Can a video have a transparent background?

[Shrimpfarmer]

A photoshop image can have a transparent background. If I animate something within After Effects, can that animation be saved with a transparent background ? As an example I pulled in a picture of a camel, used the puppet tool to animate it, then exported it as a movie. The original photoshop image had a transparent background. When I bring it into Premier Elements the animated clip has a black background. I can chroma key it out but that would not be necessary for the original photo?

Hope this makes sense.

[Bobby]

Good question Shrimpy. Wish I had AE; certainly somebody will be along.

But not being able to do a transparent background would be a deal-breaker, especially for your animation! It must be able to do that. If you have to chroma-key, perhaps use a better colored background than black.

And what work would you need a camel for?

[momoffduty]

Export as a Quick Time and select Animation under format options. Change the other drop down to Millions + Colors. I don't have AE open now, but if you need more info I can check.

Shrimpy + AE = creative

[Chuck Engels]

Cheryl is right but you can export with many different options, even AVI uncompressed with Millions + of colors.
There are a couple of topics about how to do that along with a tutorial I believe. Just search the forum for transparent background and you should be able to easily find it.

[momoffduty]

Yes, AVI is also an option. I use the Qtime Animation about 99% of the time for exporting for either transparent or w/background. It appears to have a better quality and less artifacts. Maybe its just my eyesight and it does take longer to export.

[Bob]

The key to getting transparency is the "Millions of Colors+" setting. The "+" is for the alpha channel (which is your transparency).

I also use Quicktime with the Animation codec for this most of the time. I wouldn't render to uncompressed Microsoft avi for use in Premiere Elements -- the file size will be huge and require large amounts of system resources to process. It can even bog down your quad. Especially if you're talking about HD footage.

[Shrimpfarmer]

Thanks for the tips. I tried the quicktime option and thats just what I need. I am like a kid with a new toy. I guess I am going to have to shell out the money. How long before they bring the next version out I wonder? I managed to buy PE7 just before they dropped PE8, but then again, some would say that was a lucky break Now do I just buy AE or go for the suite? I quite like the look of the soundbooth. I have never paid that much for software before.

[Bob]

Only Adobe knows for sure, but it is anticipated that CS5 will be released in early 2nd quarter, possibly April. That's not that far away.

One thing to keep in mind -- Adobe has announced that AE CS5 will be 64-bit only. If you are already running Windows 7 64-bit or Vista 64-bit, you are in good shape. If not, and you aren't ready to move to a 64-bit OS, you may want to go ahead and get the CS4 version now.

The suite has a lot going for it. I would definitely consider it.

[Bobby]

I only have Photoshop, which I started with way before video editing. If I had it all to do over again, I would have probably bought the suite.

Keep an eye out for a used older copy that you can upgrade - people seem to be able to make that happen at a lower net cost.

[Shrimpfarmer]

I must admit I had not given any thought to the operating system. I have been thinking of upgrading my PC and giving my current one to my nephew who seems to have caught the editing bug. The new one would certainly have Windows 7. Mmmm. Quite a bit to think about there. The suite whilst a lot more expensive would save money in the long run should I decide I would like other apps. Thanks for that heads up Bob.

[Bob]

You said in another post somewhere that you were using Photoshop. Was that Photoshop Elements or Photoshop? If you have one of the Photoshop CS versions, you can upgrade to the suite at a reduced price -- not as good as upgrading from an earlier version of the suite, but better than full retail.

After Effects works very well in conjunction with Photoshop, and the version of Photoshop that comes with the suite is the Extended Edition which has considerably more functionality with respect to video support. I would expect that you would be able to put that functionality to great use with your animation work.

Photoshop Extended plus After Effects alone will cost more than the Production Premium Suite, and you will get Premiere Pro, Encore, Soundbooth, Flash, and illustrator. And, with the suite, you'll have the dynamic link functionality. Definitely something to think about.

[Shrimpfarmer]

I think your right. I currently only have Photoshop Elements so I can't use the upgrade route. The suite is the sensible path to take and will save money in the long run. I will put After Effects through its paces with the months free trial and then decide. Having only played with it for a couple of hours I can already do things I had no way of doing before so I think its a forgone conclusion.

[Bobby]

I have PS CS4 - the upgrade price to the suite is $1100...

[Chuck Engels]

I bought Encore DVD 1.0 on eBay for $50, then was able to get the Premiere Pro CS4 upgrade for $299. You might be able to find something out there that would get you a better price on the upgrade, Even an older version of After Effects maybe.