Export with transparency / alpha

I am doing a green screen key, and I prefer to compose the background with the keyed foreground i FCP. I am achieving great results with DV-keying in shake, and would like to export my keyed clips with their alpha layer, so that FCP will import it with alpha/transparency.
I have tried exporting targa rgba, but cannot seem to render them out as a sequence. (Only one image is rendered, and the other frames are rendered in the same file, overwriting it).
Is this possible, either trough a video format or through an image sequence or something?
Regards, Espen Dale, Norway

espendal wrote:
I have tried exporting targa rgba, but cannot seem to render them out as a sequence. (Only one image is rendered, and the other frames are rendered in the same file, overwriting it).
You need to put special characters in the filename to tell Shake where to put the frame numbers. # is for a 4-char padded number and @ is for an unpadded number.
For example:
MyFile.#.tiff returns MyFile.0001.tiff and MyFile.0100.tiff
[email protected] returns MyFile.1.tiff and MyFile.100.tiff
MyFile.@@.tiff returns MyFile.01.tiff and MyFile.100.tiff

Similar Messages

Bug in fireworks CS4 when exporting 24/32bit png with transparent alpha?

Hi there,
I recently upgraded to CS4 from CS3 and am quite disappointed to find that the png export facility for 24 or 32 bit png's is next to useless on my installation of Fireworks (Vista). I have a colleage who has reported the same behanviour on his mac.
Please see this native fireworks CS4 png file and attempt to export it as 24 or 34 bit png, ensuring the canvas is transparent (it shuold be already)...
http://www.capitalh.net/demo-bug.png
Viewing in preview mode in CS3 would show the png with its alpha channel indicated by the chequered transparent pattern. Exporting it as such would produce the desired result > a png with a nice blended alpha channel.
Viewing in preview mode in CS4 shows a horrible render of the image on a white background. Exporting the image produces the same result. Please see this link for confirmation:
http://www.capitalh.net/demo-bug-export.png
Please also see this simpler image, this time using a simple ellipse shape:
http://www.capitalh.net/demo-bug-export-simpleshape.png
You'll notice that it is not transparent, and the ellipse has not been anti-aliased.
Can anyone shed some light on this behaviour?
Exporting png's as such is something that I do daily at work, and is a basic requirement of an image editting application targetted at web design.
Am I doing something wrong? I've been using Fireworks since 2003 so I'm inclined to think that I'm not.

That's a bit, um, oh never mind. Would've been a rubbish joke anyway.
Aww...pooh. I love "rubbish" jokes!
If fireworks is unable to export a transparent png at 24bit, then why have the option?
(granted the option is acutally implied, not given)
Also, why the horrible rendering on preview and export?
Transparency for 24-bit isn't an option and isn't implied. Create a FW document with a transparent canvas. Go to File>Image Preview. If you select PNG8 as your export option, then you have drop-downs for No Transparency, Index Transparency, or Alpha Transparency. PNG32 shows the checkerboard where the document is transparent. If you select PNG24, you do not have the transparency options. Transparent areas in your document are set to white, just as they are if you select the JPEG format. Try it.
I don't know why your rendering is horrible. I'd have to see your image.
And also, why all this confusion related to Photoshop, seems Adobe really aren't helping the issue:
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/152434
Possibly Adobe thought it was less confusing, as they didn't have to go into the math. However, you do see Linda Rathgeber's answer, that the Photoshop convention is...well...misleading? (I'd call it wrong, but that's just me. ) It's just one other issue to bring into alignment as Adobe works to merge the Macromedia offerings into their line.

Export with transparent background and opacity

Apologies if these questions are a little basic , but taking my first steps in motion after playing with imovie , FCE and live type for a while
I have started to get a rough idea of motions capabilities but a couple of questions still are puzzling me .
In live type I created graphics , lower thirds etc with an alpha (transparent background) , for use in PIC in PIC in I movie , how do I do this in Motion , everything saved comes up with a background colour despite my canvas being set to transparent ?
Also opacity does not seem to show up at all , all my saved movies with layers with opacity changes (ie not 100%) show those layers as solids with no fading .
Any ideas where I am going wrong ?
Any answers or advice gratefully received with thanks

When you Share your creation you must select a movie standard with transparency - in Motion 4 you selected any option with Millions of Colors+ where the + was transparency.
In Motion 5 if you have transparency selected for your background already then when you export select "Current Settings" on the Export drop down selection which is normally default.
Alan

Export with Transparent Background

I do realize this has been asked again and again. Just making a reality check. I created a lower third. Time and time again the import into Final Cut Pro was on a solid black background instead of a transparency.
I followed every post and followed the directions - with no success.
Finally I exported my Motion lower third as a Template. The effect appears as a Generator in Final Cut. When I use the created Generator in my timeline the lower third has a proper transparency and works properly.
Is that really the only way to import a Motion graphic with transparent background?? Yes, I did try creating a Movie in ProRes 4444, my project does have a transparent background selected, etc. I feel as if I am missing something.

