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Keyed footage with alpha – Best format??
I imported blue-screen footage (DV footage in PAL)into after-effects 6.5 Pro, and keyed out the blue background using the great filters of AE.
Now I would like to work on the underlying background and keyed footage. What would be the correct workflow if I like to render the keyed layer first (so changes that I make wouldn’t take so much to render)? I was trying to render it as a Video for Windows, but I don’t have the alpha channel option there.
The only way I found was to render it as a Quicktime animation (MOV) and selecting the “RGB +Alpha” option. Is this the right way??
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3 Replies
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It largely depends on how much disk space you have and at which bit depths you work. Quicktime Animation is quite good for most stuff, but it’s only 8bpc. For 16 bpc you’d need other codecs, such as BMD’s or Microcosm. Another option is using image sequences. Both TIFF and PSD can use dynamic compression and work at all bit depths.
Mylenium
[Pour Myl
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how do you manage file sequences? Aren’t they all just pictures? Is there a program that comples them?
Alexander Gao
“When the revolution happens, I’ll be leading it.”
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It all depends on who is receiving your material. Ask them what format they want the files to be in. Most editors prefer footage in their hardware codec (Avid, Media 100), the codec of the final sequence, or if the footage has to have an alpha channel, the Animation codec.
If you’re receiving the files for compositing (from yourself), then an image sequence is fine. You can import the image sequence into AE — it’s in the manual.
Steve
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