Clean alpha channels from Photoshop??
I realize that this is not the Premiere forum, but Ive posted this question there and also on the Photoshop forum with no solid answer yet. The most knowledgeable folks seem to congregate at this board, so perhaps someone on here can help me out.
Ok, this is a problem that has perplexed me since the beginning of my editing career:
How do you create a 32 bit .tga file in PS with semi transparent objects and/or drop shadows, that will display cleanly in Premiere? (e.g., text with drop shadows at 50%)
I usually just end up bringing in a PS document, which displays objects at any level of tranparency on the timeline with perfect, clean drop shadows.
The thing is, PS files must be rendered and my hardware(Matrox) supports 32 bit .tga files in realtime.
Here's what I've tried:
In PS, Ill type out some text and add a drop shadow with, say 50% opacity.
Next Ill click on the effect and select "create layer" to place the shadow on its own layer. Then Ill CTRL + SHIFT click both the text and the shadow layer to select both and then create an alpha channel in the channel palette, then flatten and save as a 32 bit .tga.
So, when I import the file into Premiere and place it on a track(above V1) I then go to transparency options, and choose alpha channel. The file displays in realtime over the video, but the shadow has become gray and opaque...the transparency is gone. I've also tried selecting white alpha matte from the transparency dialogue with the same results.
Where am I going wrong? Is it somewhere in PS or Premiere that I'm screwing up? There has to be a way to do this, because I get single frame exported .tga files from animators that have glows, shadows, etc. all with various levels of transparency, preserved perfectly on the timeline.
Thanks a million in advance to ANYONE who has the answer.
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Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2003 16:20:08 -0700