Much appreciated :-)
I purchased the lower third from Videohive. It has the basic graphic but lacks titles. While I was watching Motion tuturials, I thought I would customize the lower third with a fancy text animation.
I tried a few experiments based on what you said. I see now.
So it appears that even though my proxy media lacks the alpha channel and does not display with a transparency, the moment I switch FCP to view Optimized/Original media, the transparency works correctly.
So I assume I can still use proxy media (if needed) and ignore the lack of transparency until my final render. As long as I am exporting from Motion using ProRes 4444 it should work correctly.
Does that reasoning make sense?
Looking at many posts across the internet, I think this is the very issue that has tripped up many people.
Thank you for your helpful comment. I was going nuts trying to figure it out.

Cracked glass image with transparency (alpha) for overlay?

Any know of a nice cracked glass image PNG file that has transparency (alpha) I could use?
The idea is that it could be overlaid on top of other images so you could still see the photographs behind, but it would be like they are behind cracked glass.
Alternatively, if there are no direct images that match this requirement, then how would I transform easily a photo of cracked glass to one with alpha/transparency?

1. Desaturate Glass layer.
2. Make two copies of the desaturated glass layer. Turn off all three of the visibility eyes for these layers in the layers palette.
3. Turn on the first glass desaturated layer by clicking the eye in the layers palette. First glass desaturated layer (one directly above image) place in Screen blend mode; 100% opacity. If the glass has a hole, use a layer mask or erase to punch a hole in the desaturated layer. Use the levels command to set the glass so to taste...use black slider to push grays to black and use the middle gray slider in the dialog to control transition between black and white. You can also adjust the white slider if desired. Note: If you added a layer mask, click on the desaturated glass image to insure you are using the levels command on the image not the mask. (Tip: shortcut on PC for levels is Ctrl + L on Mac it is Cmd + L.)
Note: If you need to punch a hole in the image, it's easiest done in Normal blend mode; 100% opacity. Use the quick select tool if you have a version of elements that includes this tool. If you have an older version of Elements before this tool was introduced, the magic wand should also do the trick.
Note: If you punched a hole in the glass save this selection so you can reuse it. Select<Save Selection. You can load this selection again if needed using select<Load selection.
You only need to go to step #4 if you punched a hole in your glass.
4.Go to the first desaturated glass copy (one directly over the one you did in step #3...you should have one above it.) and turn on it's eye visibility in the layers palette. As before, set this layer to Screen blend mode: 100% opacity. Mask or erase so this layer effect will be limited to the edge of the hole and some of the glass around the edge. Use the levels command to adjust the contrast around the hole. You should concentrate on the white slider and the middle gray to make the hole edges look correct.
Note: To make this easy on myself, I used Select<Load Selection then Select<Inverse before painting back the edge of my glass hole.
5. Optional: Go to the last desaturated glass copy (this one should be on top of your layers palette stack.) and turn on this layer's eye. Change the blend mode of this layer to Soft Light blend mode and adjust the opacity to taste.
Above shows my layers using Photoshop. In Elements, the layers will be the same although your user interface will differ. If you have PSE 9, you can use layer masks as I have...see PSE9 layer mask video link I have linked below.
http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/featured/elements-9-easy-layer-masks/
If you do not have PSE 9, you can either use the eraser tool to erase what you do not need or use a clipping mask or clipping group. (Same thing different name. PSE 8 and PSE 9 call this a clipping mask while all older versions of Elements call this a clipping group.
See tutorial below if you need a tutorial on clipping mask/clipping group.
http://www.photokaboom.com/photography/learn/Photoshop_Elements/layers/layer_groups_clippi ng_masks/1_layer_groups_clipping_masks.htm
Alternate method:
You can also use Photoshop brushes and some white paint. Look for brushes that are high resolution...large pixel size...as the smaller brush sizes will be blurry if you have to size them up. These brushes can usually be found using shattered, shatter, broken, smashed, or cracked in the search term. These two sets are nice high resolution sets:
http://archaii.deviantart.com/art/Shatter-Glass-brushes-82308115
and
http://archaii.deviantart.com/art/Shatter-v2-New-101049266
Many more sets are out there on the net at this site and others. This set caught my eye as the brushes look nice and are big brushes. (Keep in mind brushes can be no more than 2500 px in height or width if you think about making brushes from your own images. Brushes that are small sized get blurry when brush tip size is increased so try to make them as large. This is why I suggest looking for large high resolution brushes to begin with.

