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Can the After Effects preview output both RGB and Alpha channel?
I’m trying to figure out if I can use After Effects for live broadcast as a CG (character generator) for lower thirds and other such video overlays. In other words, is the video preview in After Effects sending (or capable of sending) RGB and Alpha channel simultaneously, without the need to render.
Currently I am sending the preview to a monitor via SDI using a blackmagic card, but it is only sending the RGB channel (meaning I see transparency as black). It has to be live, so no time to render before pushing to broadcast, and text changes quickly.
For example: the names of 6 competitors in a short race, and I only know who they will 20-30 seconds before the names have to appear on the screen (on top of live video feed).
I realize that hardware plays an important role in this too, but I need to rule out if the software is even capable of this function.
Thanks for any input you can offer.
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6 Replies
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Dave –
You’ll get a laugh out of this one: I was art director at an ABC affiliate in NH for many years. Our sister station in Massachusetts (WCVB) announced, and it was touted in a number of trade publications, that they had come up with a way to make their After Effects and Premiere output capable of just what was discussed above. They had partnered with a tech firm in the Boston area, who, surely enough, had found a way to do this. They spent God knows how much money to do it, and it ultimately proved to be much more expensive than the hardware and software they were using. They now use the Adobe Suite for what it was meant – a creative graphics production tool.
Here’s a link to the company which developed the capability – they no longer seem to be offereing it, but they do have some cool products:
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
Thanks, Dave. I had assumed the answer was no, but I couldn’t find any info (yes or no) about this online so I appreciate your response.
Cheers!
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As they say, Dave, “Why buy it for a hundred dollars when you can build it for a thousand.” Sometimes this TV business just doesn’t make sense.
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
Hi Troy,
Stumbled upon your post as I was hoping I could achieve this through Adobe products too. It seems it is actually easily possible (but unfortunately not using SDI key fill etc like you want), instead you will need to have a tricaster or newtek switcher in the mix.. Adobe AE or Premier will output simple baselines and premier timeline outputs over NewTeks IP (NDI) protocol – see recent video here https://vimeo.com/214514754. Having said that, if you don’t have a spare Tricaster lying around, then it would be an expensive exercise to purchase a Tricaster switcher just so you could use Adobe products as a CG. We’re in the position of already having an existing Tricaster in our system, so its a little easier for us to just add in a PC running an Adobe product
Dan
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Thanks for the response, Dan, I appreciate it. We don’t have a Tricaster unfortunately, but the gig I was prepping for has come and gone anyway, so I no longer have a reason to delve into this topic. That being said, the video you shared is very interesting and I’ll be sure to forward it along to my teammates who work with this kind of gear more often than I do.
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Here is a way to use a cheap CG. It’s called SimpleSupers.com. It uses PowerPoint and a computer with 3 displays. It generates an alpha channel from the transparent objects on the slide and outputs both for use with your video switcher. Pretty cool.
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