Using a video with alpha channel?
I have a stock clip purchased from videohive.
It has an alpha channel so the background can show through.
However, that feature doesnt seem to work in Sreenflow.
I've tried using the alpha video effect and chromakey but neither produces the right result. (the "transparent" channel in the video appears black - so it's not a green or blue chroma key file either)
I tried it in Premier, and it works flawlessly. But I'd prefer to work in Screenflow.
am I missing something? Are alpha channels supported in screenflow? (8)
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Hello Matt,
I have all the animated clips of the logos and the lowerthirts created with after effect in the alpha channel, the file must be in RGB + Alpha exported in .mov uncompressed or in any other version you will immediately lose the alpha
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Andrea's suggestion should work.
Apple ProRes 4444 with Alpha should also work.
Make sure you've updated to 8.2.2. Check the codec in Quicktime>Window>Show Movie Inspector and look at Format. -
I've udpated to the latest version of Screenflow.
The clip is, indeed, a ProRes 444 based on the "inspector" inspection.
And, again, it works flawlessly in Premier. But the parts that should be transparent (alpha) are opaque in Screenflow.
Other clips that come in the Screenflow media library (lower thirds and such) that are alpha'ed do work ok as well. But this downloaded clip is not functioning.
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Matt Steinruck ProRes 4444 with alpha. If you link to it I'll download and test in my system.
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Matt Steinruck Thanks. Examined the file. It's a PGN MOV file with alpha. No longer supported by Apple. Displays in Quicktime 7 and VLC but Quicktime X converts and does not retain the alpha channel.
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Well how do you like that.
Thank you for checking on this!
So, on a whim, I opened it in Quicktime (again) and I keep noticing it's tagging it as (converted) so I re-saved it out from Quicktime in whatever it "converted" it to - and lo-and-behold, the new file actually works fine in Screenflow.
Thank you for the tips and leads in this direction.
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Matt Steinruck You're welcome of course.
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Hello. I'm trying to export a video that has been chroma keyed in Final Cut Pro X. I've exported using ProRes 4444 but transparency is not working in Screenflow 9.
Is there something I need to tweak in my export settings to get this video to work with Screenflow?
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OK - I solved this. Thought I could mention the fix in case anyone else runs into this. Turns out there is an option in the Final Cut Pro X inspector to add an Alpha channel. It's under "Compositing".
Choose "Alpha Add", export in ProRes 444 and it works a treat.
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Stephan Thanks. That's a very good workflow tip. Some people also build their graphics in Apple Motion so it would be the same there as well.
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If one creates a proxy from the placed ProRes 4444 clip the alpha channel is no longer recognised. Is this a limitation of the format Screenflow creates proxies in or can it be remedied somehow?
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Stephan I think it's the nature of ProRes Proxy. If you recompress the file, the alpha is lost. Apple's ProRes Proxy doesn't support alpha channels.
Generally, the proxy workflow is to make more difficult GOP based files, easier to edit with. Sometimes they may be even larger than the more efficiently sized GOP source file. ProRes 4444 is generally a very easy to playback file.