How to Export with Transparent Background

I have created a logo in Freehand 10, and I need to export it
as an EPS with a transparent background to place in an InDesign
document. How do I export the file with a transparent background?
Thanks!
-Elisha

> Please excuse my lack of experience, but can you please
explain what you mean
> by "without screen image"?
In general contents of eps files (encapsulated postscript)
cannot be viewed with layout programs and alike. Therefore a screen
image must be included for placing. When the document is printed to
a postscript printer or exported as pdf the screen image is omitted
and the postscript code is used. In this case it is not 'What you
see is what you get' but "What you get is what you can't see'.
In Windows the screen image has always been a opaque bitmap
image but in mac screen image can be 'clipped'. In both platforms,
however, the postscript output is the same i.e. without background.
> I did try exporting as Illustrator 7, but it only came
in as a grey box in
> InDesign. I'm waiting on approval to purchase the
upgrade to Illustrator CS3.
I'm not sure if InDesign CS2 can show contents of eps files,
both Mac and Windows. I just tried exporting eps and ai from
FreeHand and they worked well in Windows InDesign CS3.
Usually eps file without screen image appear as white box and
all the images as grey boxes if Disply Performance is set to Fast
Disply in InDesign. So check InDesign display settings.
Also try to export eps with a screen image.
If the logo is simple with just outline objects it can be
copypasted into InDesign as well. In FreeHand 'copy special' and
select the clipboard format.
Jukka

Exporting slide with transparency (please assist)

Greetings, all. I would like to take the contents of a single slide and export them as a .png with the background transparent. The goal here is to make a graphic for the lower third of an imovie project. I found that in imovie '08 one can place an image with a transparent alpha channel over a video track. I would like to take a shape and some text and export it without any background, and thus far I am stumped.
Trying to abide by what I have read in the forum, in the Slide Inspector I have turned the background to "none." Then I have added a circle with a color fill, and then for testing purposes have exported it to a .png. The "none" background (white) is there in the exported document, whereas I want the circle to stand alone. A point of interest is that I tried to at least do this in Photoshop (i.e., take a solid fill, make the background transparent, save a .png, and upon import in iMovie, success. Further, when I preview these files in Quickview, the Photoshop-saved file has the background knocked out, the Keynote export maintains the white). Did I miss a step or do something wrong? It is important that this is done with a still image and not with a Quicktime file, as a file that is recognized as Quicktime will not superimpose onto a video track in iMovie like a still picture will.
Thanks,
Vince

I think you could use Preview and Skitch to do this. They're both free, you already have Preview and you can download Skitch from here.
http://www.plasq.com/skitch
In your specific instance, create a shape that's the same ratio as your content (4:3 or widescreen, etc.). Change this shape's opacity to zero. Then, layout your artwork as you want it to appear on the movie. Once you've got it done, you can use Preview Passthru to save it off as a PDF. Now that you've got the PDF, open Skitch, drag and drop the PDF into it. Give the PDF a transparent background
(instructions here)
http://blog.skitch.com/2008/05/19/skitch-usage-tips/skitch-transparent-backgroun d/
Set the file type of Skitch to .png, then drag and drop the file into iMovie. I just tried this and it worked great. I wish Preview could export with an Alpha channel (and I'm sure it used to) but since it doesn't, this works the same and costs the same

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.

Using animated gifs with transparent background.

Hi guys,
Keynotes 6.2.
I have been onto apple support with this problem.
I add a transparent animated gif to my project.
It show as a movie correctly in the presentation but when exported as quicktime or HTML the movies fail.
We eventually found out that quicktime does not support animated gifs. ( support.apple.com/kb/ht3775 )
So I exported the animation onto a folder with all the frames separately and brought them into final cut pro.
I then followed these tutorials on how to export with transparent background. ( http://provideocoalition.com/mspencer/video/fcp-x-and-alpha-channels and http://www.larryjordan.biz/fcp-export-transparency ).
I now have a quicktime movie that if I bring back into Final Cut Pro it has a transparent background.
However when I bring into keynotes it still has a black background. (presumably keynotes does not recognise the Apple Prores 444).
Any ideas how I can achieve what I need. ?
I am using a program called crazytalk animator and can output with transparent background. Animated Gif or a series of image stills BMP, JPEG, TGA or PNG.
Cheers
SteveW

This has been an ongoing issue for me since I switched from Powerpoint to Keynote. Most of the animated gifs with transparent backgrounds that I used with Powerpoint are no longer transparent in Keynote. You may want to search for those earlier threads on this topic...
To summarize: I've had to open up my animated gifs in After Effects and use the Color Key effect to restore transparency, with mixed success.
Good luck!

How do i export a flash movie as an animated gif with transparent background?

each export has the background in it.
I have looked into the publish setting for gif but no option there, or in the background colour setting in the main design window has any Alpha or Transparency setting.

