-
Losing alpha…
OK… I might be a complete idiot… but…
I’ve got a comp as seen below. The Particle layer is a solid with Particular 2.0 on it. This layer is set to Screen under Mode so it will look like the particles are being sucked down a wormhole.Everything looks like I want it… but when I render this comp it will NOT render the alpha. Yes, I’m setting it for RGB+Alpha in the render settings. I’ve tried dozens of renders trying to get the background to be transparent like it should… but each time the black background ends up being black instead of transparent.
What am I doing wrong? Is it the Screen Mode on the Particle layer?
FYI… the WormholeMeshPreComp.mov layer is the wormhole mesh thing. It’s background is alpha’d properly.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
ED
-
12 Replies
-
What codec are you rendering to?
Joey Foreman
Editor/Compositor/VFX Artist -
All of them!!!! Just kidding…
I’ve tried
Quicktime – PNG – RGB+Alpha
Quicktime – JPG – RGB+Alpha
Quicktime – Animation – RGB+Alpha
Video for Windows = No Compression – RGB+AlphaAll of those have worked fine in the past for intermediate files. I’m goin’ nuts!
BTW… I’m using CS4 & Particular 2.0
-
You should check to confirm the alpha of the composition by hitting alt-4 within AE. I’m not sure how you’re setting up your particle layer but it could be a problem there, check under the Render properties group (i believe that’s the name) of the effect.
Are you checking your rendered footage in AE or in a video player?
Darby Edelen
-
What do you see when you click the transparency grid switch in the Comp panel?
-
I was originally using this comp(Wormhole) in another comp. It was showing up with the black background in there unless is checked the Collapse Transformations on the Wormhole comp layer. Then it would have transparency. But, when I would try to render that comp or pull that comp into another comp the black background is back on the wormhole layer. That is why I decided to try to render the Wormhole so I could avoid whatever weirdness is going on.
-
[Ed Gilbert] “It was showing up with the black background in there unless is checked the Collapse Transformations on the Wormhole comp layer.”
It sounds like your wormhole layer may not actually have an alpha but is instead using blending modes to look like it does. You may need to use a Channel > Set Matte or Luma Track Matte to give it an alpha.
Darby Edelen
-
Before rendering, have you checked that your comp indeed has transparency by clicking on the checkerboard, or by setting the comp display to Alpha?
Joey Foreman
Editor/Compositor/VFX Artist -
Yeah… I was using the solid in the last layer. I would unhide it to see that the background was transparent.
-
Hmmmm….
OK… I checked for the alpha using the “Toggle Transparency Grid” and apparently I don’t have a transparency on the Particle layer.That layer is a solid with Particular 2.0 on it. I checked the Render settings in Particular… it’s set to normal. So, shouldn’t I be getting an alpha’d background after dropping Particular on a solid? Or am I missing something fundamental here?
I really appreciate the help everyone!
-
I’m away from my computer right now, but I think there should be a ‘none’ mode
Darby Edelen
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up