Question: Quick Look in Finder; problems with alpha channels

Hi
"Quick look" in Finder is great for quick presentations of a folders selected contents but it only works with images that contains no alpha channels or masks. Is there any way to work around this to display say PhotoShop documents with alpha channels? Or any plug-ins/applications that can help?
thanks.

This has been broken forever in OS X, and I don't know why, because it used to work just fine. I suspect the engineers did something to QuickTime that causes this problem, but it has been borked for so long I don't remember when the ability to correctly display files went wrong. I just remember that once upon a time all sorts of things from Apple worked correctly in displaying such files, but pretty much nothing does now. This includes the Finder, Preview, QuickLook, and various third-party image browsers that use Apple's own system level image handling abilities, such as VitaminSee or CocoaViewX. When I need to actually see what's there, I browse with Adobe's Bridge.
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

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Problem with Alpha Channel

The top level track on my project contains an alpha channel. However, being the top level track the tracks below it are invisible.
I have read the "Compositing, alpha channels, and adjusting clip opacity" page. It tells me that I "can choose how to interpret the alpha channel in a file in the Interpret Footage dialog box. Choose Invert Alpha Channel to swap areas of opacity with areas of transparency, or choose Ignore Alpha Channel to not use the alpha channel information at all."
However, when I do this (ie. inverse the alpha channel in the asset) I get the following before and after results:
Summary of goal: I want to adjust the transparency of the top track so that the lower tracks appear.
Help.

If you want to adjust the transparency of a clip, you modify its Opacity property.
Changing the alpha channel properties in the Interpret Footage settings is for when the alpha channel of an asset is not being interpreted/used correctly by the application.

Texture problem with alpha channel

[code]
on createMySphere
sr= p3d.newModelResource("mySphere01", #sphere)
s = p3d.newModel("s", sr)
s.transform.position = vector (0,0,0)
s.shader = p3d.newShader("sShdr2", #standard)
txS= p3d.newTexture("txS", #fromcastmember, member("image"))
s.shader.textureList[1] = txS
sr.radius = 100
sr.resolution =60
end
[code]
im using png image format for textures, because i want to
make user to its alpha channel. The problem comes when the image
has the alpha, The sphere disappears no matter how the alpha is
painted.
how do i make use of the alpha channel, it doesn't even have
to be in the same image.

thanks i used #both on my sphere it shows up but i dont see
the image only black the other side.
i used it on my plane and the texture is gone.
on createPlane
planeR = p3d.newModelResource("plane01", #plane)
planeO = p3d.newModel("planeO", planeR)
planeO.transform.position = vector (0,0,0)
p3d.model("planeO").visibility = #both
planeO.shader = p3d.newShader("pShdr", #standard)
txPlaneO = p3d.newTexture("txPlaneO", #fromcastmember,
member("Asphalt10"))
planeO.shader.textureList[1] = txPlaneO
planeR.width = 5000.0
planeR.length = 5000.0
planeO.rotate (90, 90, 0)
end createPlane

Problem with aLpha channel export to quicktime

Hi! after hours of trying this here is my last hope:
I masked an imported qt-movie with chroma key a person in FCE 4. That was fine. But when I export Quicktime (million+, without compressor, etc.) there is no alphachannel anymore. I need that for the web (FLV). I f I export FLV FCE freezes at 0%.
I am shure out there is somebody who has an idea. Pleaes

Do not render the contents of the sequence. If you render, the sequence is exported using the render files. With the sequence unrendered export using the Animation codec with colors set to millions+.

Why can't I see the Finder thumbnails for .mov files with alpha channels?

Ever since I upgraded to Mavericks I haven't been able to see the thumbnail for or preview using spacebar any .MOV clips that contain alpha channels in Finder. PSDs and PNGs with alpha channels are fine, and I can still see their thumbnails and previews, it's just .MOV clips with alpha. Here are a couple screenshots:
Most of these clips are using a PNG codec, but I converted on to the Animation codec and tested it in After Effects to make sure it kept the alpha channel and it did, but the same thumbnail error persists.
Any idea why this might be or how to fix it?
27" iMac late 2012
1TB Fusion
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2048 MB
16GB RAM
OS X Mavericks
Thanks.

ok, have copied the photos again from the memory card and hey presto, it all works fine. So in summary...for RW2 files from GF1 camera, I have no thumbnail images, couldn't view in Preview, and neither Quickview nor Coverview were working. Ran the bit of code provided at "https://discussions.apple.com/message/18369759#18369759" (thanks to Snoop Dogg) and then recopied the photos onto my Mac (only required for photos copied since upgrading to Lion, everything from before the upgrade is fine anyway).
Hope others find this helpful.

