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Opacity/Alpha AE to FCP pic/vid ARGH! Help?
Hello All,
I’m dealing with an issue here that I can’t quite figure out… perhaps someone has a clue why this happens or how to avoid/fix it.
I have a graphical element in After Effects that I am working with that is static on the screen. It’s a “bug” for a TV program. Occasionally I have this bug animate. As with any other TV program, it remains moderately opague the majority of the time. I am creating these graphical elements for editors to drop into a Final Cut timeline with having to manipulate them. Here’s my issue…
I export the animated bug at 40% opacity as a quicktime (animation, best quality, millions of colors+) to bring into Final Cut. I also export a frame of the animation while it’s at 40%, as a photoshop document so that the editor has a still image that he can make as long as he wants in final cut (rather than having to make an unpredictably long and large video file to have tp drop in).
The problem as that when I bring them both into Final Cut, despite both coming out of After Effects at 40% opacity, their opacities are visibly different. Alpha was definately preserved but I can’t figure where the problem is- in FCP or AE. The “40%” opacity in the video is actually appearing more opague than the still image that was made.
For anyone who bared with me and tried to understand it thanks a million cuz it’s driving me nuts. And for anyone that can find me a solution, you da man!
Thanks,
John -
6 Replies
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There are a few different probable causes to this. It’s just the way the two programs work with opacity, you just need to play around with the different values until you get something that looks good to you in FCP. Are the two systems both on the same computer? If not, when the video is being viewed on two different monitors, the opacity will appear as though it’s being set at two different levels. One last thing, I’m pretty sure you can adjust the photoshop opacity right in FCP, (in the Motion tab, I think). Hope this helps!
-Grant -
Sounds like a color space/alpha issue. Is your alpha in AE pre-multiplied or straight. If it is pre-multiplied then change it to straight and try again.
However, I’d make an AE comp the exact size of the bug (therefore keeping the file size way down) and render it as a movie (3 min long or so) without animation. Then render a 2-5 second bug animation that the editor can then drop in anywhere he/she wants. just make sure the start frame and end frame are the same as the still movie.
peace,
Joel Jackson
http://www.creativebloc.com/port.html -
Hey Guys, Thanks for the responses…
So after some more messing around with it (and still not entirely solving the issue) I’ve gathered that somehow FCP must be interpreting the values of video differently than it does of non-video. When I pulled both opacities to 100% just for kicks I noticed that the hue slightly differed in FCP although they are the same in AE. I am working on the same computer- yes- so it is not a monitor issue. I took your advice, Joel, and noticed it was rendering pre-multiplied… so I changed it to straight. It actually did improve the issue somewhat, although not completely… I performed the opacity test again at 100% and I’m still noticing that the hue is slightly different (between the still and the vid).
I know I can find a way around it by making the still image a video instead… I was just hoping to find out that I was actually doing something wrong or could manipulate some parameter to avoid this… on a side note- what do you mean by “render it as a movie without animation.” Are you referring to a specific option that I should toggle or did you simply mean to render out the static bug without moving it… I’m pretty sure you mean the latter- just want to be on the same page. Thanks again!
John
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Static bug without moving, just so file size is small. you then either paste it over and over in the FCP timeline or precomp it in another FCP timeline.
Good luck,
Joel Jackson
http://www.creativebloc.com/port.html -
There’s no need to be outputting an extra static bug. You can create that from the animation file right in FCP. Just press shift+n at whatever point you want the freeze. A good fcp editor will know this. Shouldn’t have to export any addional anims or psds, or stills, etc.
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I guess 10 years of editing, GFX, and 3D has done me no good since, “A good fcp editor” knows the keyboard shortcut to make a freeze frame in FCP!
By the way, how do you get an alpha channel with opacity of just the bug and not the footage behind it with shift+n? This works if you want to freeze the entire frame and if you nest the clip in another sequence with no transparency but it does not work with transparency (the transparency gets pre-multiplied). That’s why I failed to mention this method. It does not work as far as I know, but I have been known to be wrong.
However, if you have a good method that works in conjunction with the amazing “shift+n” function, I’m sure we’d all love to hear it instead of getting a keyboard shortcut lesson.
thanks,
Joel Jackson
http://www.creativebloc.com/port.html
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