ae to fcp, alpha, matte and clip

[Walter Soyka]

[Heather Crank] “I’m being asked to render out an ae file with 3 files for each animation: Clip, Alpha and Matte…this is for fcp 7. I know how to export an alpha only files…but how do I export for a Clip and Matte???”

This is for an alpha transition in FCP, where you can create a custom wipe with an image.

Clip is the image that you’ll see on screen during the wipe. It’s RGB from AE, or RGBA with straight alpha.

Alpha is the transparency channel for the clip. If you don’t include it in the clip itself, you can include a grayscale alpha channel separately here.

Matte refers to the wipe. Any pixel that is white will show the outgoing clip of the transition, and any pixel that is black will show the incoming clip. Gray areas are mixed. Your transition should start in all white and end in all black.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

[Heather Crank]

Thanks Walter. That really helps!

So, for output, I would render once using alpha only (for alpha), and render once using rbg only (for the clip), then what settings do I use to render out the the clip matte?

Thank you!

Heather

[Walter Soyka]

[Heather Crank] “So, for output, I would render once using alpha only (for alpha), and render once using rbg only (for the clip), then what settings do I use to render out the the clip matte?”

Correct on both counts.

There is no specific setting for you to use to render the wipe matte. You’ll need to design a separate animation, related to your main animation, that controls the transition.

For example, if your clip is a round logo that grows out from the center of the screen, you’d want the matte animation to follow the general shape. Let the matte start in all white (so all pixels in the transition are on the outgoing clip in FCP), and grow a black circle until it fills the screen (thus transitioning in the incoming clip in FCP).

In other words, the clip and alpha are used to show the animation you’re designing over the transition point in FCP, and the wipe matte is used to control the transition under your animation from one clip to the next.

It might be easier to show than to tell. Download Apple’s free Alpha Transition pack and take a look at the movies.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

[Heather Crank]

Got it! Thanks so much Walter!

[Heather Crank]

ok…I’m back. So I created an alpha only channel, an rbg straight alpha channel and tried using a luma matte for the matte wipe..but the transition now has a light white edge to the right of the transition/image edge.

This seems like it should be simple…feel like I’m missing something. Anyone able to help???

I’ve been all over the fcp sites…but because I can’t see the end result, I can’t tell if it’s working until it comes back to me.

[Walter Soyka]

[Heather Crank] “So I created an alpha only channel, an rbg straight alpha channel and tried using a luma matte for the matte wipe..but the transition now has a light white edge to the right of the transition/image edge… because I can’t see the end result, I can’t tell if it’s working until it comes back to me.”

Here’s how you can simulate FCP’s Alpha Transition:

Clip Alpha Matte is a luma matte for Clip, and Wipe Matte is a luma matte for FCP Clip A as it transitions into FCP Clip B. (I split Clip A in the attached AE screenshot at the start of the transition to make it easier to use the luma matte.)

For a smooth transition, the Clip Alpha Matte should start and end in full black. The Wipe Matte should start in full white and end in full black. Grays in between will control the opacity of the clip and the transition from A to B, respectively.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

[Heather Crank]

thanks Walter…the screen shot helps!

Heather