Do animated backgrounds and backdrops work with SMS?

[Uncle Ben]

I was looking at the membership dowloads and really like some of the themes you have in the animated background section.

Do these work with Sony Movie Studio? I looked at Chuck's write up and didn't see SMS listed in the list of software packages that can use these files. I d/l'd one of the free ones...it plays OK, but it's not transparent, it covers everything.

[Steve Grisetti]

Yes, the motion backgrounds on our site will work just fine in a Vegas Movie Studio project, Ben!

[Bob]

...but it's not transparent, it covers everything

If you are looking for transparency, take a look at the Motion Elements. Whereas backgrounds are intended to be opaque, motion elements are intended to be overlays and have transparency. There are a large number of Motion Elements in the subscriber downloads, but we do have a few free ones. Download one and try it out.

[Paul LS]

Vegas does not always recognise the alpha channel transparency in an overlay. You may need to set it up in the Properties for the clip... you may need to set it to Premultiplied.

[Uncle Ben]

Thank you all for the quick response ... I will definitely subscribe, if I can find a CAM that works - more to come on that front.

[Uncle Ben]

...but it's not transparent, it covers everything

If you are looking for transparency, take a look at the Motion Elements. Whereas backgrounds are intended to be opaque, motion elements are intended to be overlays and have transparency. There are a large number of Motion Elements in the subscriber downloads, but we do have a few free ones. Download one and try it out.

Hi Bob. One of the free motion elements will not unzip due to missing or invalid data, the second free one, file vbme0084.zip.

I didn't have time to play with until now. I'll give the two a try and see what I get. Thanks again for your help! Much appreciated.

[Uncle Ben]

@Bob- The other two free motion elements unzipped properly and they both worked; but I was able to make only one of them (vbme0082.mov) transparent by changing the Alpha Channel to "Premultiplied." The other one, fvb0022.mov, remains opaque. Is this just newbie bad luck or are these things a little finicky? For anyone else reading, I'm using Sony Movie Studio Platinum 12.

[Bob]

The three motion element files on the free page are vbme0082, vbme0084, and vbme0085. fvb0022.mov is a background file, not a motion element file, and hence opaque.

vbme0082 and vbme0085 downloaded and extracted fine for me, there appears to be a problem with vbme0084. I'll let Ron know.

[Uncle Ben]

The three motion element files on the free page are vbme0082, vbme0084, and vbme0085. fvb0022.mov is a background file, not a motion element file, and hence opaque.

vbme0082 and vbme0085 downloaded and extracted fine for me, there appears to be a problem with vbme0084. I'll let Ron know.

If we just set aside for now the file that didn't work, you were right, changing the Alpha Channel to "Premultiplied" allowed me to make that element transparent. Opaque backgrounds are nice and do serve their purpose; but I can see how transparent elements open the door to so much more creativity. This functionality is not well explained in SMS. I found a good explanation of Alpha Channel in the glossary but unless someone is aware of what to look for and where, the glossary is not of very much help. Any way, once again, thank you for your help. Every time I come here I learn something new. You guys are doing a fantastic job. Cheers!

[Bob]

Ron has reloaded the vbme0084 file and it downloads and unzips correctly now. Thank you, Ron!

[Uncle Ben]

Thank you B & R!

[Uncle Ben]

Bob/Ron: Steve's Tips - DVD Markers - I think has a problem too. When I try to run it, I get an error message to the effect that my computer does not meet the minimum requirements of 64MB of RAM - I have 16 GB.

[Bob]

The file is ok. The problem is that it's not compatible with Windows 7. You can play the file by changing the compatibility settings. Right click on the file name and select properties. Then click on the compatibility tab. Check the box to enable compatibility mode and set it to Windows XP service pack 3. Click on OK. It should play now. Click on the book to turn the page.

compatibility.jpg

[Uncle Ben]

I'm trying hard to come up with something that you guys won't have an answer for ... I guess I'll have to try harder!

[Peru]

I'm trying hard to come up with something that you guys won't have an answer for

You can't. Bob knows everything.