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

Similar Messages

  • Can someone point me to a tutorial on image masking and alpha channels?

    Can someone point me to a tutorial on image masking and alpha channels?
    Goal is to make a picture in a picture frame become a moving image.
    I am trying now to figure out how to make a hole in a video by subtracting a 16x9 sized rectangle.
    Thanks.

    hi
    depending on how complicated your shot is, you may be able to get away with simply placing the image within the frame on top of the background shot. Then resize down to fit. You may then need to tweak its corners using the corner pin tool to get it to sit in the right perspective plane. You may find you need to soften the edges of the top layer image so its not so sharp and hard. For this you probably would need to add a mask and soften its edges. Then you might need to add some noise and/or colour correction to make it sit naturally with the background image. and finally if there are any shadows cast over the picture frame you will need to add them back over the new image. You can use a black shape, with its opacity cranked down with a blur filter on it.
    The manual describes all of these process pretty well.
    hth
    adam

  • 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.

  • Making a PDF with an image that has both spot colour channel and alpha channel

    Hi I have a logo that was supplied to us as a PSD it has a transparent background, it also has a pantone colour channel. I have made a alpha channel from the transparent background as well.
    The graphic looks fine in InDesign (alpha channel selected in the import options), ie the background is transparent.
    But when we try to make a Hi Res PDF the result is that the graphic is on a solid white background.
    If I go back to the PSD and merge the spot channel with so that it is just CMYK and try again the PDF is fine, but we obviously loose the spot colour.
    How do you make a PDF with a transparent PSD that has a spot colour?

    You know that annoying response from support staff? "We cannot replicate your issue". Well....
    I created a PSD in CS5, with a bunch of process stuff, then loaded a spot color channel and painted in some pawprints using Pantone 172C:
    Saved this as a PSD file, default settings (maximize compatibility on, but it doesn't make any difference in this situation).
    Created a new InDesign document in CS5, added a gradient and some text, then placed the PSD.  ID understands the PSD has an inbuilt background so there's no need to bother with a dedicated alpha mask:
    Exported from ID using the High Quality Print option (PDF/1.4, which keeps the live transparency):
    Re-exported to PDF/X-1a (based on PDF/1.3 which flattens transparency) - looks exactly the same. In all cases the spot channel is intact and the see-through regions of the PSD are maintained.

  • Problems with Apple ProRes 4444 and alpha channels in Motion 4 after upgrade to Snow Leopard.  Has anyone seen this?

    We've just now upgraded from Leopard to Snow Leopard and are having a problem with Apple ProRes 4444 and alpha channels in Motion 4.  A clip with an alpha which keyed perfectly before the upgrade, now will not key.  If I convert the clip to the Animation codec, it keys perfectly.  If I export the Motion project as a ProRes 4444 self contained movie, it will key when brought into FCP 7 but if I import the project into FCP 7, it will show the key in the viewer but not the canvas.  Has anyone seen this or have any suggestions on how to correct this?  Is it a bug? 
    Thanks,

    Motion 4.0.3
    It just doesn't seem to recognize the alpha at all. 

  • Drop Zones: Video and Alpha Channels

    Is it possible to create a drop zone where the asset is a video clip that contains transparency by way of an alpha channel such that portions of the video allow for the background image to show through?
    I am familiar with setting up drop zones and custom shapes and I have used static images with transparency, but I've never done the same with video.
    I am away from my system right now or I could test this myself. Thanks in advance for the help!

    hi
    depending on how complicated your shot is, you may be able to get away with simply placing the image within the frame on top of the background shot. Then resize down to fit. You may then need to tweak its corners using the corner pin tool to get it to sit in the right perspective plane. You may find you need to soften the edges of the top layer image so its not so sharp and hard. For this you probably would need to add a mask and soften its edges. Then you might need to add some noise and/or colour correction to make it sit naturally with the background image. and finally if there are any shadows cast over the picture frame you will need to add them back over the new image. You can use a black shape, with its opacity cranked down with a blur filter on it.
    The manual describes all of these process pretty well.
    hth
    adam

  • Flash Player 14 : FLV alpha videos have black background!!!

    Please correct this bug.
    All flv videos with alpha are now played with a black background. It's work with all previous Flash player versions...

    Is that the reason why I can only view youtube right now? I can't view anything else even after clean instal. system restart and everything.

  • 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.

  • Exporting Targa Sequence and Alpha Channel

    I have a couple of targa sequence containing graphics that I need to export. One has an opaque arrow which rolls out over the film underneath. The second has solid text which will be laid over the arrow as it animates. I have run the image sequences in Quicktime, the arrow sequence comes out as a block of black and the solid text comes out against a black background instead of an alpha channel and I can't seem to manipulate them. I have FCP 6 which i thought had Quick Time Pro to handle alpha channels. What am I doing wrong, can anyone help?

    hi,
    what exactly are you doing?
    why are you exporting from quicktime? why dont you import the image sequence directly into motion/fcp? Not saying you;re wrong, just wondering that 's all.
    Have you got the export settings correct. Not many codecs support alpha channels. Your best bet is Animation set to Millions of colours +. the + is the alpha channel.
    However motion or fcp should be able to read the image files just fine.
    adam

  • Import Image Sequence and Alpha Channel Transparency?

