CS5 and ProRes 4444 alpha channels

[Douglas Devore]

Certainly a valid question! Yes, AE CS5 is installed on the same machine as FCP. I also have CS3 on the same machine which does honor the alpha channel from ProRes 4444.

[Todd Kopriva]

Do you have AJA codecs installed?

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Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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[Daniel Ramirez]

Unfortunately, there is a known bug with alpha in ProRes4444 in CS5. We’re actively working to fix it in a future patch. In the meantime, here’s a workaround that will restore the ability to see the alpha channel in ProRes footage:
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If you are experiencing this problem on Mac, here is a temporary workaround(originally posted here: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/628662?decorator=print&displayFullThread=true) until this can be fixed in a future dot release:

1. Close any production premium apps (e.g. Ae, Pr)

2. Locate the MediaCoreQTCodecRulesCS5.xml file in your user Library/Preferences/Application Support/Adobe/Common folder

3. Make a duplicate copy of this file in case you need to roll back later

4. Edit the file and locate the ‘ap4h’, ‘mactel’ entries for both encode AND decode. Change the deepdecodefourcc to’ b64a’ to exactly match the following example lines:

5. Launch AE and try your footage again. Please note that exports to ProRes 444 in AE will also use the QT codec. Keep an eye out for possible differences in metadata content or embedded color profile.

On Windows, the fix is similar but the .xml file is located in your user AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Common\ directory and the entries for codec= ‘ap4h’ and platform=’windows’ need to be modified instead.

Dan Ramirez
After Effects
QA Engineer

[Todd Kopriva]

I’ve just published a blog post that addresses this issue:
https://blogs.adobe.com/toddkopriva/2010/05/prores-4444-and-prores-422-in.html

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Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
———————————————————————————————————
If a page of After Effects Help answers your question, please consider rating it. If you have a tip, technique, or link to share—or if there is something that you’d like to see added or improved—please leave a comment.

[Douglas Devore]

This solved my problem. Thanks. I had to reload the ProRes footage in existing upgraded projects I’d already saved in CS5 before this fix and reset the interpretation of the alpha. Then everything worked beautifully.

[Haley Stibbard]

Hi

I have tried this on the adobe blog and it didnt work. I do still have cs4 installed would hat be the problem u think? i do know of the work arounds, but i would like to fix the bug and not have to swap to 16bit etc or turn off the broadcast monitors.

Strangely enough, we have just installed an almost identical mac system the only difference is that it came with the full version of cs5 not an upgrade and cs4 is not installed at all. I dont want to uninstall cs4 tho in case cs5 turns up more bugs..

[Michael Heid]

I’ve got another thing to add with this issue. I have a “4-color-gradient” applied to a solid and animated the opacity from 100 to 0. With the 4444 alpha render, there is no alpha channel created. There must be a bug with 4 Color Gradient and Prores4444 cause it renders the alpha fine in Animation codec but registers no alpha in prores4444 – even with Adobe’s workaround applied for alpha in 4444 and version 10.0.1