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c-roberto78
c-roberto78
Participant
February 3, 2022
Question

Trouble exporting an animation with a transparent background.

  • February 3, 2022
  • 1 reply
  • 187 views

Ok this is driving me crazy, hopefully someone can help!  I created a simple animation in After Effects using an imported vector graphic from Illustrator to which I applied a rotation expression.  No matter what I do, I can't export it without getting a black background.  I've watched dozens of videos, tried exporting through both the render queue and Media Encoder.  I have RGB+Alpha channels selected, but no luck.  The only way I've had any success is by using a third-party plug-in that allows me to export as a gif, but I'm losing quality by doing so.  I'm at my wits end!!  My only thought is that maybe there's an issue with the image I'm starting with, but other than that I have no idea.  Any insight would be hugely appreciated.  Thanks in advance!

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1 reply

R
Community Expert
Rick GerardCommunity Expert
Community Expert
February 3, 2022

Verify transparency by enabling the transparency grid. If you have transparency, add the composition to the Render Queue, choose Lossless With Alpha from the Output Module presets, and render your file. Import the rendered file into After Effects and verify transparency.

 

Common misconceptions: You will see transparency if you open your rendered file in a media player like Quicktime or Windows Media Player. You will not. Media players do not support transparency. 

 

If you can't figure it out, we need a lot more info. Chances are pretty good that you have transparency; you are just looking at the rendered movie in an app that does not support RGBA video. Most do not. Premiere Pro and After Effects do. 

    c-roberto78
    c-roberto78Author
    Participant
    February 11, 2022

    Rick, thank you for the reply.  This absolutely solved the problem.  I was seeing a black background in the finder preview and mistakenly assumed that the transparency didn't export.  When I opened my file back up in After Effects, the transparency was indeed there, and the team I'm collaborating with also verified that they had transparency when I shared the file with them.  Thank you again, much appreciated!

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