Sudden problem with importing tiff files with alpha channel (CS5)

OK this is driving me nuts. For years I have been importing image files that have an alpha channel into FCP as.tiff files. I use Photoshop files only when I want to use the layers as they are too cumbersome otherwise). I have recent upgraded Photoshop, etc. to CS5 and now FCP won't import them anymore. I get a message saying: "File error: 1 file(s) recognized, 0 access denied, 1 unknown"
I am not doing anything different and tiff files created in just the same way in an earlier version of Photoshop import and work just fine. Is this a CS5 bug? Does anyone know of a work around. I want to keep using tiff files as they seem to work best for me with alpha channel work (and I don't see why I need to reinvent the wheel).
Thanks
A

I've had a similar issue recently. Same TIFF files downloaded from the same server, different FCP project, new error. I either see"File error: 1 file(s) recognized, 0 access denied, 1 unknown" or I get the even stranger, "Unrecognized file type."
I can open them in PS and save them again as TIF, same results. I know these are not CMYK files but even if resave the TIF as RGB, I get the same results, they are not recognized by FCP.
But if I open them in PS and save them as PNG with alpha, they improt fine.
I have no idea what's going on.
bogiesan
Message was edited by: David Bogie Chq-1

Finding special effects with alpha channel compatible with final cut studio

does anyone know a special effect of a gun flash and explosions with alpha channel compatible with final cut pro studio? I would like to be able to buy these special effects. thanks.

ArtBeats.com
Depending on your needs, it's usually better to create muzzle flashes in Motion or After Effects.
bogiesan

ImageIO PNG Writing Slow With Alpha Channel

I'm writing a project that generates images with alpha channels, which I want to save in PNG format. Currently I'm using javax.ImageIO to do this, using statements such as:
ImageIO.write(image, "png", file);
I'm using JDK 1.5.0_06, on Windows XP.
The problem is that writing PNG files is very slow. It can take 9 or 10 seconds to write a 640x512 pixel image, ending up at around 300kb! I have read endless documentation and forum threads today, some of which detail similar problems. This would be an example:
[http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do?bug_id=6215304|http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do?bug_id=6215304]
This surely must be resolvable, but after much searching I've yet to find a solution. If it makes any difference, I ONLY want to write png image, and ONLY with an alpha channel (not ever without), in case there are optimisations that that makes possible.
If anyone can tell me how to address this problem, I'd be very grateful.
Many thanks, Robert Redwood.

