transparency layers dont work?

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Level 1

4 points

transparency layers dont work?

After upgrading I'll import a transparent layer of video and it sometimes initially works then shortly it's surrounded by black and is no longer transparent. Used to work fine.

Posted on Mar 18, 2017 8:36 AM

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Answer 1

Splurtizzle Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 18, 2017 11:04 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Hi Luis,

Ok, let me be more clear. For 4 years of using Final Cut Pro X, I have always been able to drag in transparent videos i downloaded from VideoHive, or stuff I made with Aurora 3D maker etc. Videos that are of logos or objects, lower 3rds etc. I was able to simple place them in a layer and have them be transparent. Now all of a sudden this does not work. In some instances it worked for a few minutes and reverted back to a black border for no apparent reason. This is incredibly frustrating for me as I do this technique all the time.

Here is a photo, see the alien. Ive used that clip hundreds of times in previous versions, its always transparent (alpha) regardless of how I am rendering. I am not trying to render transparent.

btw if i render transparent, it still will import this way!

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Answer 2

Splurtizzle Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 18, 2017 11:24 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Sure..

Ive also watched this tutorial, which didnt help in this latest version of FCPX 10.2.3

Again, this always worked ive done countless videos with layers of Chroma Key footage and video clips. Even when I go into inspector advanced setting with alpha it does not work.

here is a clip that would normally always work as alpha.. ive used this method countless times before.. no issues. Until now.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/u3f2gcvl2d09f2f/PEACE%20TRANS.mov?dl=0

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Answer 3

Mar 18, 2017 1:04 PM in response to Splurtizzle

he helicopter clip comes in the old Animation codec. Quicktime Player automatically converted to ProRes 4444, and it works fine.

The peace symbol clip comes in ProRes 4444 but it does not seem to be transparent at all. How was this created?

Edit: several experiments I did suggest that the problem is indeed with the clip, and the fact that its alpha channel does not hold the transparency information you expect. It is fully opaque.

For a simple test, click the little triangle at the top right of the viewer and choose Alpha.

Here is what I see for the helicopter and the peace symbol, respectively - indicating that the latter is indeed opaque.

T

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Answer 4

fox_m

Level 6

13,250 points

Mar 18, 2017 5:20 PM in response to Splurtizzle

You know that the peace symbol is in unicode, right? Copy and Paste: ☮

(You'll need to use Arial Unicode MS font, Menlo or Apple Symbols font, otherwise the Apple Color Emoji font is substituted and it looks more like an icon [and not compatible with 3D Text].)

Change Material to Multiple; Side and Front/Back Edges to Metal Aluminum; Front and Back to Generic — Color: magenta.

You have nearly infinite ability to customize the look of this character plus it is text, so the background is transparent by its very nature.

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Answer 5

Mar 18, 2017 10:05 AM in response to Splurtizzle

Please tell us more about the details of your clips and project.

If you want parts of your project timeline to be transparent you will need to change the render format to ProRes 4444 in the project settings. Select the project in the browser open the Inspector and click on Modify.

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Answer 6

Mar 18, 2017 11:13 AM in response to Splurtizzle

Is this a still image or a video? What format is it?

I have no trouble using images with alpha channel in FCP X, and neither had you before the current troubles...

The first troubleshooting step is to delete preferences. Try it (hold down command and option while starting and click Delete Preferences).

If it does not work, try it in a new user account (just for a test). If it works there, then the problem is specific to your user account. If it fails even in a clean new admin account, delete the application and download a fresh copy from the Purchases section of the App Store.

(Note: my previous comment about render format does NOT apply in this circumstance; it would if the purpose were to *create* videos with transparency out of FCP X)

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