Transparent image overlay

To start, I will tell you what I am trying to do. For a Children's Christmas skit that is going on at my church, the setting of the skit is supposed to take place in an attic. What I have done is taken a picture in my own attic, looking out the window. Using Pixelmator, I made the panes of glass transparent and exported the image with the hopes of overlaying it on a video loop of snow that I have (that way it will be snowing outside the attic, more or less).

It seems however that FCE is not being cooperative on the video side of this, however, since all I get is white where the transparency is supposed to be. Does FCE support transparent layers in images?

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.5)

Posted on Dec 18, 2010 3:12 PM

21 replies

missileboat Author

Level 1

40 points

Dec 18, 2010 5:17 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

Nope, stand alone on my tower. I even tried adding a transparency to an entirely different image still with the same results (white, nontransparent). I am going to fire up my Macbook Pro and try it on that machine. I will let you know how it goes.

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,809 points

Dec 18, 2010 5:24 PM in response to missileboat

Go to the Public folder of the tvpro iDisk. There's a file called Attic.psd. See if that works for you.

missileboat Author

Level 1

40 points

Dec 18, 2010 5:29 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

Well, my Macbook Pro was able to do it with no issues at all. I will try that file you suggested on my Mac Pro to see if there is any difference.

missileboat Author

Level 1

40 points

Dec 18, 2010 5:40 PM in response to missileboat

*sad face* I feel like my computer is laughing at me, taunting me and just all around with me. Here is the deal, your PSD file DID work as it should have. So! I decide to go back into Pixelmator and this time export my version into PSD format. Now, my version instead of being white and nontransparent, is black and nontransparent. Couple that with the fact that your Mac and my Macbook Pro didn't have any issue with the original PNG file, I am... vexed.

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,809 points

Dec 18, 2010 5:45 PM in response to missileboat

One more thing. Select the file in the browser and go to item properties. Check what it says for alpha channel. If it says None, control-click on it and change it.

missileboat Author

Level 1

40 points

Dec 18, 2010 5:51 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

Wow, that was it bro. That fixed it. Would never have guessed that but, hey, you deserve an A+ for this! Thanks so much for being patient with me. So! I have learned something new today.

Thanks much. Have a great Christmas!

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Transparent image overlay