How do we do the alpha channel video?

U can use After Effects to output Alpha Channel Transperancy Video
by EXPORT it to flash [.swf] format!
I've tried to output (12 frame per second is enough) and success~!

Greetings,
Our team has been utilizing the chroma feature with some success. This feature works fine when the files are local, but I have no success when someone asks to have a copy on CD. I have tried to take my FLVs and place them in one folder and use a relative path, but I am not successsful. This is a real problem. We have shown the effect and we have wowed our client by placing a peron in their software, but I can't burn it to disk.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Chris

Mark's pointer to After Effects is a good one. However, here are some ideas about preparing "green screen" video in case you don't have After Effects to create the transparent (alpha channel) layers in FLV.

Inserting Flash Video (FLV) into Adobe Captivate 2 is a simple command. The hard part is in preparing the FLV with the transparent layer in the first place. And, even before that is making sure you've created the original video correctly (recording the subject in front of a "green" screen).

Set up your "studio" to create a good video to start with. As a backdrop, any non-shiny, fabric without a lot of wrinkles will do. Typically it's green or blue, but it must be solid a color that is not the same as the actor's clothes or skin.

This site has good info on setting up a studio.
http://www.chroma-key.com/chroma-key_faq.html

Creating a Talking-Head Flash Video (Tom Green) and excellent article to start with.
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/articles/talking_head_video.html

Then, this video is brought into an editing program like Adobe Premiere (I sometimes use the cheap $99 version of Adobe Premiere Elements.) The editing program will assist in selecting the "green" background and designating it as the Alpha Channel (transparent). I discovered a nugget on the Adobe Premiere Elements message forum from Steve Grisetti which really helped me. He says,

"To maintain transparency in video:

1. File - Export - Movie.
2. In Settings change file type to Microsoft AVI.
3. In Video settings change compression to None.
4. Change color depth to Millions + of colors.
5. In Keyframe and Rendering settings change Bit Depth to Maximum.

After saving it, you will have a video that maintains transparency, and a very large AVI file."

You then take that .avi file and create an FLV using the Flash 8 encoder that will retain the transparency layer.

And that's the FLV that you finally insert into Adobe Captivate 2. Not so simple, but way cool! Here are some more useful links for folks getting into video.

Encoding Flash Video
http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/dialogbox/encode_video.html

Producing Video for the Web
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/articles/producing_video.html

I will be publishing an Adobe Captivate movie that describes the whole process on my website in the next week or two. http://www.showmethedemo.com

Hope this helps.
john

Hello ArtJohnson-at-NWC,

Unfortunately Adobe Captivate 2 does not enable you to create a chroma-keyed effect. In order to accomplish this you would need to use an application such as Adobe After Effects Also bear in mind that your video would initially have to be shot against a green / chroma background.

You can view a tutorial on how to export FLV if you are not sure how to do this.

You can

Regards,
Mark