This isn't a solution, but rather a refinement of the issue.
Some of the sources I was reading were implying that the long save time might be due to a CPU heavy conversion process that had to take place before the BufferedImage could be saved. I decided to investigate:
I loaded back in one of the (slowly) saved PNG images using ImageIO.read(file). Sure enough, the BufferedImage returned differed from the BufferedImage I had created. The biggest difference was the color model, which was DirectColorModel on the image I was generating, and was ComponentColorModel on the image I was loading back in.
So I decided to manually convert the image to be the same as how it seemed to end up anyway. I wrote the following code:
      * Takes a BufferedImage object, and if the color model is DirectColorModel,
      * converts it to be a ComponentColorModel suitable for fast PNG writing. If
      * the color model is any other color model than DirectColorModel, a
      * reference to the original image is simply returned.
      * @param source The source image.
      * @return The converted image.
     public static BufferedImage convertColorModelPNG(BufferedImage source)
          if (!(source.getColorModel() instanceof DirectColorModel))
               return source;
          ICC_Profile newProfile = ICC_Profile.getInstance(ColorSpace.CS_sRGB);
          ICC_ColorSpace newSpace = new ICC_ColorSpace(newProfile);
          ComponentColorModel newModel = new ComponentColorModel(newSpace, true, false, ComponentColorModel.TRANSLUCENT, DataBuffer.TYPE_BYTE);
          PixelInterleavedSampleModel newSampleModel = new PixelInterleavedSampleModel(DataBuffer.TYPE_BYTE, source.getWidth(), source.getHeight(), 4, source.getWidth() * 4, new int[] { 0, 1, 2, 3 });
          DataBufferByte newDataBuffer = new DataBufferByte(source.getWidth() * source.getHeight() * 4);
          ByteInterleavedRaster newRaster = new ByteInterleavedRaster(newSampleModel, newDataBuffer, new Point(0, 0));
          BufferedImage dest = new BufferedImage(newModel, newRaster, false, new Hashtable());
          int[] srcData = ((DataBufferInt)source.getRaster().getDataBuffer()).getData();
          byte[] destData = newDataBuffer.getData();
          int j = 0;
          byte argb = 0;
          for (int i = 0; i < srcData.length; i++)
               j = i * 4;
               argb = (byte)(srcData[i] >> 24);
               destData[j] = argb;
               destData[j + 1] = 0;
               destData[j + 2] = 0;
               destData[j + 3] = 0;
          //Graphics2D g2 = dest.createGraphics();
          //g2.drawImage(source, 0, 0, null);
          //g2.dispose();
          return dest;
     }My apologies if that doesn't display correctly in the post.
Basically, I create a BufferedImage the hard way, matching all the parameters of the image I get when I load in a PNG with alpha channel.
The last bit, (for simplicity), just makes sure I copy over the alpha channel of old image to the new image, and assumes the color was black. This doesn't make any real speed difference.
Now that runs lightning quick, but interestingly, see the bit I've commented out? The alternative to setting the ARGB values was to just draw the old image onto the new image. For a 640x512 image, this command (drawImage) took a whopping 36 SECONDS to complete! This may hint that the problem is to do with conversion.
Anyhow, I got rather excited. The conversion went quickly. Here's the rub though, the image took 9 seconds to save using ImageIO.write, just the same as if I had never converted it. :(
SOOOOOOOOOOOO... Why have I told you all this?
Well, I guess I think it narrows dow the problem, but eliminates some solutions (to save people suggesting them).
Bottom line, I still need to know why saving PNGs using ImageIO is so slow. Is there any other way to fix this, short of writing my own PNG writer, and indeed would THAT fix the issue?
For the record, I have a piece of C code that does this in well under a second, so it can't JUST be a case of 'too much number-crunching'.
I really would appreciate any help you can give on this. It's very frustrating.
Thanks again. Robert Redwood.

Smooth conversion of SWF to AVI with Alpha Channel

today i tried a program which claims the unique program in
the world can convert
SWF to AVI with alpha
channel, i find that this is the best program which can
synchronization audio and video, and there won't be watermark in
the middle of your video, i can also use it to capture pictures
when i play the swf file, it is a good function that i can put the
picture in my phone

Hi there Schumi-z!
Well, it seems many poeple have the very same problem. Let me explain what I have got and what I look for.
I am working on a simple video editor. This program is to take a video as input, read the video and "chop" it automatically. Taken certain frames to different new videos, from one to 10 or more, according to certain parameters of the frame analized.
What I have got until today is a way of opening the video, reading it frame by frame, extracting a frame, analize it. But I'm yet to develop a way to write new videos taking a group of this previously separated frames.
I would like to know, if you are trying to solve the same or similar problem which in any time it envolves writing a new video file, so we can work together and solve this problem as soon as possible.
This work is also a part of my research to complete my thesis work. It would be an honor to have a quote mentioning someone from around the world.
Well, I hope to hear from you soon.
Have a nice day

Can no longer import QT files with alpha channel

I have been using these client supplied QT with alpha channel files just fine for weeks, then all of a sudden, after a crash the other day, I was unable to open sequences with these files and exoprt them, the exporter would just freeze. the clips played in the timeline, but VERY sluggish.
On the reccomendation of a few posts around here, I removed the clips from the project, and now I cannot import them back in, I get a "the importer reported a generic error" message. I am able to open in QT pro and export to a new file that will import to PPro, but I lose the alpha channel.
As always, I'm up against a deadline and any help would be greatly appreciated.
I have installed QT 7.07, no help.
I'm on a windows 7 machine running CS master collection 5.0, Quad core AMD with 8 gig RAM.
These files worked fine just days ago!!!!
BTW, I just switched over to Premiere a few months ago and to honest I can't understand how anyone would stick with this buggy software, as a professional I've never used anything this bad before.

