Mov file with alpha channel for transparency

[Kevin Camp]

[Detti Siklos] “I read on the C4D forum, that if I save it as a mov file with alpha channel and with million + colors, then I can put this 3D logo on any of my videos in After Effects.”

this is correct… did you render from c4d as a .mov with alpha (rgb+a)? if so, ae should use that alpha to create transparency around the 3d logo and allow you to composite that with other footage or animations…

if you did this, but ae is ignoring the alpha channel, select the 3d render that was imported into ae in the project window. then choose file>interpret footage>main. at the top of that window are the alpha settings, make sure that ae is using the alpha.

if you have the alpha as a separate matte render, then you’ll just need to bring both the 3d logo render and the matte into the same composition. then you can use the ‘set matte’ effect on the 3d logo and choose the matte layer from the ‘take matte from layer’ setting and set ‘use for matte’ to luminance.

if you get a black fringe around the 3d logo, also apply the remove color matting effect to the 3d logo.

Kevin Camp
Senior Designer
KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW

[Berna Siklos]

Thank you so much for responding!
I did what you said “if you did this, but ae is ignoring the alpha channel, select the 3d render that was imported into ae in the project window. then choose file>interpret footage>main. at the top of that window are the alpha settings, make sure that ae is using the alpha. ”
but the top of that window is highlighted, so I can’t select anything.

And there is no separate matte render either.

I’ll try to render it again in C4D

[Berna Siklos]

I rendered the 3D logo again in C4D.

and then I added this mov file and another video to the composition window.Added the Shift Channel effect and set the alpha to luminance, but then the 3D logo also turned a little bit transparent and lost it dark gold color. How could I save the dark gold color on the logo?

Thank you, please help me, since I have to be ready with this for the school dinner where they will show this video!

Detti

[Kevin Camp]

it sounds to me like you’re not rendering from c4d with an alpha channel.

when you render from c4d you need to render an rgba (rgb + alpha) image/animation. some codecs do not support alpha channels (dv, mpeg, jpeg, etc) so you will need to make sure that you are using one that does.

quicktime’s lossless animation codec supports alpha channels, as do many image sequence formats, like tiff, targa, png and psd. if you choose any of these in c4d, just make sure that c4d is set to render an rgba file. when that gets imported into ae, ae should recognize the alpha and use it to give you transparency…

one other thing to note, in c4d you cannot have a background or you will not get transparency. c4d will assume you want the background in the render and thus the alpha channel will be solid.

if you need help with rendering from c4d, try the c4d forum.

Kevin Camp
Senior Designer
KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW

[Kevin Camp]

[Detti Siklos] “When I save my animated logo in C4D I also have the option to import this file to AE, I see that it creates an aec file, but that one the computer doesn’t let me to open it in AE and honestly I have no idea what kind of a file is this.”

it’s an after effects project file… i think you need an import plugin from maxon that gets installed in after effects. it allows ae to read the c4d style .aep. it is probably on the c4d install disk somewhere. you may be able to download it from maxon.

it’s been years since i used c4d, but i know you can render with an alpha channel, i just don’t know the exact render settings to get it. i remember being able to do multipass renders too, and i believe you could create a separate matte pass, but i know there is a way to get the alpha to render in any file format that can write an rgba file…

Kevin Camp
Senior Designer
KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW

[Berna Siklos]

Thank you Kevin,

You won’t believe it how much you helped me and my project looks so much better then yesterday. When I’m rendering I can choose to save it as a Quicktime PNG so I ckecked that one. It saves it to a mov file, when I import this mov file to AE it says that this has million rgb color, but don’t mention anything about the alpha channel. When I save my animated logo in C4D I also have the option to import this file to AE, I see that it creates an aec file, but that one the computer doesn’t let me to open it in AE and honestly I have no idea what kind of a file is this.
I’ll keep trying!

Thank you

[Berna Siklos]

Hey Kevin,

I just saved a png file(don’t know how..:)) and if I put this png file onto the timeline (composition window) then it has a perfect transparency background. The problem is that it’s only a frame, a picture and I have to still play around to figure out how to get the same but for an animation.
This is how I save it in C4D:

Render settings:
Format: quicktime PNG OPtions: millions of colors + (interlaced should be checked?)
alpha channel: checked
straight alpha: don’t know what is this
separate alpha: should this one be checked also?

Then I click on the make preview and I can choose that it should be a quicktime file. options: animation or PNG?

I think I will post this on the C4D forum also, since now I see if I could save it with a correct alpha channel it should be transparent automaticly in AE.

Thank you!