Transparent Theme In Keynote?

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Level 1

5 points

Transparent Theme In Keynote?

Is it possible to have a transparent theme/"no theme" in a keynote presentation so that it could be exported to a QuickTime movie that would then allow any image beneath it to serve as a background when played? (In other words: the keynote presentation as a QT movie could later be played over any background it was dropped upon?)

Alternately, is there an easy way to remove the background/theme from a keynote presentation to make it transparent before, during or after its conversion to a QT movie?

Thanks in advance.

MacBook Air, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on Apr 25, 2015 9:37 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Gary Scotland

Level 7

25,856 points

Apr 25, 2015 11:59 AM in response to PapaFan

Keynote presentations must always have a theme, even if its the blank theme; white background with no text or objects.

However, themes or any other tool in Keynote cant create a transparent background in a QuickTime file.

You will need to create this in a video editing application.

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Answer 2

PapaFan Author

Level 1

5 points

Apr 25, 2015 12:02 PM in response to Gary Scotland

Thanks so much, Gary.

Not the answer I was hoping for, but it saves a lot of time trying to somehow make it work in the current Keynote.

Perhaps Apple (I do hope the Keynote development team is listening!!!) will add a "transparent" theme to a future release of Keynote ...

PapaFan

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Answer 3

Apr 27, 2015 2:04 PM in response to PapaFan

This is doubtful as it is Quicktime X that encodes Keynote presentations into movie files; and Quicktime X is unable to render transparent backgrounds in video files.

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Answer 4

Apr 29, 2015 10:43 AM in response to PapaFan

Actually, Quicktime does support Alpha (transparency) layers.

Two workarounds would be – as Gary Scotland suggested, use video editing software to 'key out' or remove a solid background color, or use Apple Motion.

I often use a solid black background and use a 'luma key' to remove the darkest elements. Adobe AfterEffects provides a Luma Key effect for this purpose. Your question is timely in that I've been working on a video wall project for a cultural museum and doing the same thing.

Despite many other Keynote frustrations – it is truly a time-saver.

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