Exporting ProRes 4444 w/ Alpha – Empty spots on the timeline show up black

[Shane Ross]

Put SLUG in those spots maybe?

Shane
Little Frog Post
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[Joe Coleman]

I was thinking something like that. Maybe a text layer with just a space typed out below everything. But I’m really hoping there’s an answer that’s not a work around. This should be a pretty standard thing that should just work, I would think.

[Shane Ross]

ANY answer would be a workaround. You tried exporting with nothing there…it didn’t work. So you need to try another solution.

[Joe Coleman] “This should be a pretty standard thing that should just work, I would think.”

There are lots of things that people do that they think “should just work” because it works in their logic. It might not work in real life, in the programming. So, if what you thought would work, didn’t, try something else. I keep swearing at my Avid system because there are so many things it does that defies logic. So I have to learn to work the way IT thinks. yes, it is a pain sometimes…and this is why I liked FCP, because in many many ways, it worked the way it thought it should. But then there are times it doesn’t.

Try it and see..

Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Joe Coleman]

Yeah, that’s true.

I’m actually the graphics guy, and don’t have fcp, so I haven’t been able to try this out yet. I just want to find a way to get edits for AE from the editors with this alpha working, and trying not to ask them to do too much, especially since I want this to be standard delivery for all projects going to graphics.

[Nick Meyers]

” Maybe a text layer with just a space typed out below everything”

i think that is the answer, and it’s actually really simple to do in FCP.

Sequence Menu > Add Tracks.
ad a new Video track below all other tracks, (or before base track.. cant remember the terminology)

ANOTHER APPROACH: select all , lock audio tracks, use Option + Up arrow to move all V clips up 1 track.

open the text generator with Control + X

holding OPTION, drag the duration field from the canvass in to the Text generator
(or copy/ paste the duration)

in the text gen, delete the “Sample Text” text, (no need for a space)
edit to V1

done

you *could* shift drag all your other video clips back down, slicing up the empty text generator,
BUT that will not work if you have any transitions into black
it WILL work if you have all cuts to black

(shift drag will keep your clips in sync)

nick