Alpha Channel Video for Macromedia Flash 8

[v***@adobeforums.com]

I’m trying to save video with alpha channel (to remove blue background) in Adobe Premiere Pro for flash presentation. But alpha channel is not working, could any one tell me how to export video with alpha channel. Are there any steps I need to follow for Creating Alpha Channel Video for Macromedia Flash 8?

[v***@adobeforums.com]

Some one please answer for my question. If i need to export video with alpha channel in .mov format, how to do that?

[J***@adobeforums.com]

Try keying out the background first in AfterEffects. And then export from AfterEffects with the RGB+Alpha setting in the Output settings.

[v***@adobeforums.com]

I dont use AfterEffects, Is there any way to do this in Premiere pro...

[J***@adobeforums.com]

Good question. I have never tried. But it seems to me that you have to have some way of keying out the background. Try using the keying effects in Premiere. There is a Blue Screen Key filter and Chroma key filter. What I don't see right off hand is a way to export the alpha channel. You might try to key out the background to black, export as a QT and I believe Flash 8 will export an .flv with the alpha channel. This is pure quess work on my part. Sorry. Hope this helps.

[b***@adobeforums.com]

downloaded premiere pro (30 day trial) yesterday and also tried to create and save an alpha channel without success.

created a targa file in photoshop and imported it into flash 8 and it worked fine (alpha encoded on import) and i was able to see on stage graphics through the alpha channel targa file.

then imported the targa file into premiere where it recognised it as an alpha channel (i was able to view higher level video through the alpha).

was unable to save the file (as any format) with the alpha channel. i did not see an option anywhere for it nor did i see a 32bit save. the targa file i did save from premiere just showed in flash 8 as black and not the alpha it should have been.

applied various key effects but was still unable to create an alpha channel.

if anyone has got anyhwere on this i would be grateful for their experience.

[b***@adobeforums.com]

lmao, yes it is possible in premier pro, you can create the alpha channel and import into flash and yes it will recognise it, in fact it works very well.

need to refine the process more then i will post again with the answers

[v***@adobeforums.com]

I got it guys...follow below mentioned settings...
Use 'Chroma Key' to remove background & export as .mov file.

Export Movie Settings:

Video:
Compressor - Animation;
Color Depth - Millions+ of colors;

Keyframe and Rendering:
Tick 'Deinterlace Video Footage’

Before you try this, install flash 8 for latest codec/alpha channel support & QuickTime latest version.

[b***@adobeforums.com]

instead of animation i have been using tga and not clicking the deinterlace (which i will try now). dont know what difference having the latest quicktime makes so i will check that out as well.

all the other settings the same but you have to play around with the chroma key settings (similarity, blend etc.) for the best results.

didnt find any documentation on this, just stumbled across it when i looked into after effects which mentions the millions + option, which i guess is like 32 bit to include the alpha channel.

[b***@adobeforums.com]

forgot to say, i find that a green background works better than the blue.

Visual, mail me if you want to compare more notes.

[R***@adobeforums.com]

<http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/flash/articles/talking_head_video.html?trackingid=CVKU> Creating a Talking-Head Flash Video

"This tutorial shows you how to create a "talking-head" video in Macromedia Flash 8"

Except when it gets to step 6: Navigate to Video Effects > Keying > Color Key in the Effects panel (see Figure 8). Drag the Color Key plug-in from the Effects panel to the thumbnail in the Video 1 channel.

THERE IS NO "COLOR KEY" IN THE EFFECTS PANEL. (in my Premier Pro 1.5 for Windows.)

It's dissapointng when documentation or lesson material doesn't match the software. I tried emailing Tom Green and I sent a bug report to Adobe referncing this tutorial.

Understant a certain amount of trial and error has to occur in the learning process.
Anyone tried and and got it right? :)

[D***@adobeforums.com]

Well now. I suspect that it is a little early in the relationship between Macromedia and Adobe for Adobe to accept bug reports for items on the Macromedia web site. Wish you joy, though.

Interestingly, I do have a Color Key in the effects palette of my copy of Premiere Pro 1.51, so I wonder where yours went.

[R***@adobeforums.com]

David, thanks for adding to this.

Adobe Premire Pro 1.51? I have the latest trial download, and niether it nor the Educational version have the Color Key. I'm wondering if I need a Mac or something. I've tried a few key effects like Chroma, with de-interlace, zillion colours, and animation etc. ...

No luck yet.

[R***@adobeforums.com]

another forum gave me a useful clue:

Million plus colours.

Not:

millions of colours.

Still curious why my version of Premiere does not have a Color Key.

Tried some of the other keys. I have an opaque transparent Alpha channel.

Still curious about the best key to use (other than "color" which is not listed as a video effect in my Premiere Pro).

[M***@adobeforums.com]

Color key is one of those effects that shows up in Premiere Pro only if you also have After Effects 6.o or 6.5 installed. Mystery solved.

[D***@adobeforums.com]

That makes sense, since I also have AE 6.5. One of the challenges with this combination is that the origin of the AE effects is not obvious within Premiere.

You also have to be a bit careful with trial downloads, since some features may well be missing. The same may apply to educational versions. Should be explained in the documentation.

[b***@adobeforums.com]

you do not need to use the colour key. it is correct that you need ae6.5 installed to see the additional options but if you just have premier pro installed that is enough.

choose the effects tab - select keying and select chroma key as an effect.

use the colour picker to pick the background colour (blue in your case - btw i find a very light green to be the best background) and once you have the effect on the layer then use the similarity and blend options to key out the background.

when exporting use quicktime movie with tga format set to millions + colours to ensure you have the alpha channel.

works fine every time but the quality of the background colour is the most important factor in the whole process. so if your subject has similar colors on or there are shadows etc - it can be a bit poor.

btw if you do have ae6.5 you should carry on using premiere as you can produce smaller file sizes in my experience. having said that there are some pretty cool effects you can conjure up in ae.

hth