 and I didn't experience any darkening in all three renders.
The Quicktime animation codec is pretty ancient and hasn't been updated since Quicktime Pro 7. ProRes 4444 (AKA 4x4) is also as good as Lossless and has Alpha with a Depth option of Trillions of Colors +. I would suggest using that. In the Output Module box where it says Video Output choose Channels: RGB + Alpha, Depth: Trillions of Colors+, Color: Premultiplied (Matted) with Format Options set to ProPres 4x4.

Dvd Studio Pro crashes whenever usuing a menu using motion video

Im using DVD Studio Pro 2 on a G5. Whenever I try to burn using either a menu template containing video or use a drop zone containing video, the software crashes.
I always use m2V video and ac3 audio created in FC4. Have tried usuing an existing file asset as my target with duration time set as well as separate imported files as the target. All imported assets are in the same folder
On burn, when it gets to the menu containing the video it crashes. If I remove the video from the menu its a smooth burn.
Any suggestions wouldbe greatly appreciated.

The same problem as Chad's happens to me when running the Chapter 6 tutorial in the Apple Pro Training Series (APTS) book for Motion 3: if you try to set the imported Motion project as a DVDSP background, DVDSP will crash every time.
Max Average's advice is 100% good with the downside being that you lose your ability to roundtrip. If you export your Motion DVD menu project as a standalone QT movie, it will drop in fine and still retains the loop point (a marker preset within Motion). Exporting with the Lossless+Alpha codec gave me the best image in the DVDSP simulator (over Animation+Alpha, Uncompressed 10-bit, and ProRes HQ).
I find roundtripping between FCS2 apps is a hit and miss affair and, generally, just export everything.

CS4 Workflow - Premiere -- AE/Keylight -- Premiere

In an attempt to get better GreenScreen Keys I would like to start using AE/Keylight.
(I had been using Premiere's Chroma Key or Color Key)
I like the thought of using Dynamic Link but Keylight does not register when I round-trip back to Premiere.
Anyone know how the CS4 Workflow - Premiere -->AE/Keylight --> Premiere should go?

- "I do the entire key and composite in AEFX and export as an intermediate."
- "do the key and export the intermediate with an alpha channel"
What intermediate do you use?
(I think I would lean towards QT Animation +/- Alpha)
So, I would:
1. edit together my GreenScreen clips in PP (sometimes there are a few takes/clips/angles)
2. export these clips as a single QT Animation file
3. import to AE and Keylight
4. export a QT Animation +/- Alpha
5. finish edit in PP
- Reason I dont use DL is that if I get the key and /or composite correct, why would I need to revisit it from the PPRO project (and bog down my timeline).
The only thing I hate about going to AE is that I NEVER get Real-Time playback so it always seems like my AE timeling Bogged Down. It always seems like it goes 1sec/1frame. At 30fps... this can take a while.
Whereas, at least in PP I can actually play/view my edit. Only thing with DL workflow in this instance is that PP does not see/recognize Keylight.
Currently, my Keys look good... but I want them to look GREEAAAT; and AE/Keylight really does the trick.

Best Codec for exporting animations with alpha channel from FCP timeline

Whats the best codec for exporting animations (hopefully using loseless compression) that will retain alpha channel, and use the current sequence settings for fps and size?
Currently Im exporting image sequences, but I'd prefer a wrapper.. I don't know much about the 'Animation' export codec.. I did notice that set to current size had some funky value of 753x450 or something.. instead of my current project size of 1920x1080...
Anyhow.. Just seeing what others are doing..
basically Im reading out some titles that I'll end up dropping over video later.. but since they render out so slowly (**** lower 3rds is slow) Im trying to get a jump on the process..
Tx..

PNG should do it. I think PNG is lossless (that's what they say, anyway). But realistically, if you use PNG, Animation, or JPG2000 set on highest quality, I'd dare you to tell a difference.
I use PNG because it's supposedly lossless, renders twice as fast as Animation in a FCP timeline, and is usually about half the size.
If you use "Export Using Quicktime Conversion", you will need to check all of the settings manually to make sure they match your sequence settings. This is always true, no matter what codec you use.
If that sounds risky, your other option is to go into your sequence settings and change the codec to the one you want to render to (this will probably turn your whole timeline red), and then choose Export -> Quicktime movie.

Animation Alpha in 16:9

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