Welcome to the forum.
Try these. Attempt to re-import after each one:
Clean the media cache database via Edit | Preferences | Media
If step 2 doesn't work, then find all the .qtindex, .mpgindex, .cfa and .pek files associated with the media that's supposed to be in your project and delete them. Then clean the media cache database again.
Launch Pr and while it's launching, hold down the Alt + Shift keys until the Welcome screen appears. Alt resets your preferences and Shift resets the plug-in cache.
To address the other issues you say you've been having with Pr, you should start a different thread (or threads). Coming from other editors, there may be a difference in the way Pr does things that produce unexpected results that may be seen as bugs. More serious issues, such as crashes, can often be caused by 3rd-party hardware like AJA, Matrox or BlackMagic and the associated drivers. Outdated or incorrect drivers for audio and video cards can also cause problems. I recommend that you start troubleshooting those areas first.
Other issues may have workarounds. If you have serious, reproducible problems that have no workaround, then please file bug reports here:
Adobe - Feature Request/Bug Report Form
-Jeff

What codec to convert .MXF and MP4 files into to use with alpha channels in Ae and Pr CS6?

When I import .mxf File, shot on a Canon C300, into after effects, the alpha channel options are greyed out, when I look in, interpret footage, main. This also is the case importing .MP4 files, shot on a Gopro hero 3. I used to use final cut and using compressor convert the files to pro res 4444 or 422. What's my new workflow for preparing files with alpha channels to use in After Effect and Premiere and do I use Media Encoder to do it?

When I import .mxf File, shot on a Canon C300, into after effects, the alpha channel options are greyed out, when I look in, interpret footage, main. This also is the case importing .MP4 files, shot on a Gopro hero 3.
Better question: Where do you expect that Alpha channel to come from and contain any useful info for transparency? You're making a fuss over a non-issue. Unless you apply keying or other methods of creating transparency, even if there were an Alpha channel it would be fully opaque and then what's the point?
Mylenium

Automator or Applescript using png files with alpha channel

I have hundred of png files with alpha channel.
I want to suppress alpha channel.
How can i do it using Automator or Applescript ?
Thank you very much.

You can use the free command line image processing tool ImageMagick in your Applescripts or Automator workflows, as well as from a Terminal shell.
You can download ImageMagick from http://www.imagemagick.org, but Cactuslab has simplified installation by putting together an installer package. It’s available at http://cactuslab.com/imagemagick/. Download the package and double-click on it. Follow the instructions to install. It will install ImageMagick into /opt/ImageMagick and add it to your $PATH by creating a file in /etc/paths.d/. Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
The two ImageMagick commands we’re concerned with are “convert” and “mogrify”. Convert is more efficient for multiple and piped operations on the same image file, and mogrify is more efficient for batch processing. Generally speaking, convert will output a file separate from the input file. Unless a path is specified, mogrify will overwrite the input file with the output file. An important distinction.
You can perform various operations on the alpha channel using arguments after either the convert or mogrify command. Two of the available arguments are:
-alpha off - Disables the image's transparency channel. Does not delete or change the existing data, just turns off the use of that data.
-alpha remove - Composite the image over the background color.
Also of use are the -flatten and -background options:
-flatten - overlay all the image layers into a final image and may be used to underlay an opaque color to remove transparency from an image.
-background - sets the background color.
Start off using the convert command with a single image to see the effect and adjust to your liking. Once you’ve achieved the desired outcome, then use the mogrify command to batch process the chosen images.
Before getting into how to use Automator or Applescript in your workflow, use Terminal and the command line to see the effect on a single image. Copy one image to your ~/Desktop. In Terminal change the directory to ~/Desktop by typing the following command and pressing the Enter key:
cd ~/Desktop
Then choose the option you are looking for, -alpha remove for instance, type the following command and press the Enter key:
convert input-photo.png -alpha remove output-photo.png
You can check the alpha channel (transparency) and background in the Preview app, go View > Show Image Background from the menu bar.
Once you’re ready to batch proces, place all the photos you want to convert with the same command into one folder. Copy the folder to your ~/Desktop. Let’s assume you’ve labeled the folder “InPhotos”. It’s prudent to manipulate copies in case something goes amiss. In that event you can copy the folder with the originals again and start over. Create a new empty folder on your ~/Desktop and call it “OutPhotos”. Let’s also assume your home directory is called “Me”. The following command will process the photos from the InPhotos folder and put them in the OutPhotos folder:
mogrify -alpha remove -path /Users/me/Desktop/OutPhotos/ /Users/me/Desktop/InPhotos/*png
According to Apple Technical Note TN2065:
"when you use just a command name instead of a complete path, the shell uses a list of directories (known as your PATH) to try and find the complete path to the command. For security and portability reasons, do shell script ignores the configuration files that an interactive shell would read"
So, you need to use the full path to to ImageMagick commands, unlike in the shell where you can just use the command name.
To batch process using Automator, use the “Run Shell Script” action (note: retain the single space at the beginning of the last line):
/opt/ImageMagick/bin/mogrify \
-alpha remove \
-path /Users/Me/Desktop/OutPhotos/ \
/Users/Me/Desktop/InPhotos/*png
To batch process using Script Editor (Applescript), use the “do shell script” command:
do shell script "/opt/ImageMagick/bin/mogrify -alpha remove -path /Users/pd/Desktop/OutPhotos/ /Users/pd/Desktop/InPhotos/*png"
Further info on ImageMagick:
http://www.imagemagick.org/script/command-line-options.php#alpha
http://www.imagemagick.org/Usage/masking/#remove
http://www.imagemagick.org/index.php
http://www.imagemagick.org/script/command-line-tools.php
http://www.imagemagick.org/script/command-line-options.php
Examples:
The original PNG image:
-alpha off:
-alpha remove:
-background black -flatten:
-background blue -flatten:
-channel alpha -evaluate Divide 2:
-channel alpha -evaluate Divide 2 -background black -flatten:

