Participant

Question

import transparent video in Captivate

Forum|Forum|9 years ago
October 3, 2016
15 replies
9591 views

Hello everyone,

I know this question has often been asked, but is it possible to matter in a transparent video in Captivate? I found tutorials showing that, but it was on the old version of Captivate and especially with a .flv file, but now it is no longer possible to export this way on After Effect, therefore I am forced to use a "Quicktime" file.

There is any alternative ?

Thank you

This topic has been closed for replies.

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visual_Zenith5FAA

Inspiring

I am now trying to do this and FLV is gone completely form media encoder, did anyone find a solution??

Lilybiri

Legend

I have answered you in the original thread. FLV was based on SWF technology, since Flash player is dead you can only import mp4 video which doesn't support transparent background.

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visual_Zenith5FAA

Inspiring

So there is absolutely no way at all to do this??

campagnoli

Participating Frequently

This worked for me:
1.- I exported a MOV with After Effects, the export codec was Apple Animation (proRes didnt worked)
2.- I ensured the alpha channel was there by importing back into After Effects.
3- I used Sorenson Media Squeeze https://www.sorensonmedia.com/squeeze/
4.- I imported the file, and used the FLV export option.
5.- I customised the export setting to ensure the "compress alpha data" was active, and the codec was On2 VP6 Pro. (I used 2 pass VBR) no sure if needed, and profile was VP6-E.
6.- Exported using the "Squeeze it" button, and then importing in Captivate using the proper settings to remove the background of the video.

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sebrame

Inspiring

Unfortunately, as was discussed earlier in this thread, FLV isn't a viable option these days, because it forces the browser to play the video using Flash, which is all but banned in a corporate setting, and not available at all on Apple devices.

TLCMediaDesign

Inspiring

Hard to believe that this thread is this long and the answer is to use the Flash Player to enable transparent video, which was stated very early.

With the animation capability of jQuery/HTML5, that would be the direction I would go.

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arashmaz

Known Participant

Just tested this as I found I still have Media Encoder CS6 on my mac... took me a while to find the option to check the Alpha channel.

But it does work in the latest version of Safari. I think it's just iOS devices that don't run flash. Never had any issues with flash on any OS X computer.

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estherau

Known Participant

The other thing is the transparency from the apple pro hi rez runs on adobe premiere so I can overlay the video on other things there if i want as well. But i prefer it to stay transparent in captivate.

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estherau

Known Participant

Happy new year! Thanks for testing that.

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StevePixel

Inspiring

Hi estherau,

Thats awesome. I'm glad you resolved your issue. It unfortunately won't play on on any apple OS driven device (IPhones, IPads or Apple OS computers) because of the FLV codec, but as long as that is not a requirement you should be golden!

Cheers

Steve

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estherau

Known Participant

but i created it on my apple computer, and it is playing in preview.

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estherau

Known Participant

I just tested in the browser and it is playing correctly. Haven't tried it on ipad but any movies that don't play on ipad on utube in safari will play in puffin which is free.

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StevePixel

Inspiring

Hi Sebrame,

I think the codec issues is one of file size, the only codec that supported alpha channels with small file size was FLV, since Apple killed Flash all that is left is .MOV and .AVI, both produce huge file size so neither are ideal for e-learning.

Cheers

Steve

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estherau

Known Participant

I solved my particular problem. In crazytalk animator I output the video as apple prores 4444 and import it into adobe encoder where I change it to flv with keep transparency checked. now i have a cartoon with a transparent background that can talk and explain things to the course participants, right in my captivate which is what i wanted. so my particular problem is fixed

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StevePixel

Inspiring

Hi Virginied,

True, but Camtasia has a dedicated video editor, with a a full-on rendering engine and multiple video/audio track capabilities, That is why you can composite over top the video track. Captivate is a totally different animal.

Cheers

Steve

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sebrame

Inspiring

My main occupation being a video editor with Adobe Premiere, this makes my point exactly! Captivate is a product of a company that makes one of the world's most foremost video editing platforms, and is a MUCH more capable program than Camtasia, yet it lacks this functionality.

I understand WHY Camtasia has the functionality, I just think it's interesting that Adobe hasn't built it into Captivate. It seems that Adobe is holding onto Flash web technology until it sighs it's last dying breath. This is also interesting, seeing that the training program I'm currently recreating with Captivate was originally authored in Flash, and cannot be used any longer due to the company's ban of Flash on all computers.

Unfortunately, I'm charged with explaining to the client that not all of the functionality available in the previous Flash version of the training program will be possible in the new HTML5 version.

TLCMediaDesign

Inspiring

Color me confused, but Captivate is a tool, whose output is used 95% for the web, to be viewed in a browser. Even if Captivate could display a transparent video in the IDE, what good what it do if the browser cannot render the transparent video?

I'm sure that when the browsers can all do it, and they stop preferring a certain video type, then Captivate will also make it available.

I also think that if only a very small percentage of the user have a need for transparent video, and almost no browser supports it, then why would Adobe invest the time to make it work?

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sebrame

Inspiring

Interesting to note that it is possible in Camtasia, but not possible in Captivate. Even more interesting considering that Captivate is a much more capable program than Camtasia.

TLCMediaDesign

Inspiring

Captivate cannot do it because the browser/codecs can't do it.

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sebrame

Inspiring

I'm not talking about the end product - I'm talking about the authoring stage. Camtasia can import video with an alpha channel in pretty much any codec that supports it. I typically export my videos to a MOV wrapped Cineform codec, and Camtasia uses it with ease.

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arashmaz

Known Participant

That link you posted will export a video with a transparent background. But it's only transparent if you load it into something like Premier Pro.

I just followed the steps in After Effects creating a simple black sq rotating against a transparent background. This is when it looks like in Captivate... (it converted it to flv btw when I imported it). That black square is the size of my video 500 x 500. It should be transparent with a small black square in the middle rotating.

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estherau

Known Participant

I think it is a pity really because people making elearning often want to have virtual presenters overlaying their other objects on their slides and talking. Transparency in video is important. I hope this situation improves for us one day soon. In the meantime I might go back to non-responsive elearning projects.

Riesa

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arashmaz

Known Participant

Thanks Rick...(I don't need a solution for 'fruit devices' just yet). Captiv8r

I'm aware FLV files can have a transparent background... the issue is actually publishing in Flash seems to be dying out.

It's no longer in After Effects and I can't find any options in Adobe Media Encoder.

I know there's Adobe Animate CC which is fine for Vector based animations (in fact I have used it before). But in the video you showed (if that's you?) how did you convert/publish actual video footage into an FLV file with transparency?

Captiv8r

Legend

Hello again

Aside from knowing this video was recorded against a green screen and later keyed to render the transparency, I have no clue what was done to it to create that FLV. This is a video that is provided along with training materials for Adobe Captivate classes. So I was only aware of its existence.

Wish I had more to offer. Unfortunately I don't.

Cheers... Rick