Thought that issue went away. The only workaround I found was exporting a PNG sequence with transparency, importing it all back into a better animated GIF exporter like Fireworks as an image sequence and exporting it from there again. It will give you the best quality, control over the timeline, looping and various per-frame AGIF functionality.
But yes, it's a multi-step headache.

Can't export with alpha channel - Again!!!,

So, I have an intro that is designed as an overlay of the incoming video. The objects move out the way to reveal the video underneath. BUT, when I export the sequence the resulting movie has black in the background.
Now, I had this issue several months ago, and after tons of research and trial and error, all of a sudden it worked when I came back to Motion on another project. No explanation. It just worked.
Usually, I have the background set to Transparent and then export using Lossless and Alpha. Works fine. Well, not today. I've changed every export setting under the sun trying variations of Lossless with Alpha and also tried the Animation codec. No luck.
So, what is going on? Any thoughts?

Thanks for your help Patrick. I tell ya, I can't believe what's going on. As I said, this project until today has not caused me any issues what-so-ever. The other six sessions are totally fine. I also created a quick project with the same settings added text - then exported using the same settings I've used before, and it exports with the proper alpha channel.
Yet, I rebooted the Mac, made sure to delete old versions in the trash can and everything. Still, no alpha.
To keep moving forward, I literally had to use a color key in FCP to cut out the background color.
Crazy!

Flv export with alpha

Hi everybody,
I'm having the hardest time trying to get an flv with transparency.
I have a series of numbered photoshop files. Each file contains one partially transparent layer (no mask), and when I open the files as an image sequence, the transparency looks good. However, when I export to FLV with Alpha enabled, my FLV doesn't seem to have an alpha channel.
Is there something I'm missing here?
Thanks in advance,
Brian

Try to export them as .png 24bit with alpha. Flash works well with PNG.

Export project with Transparent Background

I need to export a Motion project with no solid color background and then import the .MOV into FCP to layer on top of preexisting footage. In project properties I have the transparent checked, but it still exports with a black background. Anyone know of a solution for this?

I cannot get a choice to set the background as transparent. I click edit>project properties and then the background color only offers colors, transparent is never a choice. I have set the color to black and then moved the slider and I have exported it on 100% and 0% and I still get the same results. I am exporting as an lossless+alpha and under the options I have selected a quicktime movie as the Kind and Animation as the Compressor. I have tried every possible combination and cannot get the project to export with a transparent background and like I said when I go into project properties there is no option for a transparent background, only colors.

Exporting title with transparent background

I'm using Premier Pro CS3 and want to export a title but have the background transparent. I'm sure there is a simple way to do this but don't know how. I'm trying to import this title file into another editor so I can see my underlying video but it's just black with the white title. I'm trying to prevent having to retype the rather lengthy title. I'm thinking this has something to do with alpha but I can't figure out how to make it work. Any help is appreciated.

In CS4, you can export a movie with an alpha channel that will allow you to superimpose that movie over background video in another application. I'm not positive that this is possible with CS3, but this thread at Creative Cow suggests that it's possible. Just put your title on track V1, with nothing in the background, and try the steps outlined there.
However, I'd like to suggest a potentially much easier solution: every editing application that I'm aware has some form of titling tool, though some may be more rudimentary than others. Assuming the editor that you're going to does have a titling tool, simply open up your original title in Premiere's titler, select the text (click in the text box so you're in edit mode, and then press Ctrl+A), copy the text (Ctrl+C) and then go to the other editor and create a new title there. Finally, press Ctrl+V to paste the text into the new title. You may have to a do a little formatting, but it'll save you retyping.
Also, if the other NLE you're going to is not on the same machine, just create a new text file and paste the text there. Save it, and move the text file to your destination computer, and then copy and paste the text into the titler.
EDIT: Sorry Ann! I totally missed your post. You had it first

EXPORT WITH ALPHA CHANNEL

I need to know how to export a clip with the alpha channel intact. I keyed a green screen shot and exported it, but everytime i open it in final cut it has a black background. Need help asap it is the last shot I have to do for a music video that has to be done by monday, thanks.

Are you sure your alpha is there? (check by pressing "a" with the mouse over the view window).
Did you try telling FCP that there is an alpha channel? If you did "Send to Shake", Final Cut Pro doesn't expect that the QuickTime it's getting back will contain an alpha channel (It's meant to match your sequence settings). You might try dragging the output directly into the browser to re-import it and see if it recognizes the alpha...
As a matter of fact, maybe you can check in QT Player, load it into QuickTime Player, cmd-j, click on the video track and play with the transparency setting. Try Straight Alpha - that should lead to the background going white - then you'll know its coming out of Shake properly and concentrate on getting FCP to recognize it...
If all else fails (I did just try it here and it worked), maybe try a TIFF or TGA sequence?
post back,
Patrick

Export with transparency / alpha

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