Importing transparent feathered Photoshop files

[Oliver Peters]

You must rasterize type and merge layer effects like drop shadows, glows, etc. Easiest way in a single step is to make visible those layers and effects you want to see and “save as” PNG format. Forget alphas. The areas where you see the checkerboard transparent BG in Photoshop will be keyed out in Avid. Import into Avid with alpha set to invert.

Sincerely,
Oliver

Oliver Peters
Post-Production & Interactive Media
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com

[Jonathan Capra]

I did rasterize the text layers and the effects. And I merged everything to one layer before saying. Another test file I tried, I just made a one-layer file, drew a filled rectangle, then took a feathered eraser and made a hand-drawn smooth edge around it. Still I get a white or black glow around it.

I did not try PNG though. I will try that. (I tried PSD’s and TIFFs (with Alpha Channel enabled)) But does PNG allow for 256-levels of alpha? Or is it binary transparency like in a transparent GIF file?

[Oliver Peters]

[Fongaboo] “But does PNG allow for 256-levels of alpha?”

Yes, a PNG file is an Adobe format that is a compressed 24-bit file with embedded 8-bit alpha information. On your previous test file, are you using the Photoshop transparency values or are you creating a separate alpha? If the latter, what does the alpha channel look like in Photoshop? Does it have the feathered edges?

Sincerely,
Oliver

Oliver Peters
Post-Production & Interactive Media
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com

[Jonathan Capra]

> On your previous test file, are you using the Photoshop transparency
> values or are you creating a separate alpha? If the latter, what
> does the alpha channel look like in Photoshop? Does it have the
> feathered edges?

I tried it first with just Photoshop transparency. Then I tried again, first making an actual Alpha Channel by going to Load Selection, choosing Transparency, then going into Channels, creating a new channel and then filling the selection with White (ie. 100% opaque). Since the selection was feathered, it created an alpha with a feathered edge best I could see.

[Oliver Peters]

Hmmm…. It sounds like you are doing it all correctly, but the symptom you describe is typical of when a layer effect is not merged. When you create the file, do you delete any invisible layers, which have the raw effect?

For example, create a graphic with 3 text layers above a blank transparent BG. Add a drop shadow to each text layer. Now above each, create a blank new layer. Link it to the layer below and merge. You now should have 3 layers in which the text has been rasterized and the shadow is married to it. Any other layers should be deleted (I think merging gets rid of them anyway), so you are left with three layers over a blank BG. If you now import this into Avid with alpha inverted, you should get three keyable layers as well as a small sequence with the titles on separate video tracks. These should all be cleanly keyable.

What about bit- depth? These should be 8-bit RGB, not 16-bit, not CMYK. What about layer blend values.? These should all be set to normal, not overlays, screen, etc.

One other thing. Do you have render-on-the-fly enabled? What are your RT settings? How does it look when you render the effect in Avid? You might be seeing this because you don’t have the RT enabled.

Good luck.

Sincerely,
Oliver

Oliver Peters
Post-Production & Interactive Media
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com

[Alex Udell]

Hi Guys…

I’m certainly no Avid expert, but a black edge is usually an indication is of double “pre-multiplication” or a source..meaning photoshop probably premultiplies the image when saving it out…

and the Avid is again pre-multiplying the image on the way in.

Is there an option in the avid import to disable pre-multiply?

if so, that may be the culprit.

Alex Udell
lead demo artist and trainer
PEI Graphic Technology http://www.profileeast.com
My Reel: https://alexudell.no-ip.biz
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[Oliver Peters]

[Alex Udell] “Is there an option in the avid import to disable pre-multiply?”

Hi Alex,

Good to hear from you. Yes, you’re right that this is what it sounds like, but I believe what is being described is far coarser than this sort of error. In any case, Avid has no settings for this. It has import settings for size, color space and alpha polarity but nothing else.

Sincerely,
Oliver

Oliver Peters
Post-Production & Interactive Media
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com

[J Smith]

Avid always premultiplies the alpha (unless you’re importing under something like Boris where you can choose).

Make your alpha with a visible background color that will mesh with the video you’re putting it over. Need a white font with no black fringing? Make the alpha with white behind it. There will be slight fringing, but being white it will match.

Give that a try–good luck.

[Alex Udell]

ahhh…not to sound like a jerk…but that’s not really a solution.

What if you need a title over a wide shot of crowd?

This has been done b4, there has to be a standard way of addressing it that we are overlooking…

Alex Udell
lead demo artist and trainer
PEI Graphic Technology http://www.profileeast.com
My Reel: https://alexudell.no-ip.biz
COMBUSTION EXCHANGE FTP: ftp://combustionexchange.no-ip
Logon: combustion_user
PW: learn

[Oliver Peters]

[J Smith] “Make your alpha with a visible background color that will mesh with the video you’re putting it over. Need a white font with no black fringing? Make the alpha with white behind it. There will be slight fringing, but being white it will match.”

J,

Sorry to be a nudge, but this simply isn’t true. Also the way in which Avid reacts to an embedded alpha, such as a Photoshop transparency value or an embedded alpha in a PNG is different. I’m not quibbling with the pre-multiplied part, but merely the results you describe. The way Avid keys does effect the level of “fuzziness” of a soft edge or the opacity of a see-through shadow, but that’s basically a minor tweak. You won’t get EXACTLY the same result as you see in Photoshop, but it will be pretty darn close.

I tend to get very clean results on my keys in Avid – far better than in a linear bay, where your advice would tend to hold up correctly. We’re talking about RT alphas, not a separate matte & fill graphic.

Again, none of this is pertinent to the ORIGINAL problem, which – as described – is far worse than the result of incorrect blending.

Sincerely,
Oliver

Oliver Peters
Post-Production & Interactive Media
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com