    Hello --
    I need to go from PNG sequence (with alpha channel transparency) to FLV (with alpha retained), and am trying to do this in QuickTime Pro. Seems like this should be possible.
    When I import a sequence of PNG images into QuickTime Pro, the alpha channel displays as solid black. When I export the movie as FLV (using On2 VP6 Codec, which supports alpha transparency), there is still a solid black background, and no transparency. I have looked everywhere in QT Pro for transparency settings, but to no avail. Any tips would be hugely appreciated. Thanks in advance!
    Mike

    Thanks, but something is not working.
    Going back to your original post, when I do Cmd-J, then set transparency to "Straight Alpha," the movie background immediately changes from black to white. So far so good. But if I export that movie as MOV (Animation, no compression, millions of colors+), then bring it back in, and confirm with Cmd-J, the transparency setting is gone. Am I missing something?

  • Cinema 4D in AE and alpha channel

    So I used C4D to render out a logo animation.  I used openEXR format and made sure I checked the box for alpha channel.  When I bring it over to AE, it's just the standard black background and I can't figure out how to get stuff to show up behind it.  (I was trying to play with some Particular stuff.) 
    Anyway, I'm sure the solution is uber simple, but I'm just overlooking.  Thanks in advance for responses.

    Chase Chick wrote:
    Actually I did change the compression to None in C4D when rendering out of there.
    Yes I'm hitting render to picture viewer, it renders, I save it as openEXR, then drag and drop the folder that it is exporting into back into AE.
    I don't know C4D, but maybe the picture viewer doesn't hold an alpha channel. Is there another option to render to a file directly?
    What you see in AE seems to indicate no alpha is in the file. You can grab a sample EXR like this one to verify that alpha channels do generally work.
    Brendan

  • 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

  • Edit in Photoshop and Alpha Channel

    When I open an image in Photoshop using 'Open with External Editor', and add an alpha channel, when I save it back to Aperture the alpha mask shows on top of the image, whether or not it is made visible in Photoshop. Furthermore, the thumbnail shows the mask as white and the image shows the mask as black.
    Are others seeing this same behavior? Do I have a setting that is incorrect?

    Search the discussions on a couple of these terms -- there was a thread or two a couple of months ago.
    It turns out (I can't remember who pointe this out! sorry!) that if you put a completely blank alpha channel at the top of the stack of them (that is, under the R, G and B channels in the Channels palette), then save, the image shows up OK.

  • Aperture, photoshop layers and Alpha channels - notes

    In examining Aperture 2.0 to see if I could use it instead of Adobe bridge in my workflow (which makes intense use of Photoshop) I found that Aperture (and, apparently, OS X) cannot properly display a preview for a .psd file with either layers or an alpha channel. In some cases, the preview image is simply an error message, in others the alpha channel is displayed as black. These problems make Aperture a non-starter for me.
    Searching this forum for information, solutions, and/or workarounds, I found some references, but nothing of high value. (Sorry, posters.) Started my own investigation, and discovered some things that might lead to a reasonable workaround. My notes are here:
    http://homepage.mac.com/bbarlow641/webinfonotebook/
    too long, I think, to put into a forum post. Sorry to link out to somewhere else, but if you're interested, it's worth a click. (Or the linked page may not have "high value" either. But it helped me to think through the problem.)
    Ben

    bbarlow641 wrote:
    Saving the file as a layered TIFF file would preserve the layers - that might be a good idea since Aperture doesn't recognize psb files. But any "saving as" step - as a psb or as a TIFF - creates a second (large) file, so I don't think it's an ideal solution.
    I don't know if that helps in your workflow, but the way I handle this is:
    • import the raw file into Aperture
    • open in external editor (i.e. PhotoShop; external editor format: tiff)
    • edit in PhotoShop
    • when saving I am asked if I want to save it as layered tiff (provided the preferences are set accordingly: File Handling / Ask before saving layered tiff files);
    • here two things are to be considered:
    _ the file extension used by PS is "tif", so it has to be changed to "tiff"
    _ on my MacBook Pro the Save As-dialog opens showing the correct file location (i.e., the correct subfolder inside the Aperture library), on my Mac Pro the initial location is somewhere else (remembered from the last saving procedure); I have to work around this by first command-clicking in the image window's title bar to open the edited file's location in the Finder, so that I can then drag it onto the Save As-dialog. This is actually slightly annoying, but I did not find out the reason so far.
    • Aperture automatically refreshes the saved file.
    This way I end up with just this one extra file. The whole procedure would be a bit simpler using referenced files instead of storing them in the library.
    My settings in PS do have the "Maximize Compatibility" option set (in the notebooked example, it's set to "ask", normally it's set to "always"). I'm using CS2. Maybe this setting works in CS3 to create the composite? I've heard several people here say that same thing, but it definitely doesn't do it for me...
    For me this works, and as far as I remember also worked in CS2; do you see a difference in file size between files saved both ways? How does Preview.app display the file saved with "Maximize Compatibility"?
    Since my first post, I've been trying to figure out how to add a PS action that would run an Applescript to tell GraphicConverter to open and close a file, creating a preview. But it seems that while an Applescript can trigger a Postscript action, the reverse (having a Postscript action trigger an Applescript) is not possible.
    Might something like a hot folder with an automator scripts attached to it be a possible workaround?
    Message was edited by: Bernhard Barkow

  • How do i add video over black background in iMovie '11

    Hello,
    I'm looking to add a playing video over a black background in order to make credits/blooper reel, kind of like how this video on Youtube did it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aM3n1T60csc. Does iMovie 11 have this capability? If so, how can I do it?
    Thank You! Any help is much appreciated.

    The video over black is easy enough. Just add a black bacground and use Picture-In-Picture to add your video.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2226?viewlocale=en_US
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2243?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
    Matt

Maybe you are looking for