Photoshop selections and alpha channels for use in Premiere

Report · Jul 24, 2018

For several years I've been muddling my way through alpha channels in Photoshop for use in Premiere. Today's the day I try and sort them out.

I'm converting slide shows to Blu-ray format using Premiere, so I have a lot of stills edited in PS. Those stills often have several saved selections, as well as various layer masks. Occasionally I want to use those selections and layers masks in Premiere as mattes, but I suspect there's a serious limitation.

Just to make sure I'm on the right track:

Q1. When I save a selection in a PS file, that becomes an alpha channel, doesn't it?

Q2. If I apply a layer mask to a PS layer, that also becomes an alpha channel, doesn't it?

Q3. If I then save that file in PSD format and import into Premiere, does Premiere recognise that there are several alpha channels?

Q4. If it does, how do I select the one I want?

Q5. If it does not know that there are multiple alpha channels, which one does it recognise? The top one? The bottom one?

Q6. I've never used this feature – but I've noticed that if I create a new Alpha channel in PS using the New Channel option, the default name for the new channel is Alpha 1. If I rename the alpha channel I want to use as a matte to Alpha 1, is that the alpha channel Premiere will recognise by default?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Report · Jul 25, 2018

If you start a Ps file make sure the background is set to transparant.

No need to make alpha channels.

Save as psd.

Import psd and select from the dropdown menu Import as: i would select Sequence

It opens in its own sequence and each layer is selectable in the timeline.

Afterward you can nest the sequence into your main timeline.

Report · Jul 27, 2018

Thanks, Ann, for the suggestion, but I would still like to find out how Premiere, when being asked to use an alpha channel, deals with a still from PS that contains multiple alpha channels.

Anyone?

Report · Jul 27, 2018

How it works under the hood I dont know but never had issues with multiple layers.

Just try it.