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Transparency lost when importing PNG into FCP
Strange thing keeps happening when importing a transparent PNG into FCP. Images created with the same settings in PS will sometimes mysteriously end up with a black background when taken into FCP.
There seems to be no rhyme or reason for this. It seems to be a random occurrence, but happens enough that it’s problematic. Going back to the original PSD and re-saving the PNG under a different file name works most of the time, but sometimes it doesn’t and I have to create an entirely new PSD and then save as a PNG.
It’s always a “cross your fingers and hope it works this time” type situation.
Anybody know what’s going on here? Is it a PS setting, a FCP setting? I’m at a loss!
Thanks in advance!
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20 Replies
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Is your file being created in Photoshop on a Windows machine?
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
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No. I’m using CS3 on either a MacBook or an IMac depending on where I’m working and FCP is running on a G5.
I can create two images with the exact same PS settings and one will import fine and the other won’t. That’s going into the same FCP timeline/settings too. It’s very strange and very frustrating.
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Are you importing fresh or reconnecting to an existing PNG?
Sometimes when I’ve made a change to a graphic, overwriting the original and keeping the same name, upon reconnect to the new file FCP loses track of the transparency. -
Importing fresh file with slightly different file name. (test_1.png, test_2.png, test_3.png, etc.) Sometimes this works. Sometimes it doesn’t.
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The same thing is happening to me, running FCS 6. It dosent happen all the time, but when it does, that project is shot and I cant use any transparent images. What is the deal?
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Unfortunately I never got a clear answer as to why this was happening.
It seems the best way to reduce the risk of problems is to make sure all your settings match between PS and FCP.
so if your FCP project is say, DVCPRO HD 720p then your PS settings should be for DVCPRO HD 720p or 960×720 with 1.33 pixel aspect ratio.
Making sure the file settings are the same eliminates a lot of “unknown” problems that can occur.
In a few instances I was never able to get the .png to import correctly and had to import the .psd file.
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Actually, I figured out a work around, if not a cure. I spent the better half of an hour looking for this and here is what I found: When you pull the PNG into your time line and it is not transparent, click on the clip and go to the modify option in your menu bar. There, go down to “alpha type” and choose “straight”. I dont know why you have to do it now, but thats what I found works. Hope if helps.
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Thanks Brandon!!!
That’s exactly the command I was looking for. This happened a long time ago and I had forgotten what to do.
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I can’t even successfully bring a .png into FCP 6. What’s the word?
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Wow, this solution sure saved my day. Thanks for posting it.
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