Export PNG images with alpha channel from flash

Hi,
I have this FLA with animation and when played, the animation has alpha channel. I can’t understand why when I look in the library I see the frames without the alpha channel and also when I try to export/extract the image again the image don’t have alpha channel.
How is it that in flash this image has alpha channel and how to get it out like that into PNG?
Here is the link to download the FLA:
http://download759.mediafire.com/nb749r29220g/e0636ab0ru6ouoa/Untitled-1.fla

"when played, the animation has alpha channel"
how are you playing the animation? control/enter in Flash, Publishing to a Web page or what?
How can you tell that the animation has the alpha channel? What exactly are you seeing?
What is the aniimation? a series of images, one image moving? Are teweens imvolved?
" when I try to export/extract the image again the image don’t have alpha channel"
How are you exporting the image? is it a single image? or a series of frames that makes up an animation?
What was the file format of the original image? you brought that image into Flash and animated it? Now you want to export as a .png with transparency?
Have you ever tried to export a simple .png before so that you see and understand the dialog box that pops up during export? are you chosing "24 bit with alpha channel" in the "Colors" choice?
For those of us who may not want to download your file, please provide a more detailed describtion of everything related to this question.
Best wishes,
Adninjastrator

Import QuickTime with Alpha channel into Flash CS3

Is it possible to import a QuickTime movie with alpha channel into an FLA and have the FLA recognize the Alpha channel? When I've done this, it just shows opaque black instead of an alpha channel. I need that black to be transparent so I can see the layers below the video layer.
Thanks in advance for any help.

I don't know the answer to your question.
Do you have a video player where you can verify that the alpha channel in the video is displaying as you expect?.... that is, the background is transparent?
I have used flv files with alpha and a NetStream vid player to overlay Flash video on a Web page.... but not directly in the timeline.:
http://www.mrfilmbiz.com/
the walkon... could have had other action (like Flash artwork) going on in the background... but that may not really be what you are looking for.
But lacking any other solutions, you could have your alpha channel vid file playing in one Flash file over the top of a second Flash file doing the artwork stuff.
Adninjastrator

Exporting a move clip with alpha channel

Hi there,
I’m trying to export a move clips with alpha channel.
I’m trying to export an animation with Premiere CS5. I made an animation of a rotating object in Maya and exported it with alpha channel as tiff images. Then they are edited with Photoshop to give them a drop shadow.
My problem is this. Can I export this tiff animation with the alpha channel?
My plane is to use move clips over backgrounds in a game – depending on the result there are different animations playing on top of several different backgrounds. There for the objects has to have a transparent/alpha channel over the backgrounds.
Again the reason for this is the complexity of the game and to make the game looking as real as possible. I’m hoping for some help here to make my plan possible
…thanks

Thanks alot for the help.
But now I’m wondering how to get the file size down?
The 32bit and alpha channel just increase the file size from about 1MB to 9,3MB, which is pretty much??
…any ides mate?

Question: Quick Look in Finder; problems with alpha channels

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