Problem Exporting Transparent Background
Moderators: Víctor Paredes, Belgarath, slowtiger
Problem Exporting Transparent Background
Hi. I'm using the "Demo' version of Moho and am having a problem exporting a transparent background. Heres what I'm trying to do. In Moho I've made a moving character on a transparent background. I want to export it out of Moho as a PNG sequence of images (theres a reason that I wont get into now why I'm exporting as a PNG sequence rather than a Quicktime Movie).........then convert the PNG sequence to a GIF file using an application called "Flipmovie" .......then import the animated GIF into an iMovie Project (I have an iMovie Plug-in that allows me to import animated Gifs with transparent backgrounds (which I've used with other GIFS). The problem is when I'm exporting the moving character from Moho as a PNG sequence...the export preview shows the background as black rather than transparent......however once the PNG files have been exported to my desktop.....if I open one of the images with Photoshop.....in the preview window the image has a black background however when the image is opened in Photoshop the background is transparent. Now I convert the PNG sequence to a GIF file with Flipmovie. When I import the GIF into iMovie (superimposing it on a iMovie background image)....the character should show up against the iMovie background (with the Moho background being transparent however the background in the Moho GIF shows up as black rather than transparent. Why am I getting the black background rather than the transparent background and how do I correct this problem? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
The entire PNG image has colour for every pixel, and transparency is a separate value (because some "transparent" areas might be only 50% transparent, or 25% transparent, for example) - unlike GIF, where an area is only fully transparent or fully opaque.
In technical terms, PNG has a 256-level or 8-bit transparency mask, while GIF has a 2-level (on/off) or 1-bit transparency mask.
I think by default the background colour for completely transparent areas in Moho is black.
Depending on the application, preview images often show just the colour - it's usually a lot faster than reading through the transparency mask and generating various levels of transparency over some sort of background (for instance, light grey checkerboard).
Opening in Photoshop shows the PNG images are correctly generated by Moho with transparency information. Your problem lies further along in your conversion process. Possibly Flipmovie is not correctly converting PNG transparency into GIF transparency? Maybe it's an option or setting somewhere in Flipmovie?
As a workaround, how about creating an animated GIF version for whatever reason you need it, and a Quicktime version for use in iMovie ? (If you want only a 256 colour palette, you may be able to set that in the codec settings.)
Regards, Myles.
In technical terms, PNG has a 256-level or 8-bit transparency mask, while GIF has a 2-level (on/off) or 1-bit transparency mask.
I think by default the background colour for completely transparent areas in Moho is black.
Depending on the application, preview images often show just the colour - it's usually a lot faster than reading through the transparency mask and generating various levels of transparency over some sort of background (for instance, light grey checkerboard).
Opening in Photoshop shows the PNG images are correctly generated by Moho with transparency information. Your problem lies further along in your conversion process. Possibly Flipmovie is not correctly converting PNG transparency into GIF transparency? Maybe it's an option or setting somewhere in Flipmovie?
As a workaround, how about creating an animated GIF version for whatever reason you need it, and a Quicktime version for use in iMovie ? (If you want only a 256 colour palette, you may be able to set that in the codec settings.)
Regards, Myles.
"Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted."
-- Groucho Marx
-- Groucho Marx
No, GIF is not a Moho export option.
I meant using Flipmovie, for whatever reason you have the need for an animated GIF. I couldn't immediately see any reason to use an animated GIF instead of a Quicktime file within iMovie, except perhaps for colour limitation (which can probably be done via a codec), so I assumed you also had some other use for the animated GIF.
Regards, Myles.
I meant using Flipmovie, for whatever reason you have the need for an animated GIF. I couldn't immediately see any reason to use an animated GIF instead of a Quicktime file within iMovie, except perhaps for colour limitation (which can probably be done via a codec), so I assumed you also had some other use for the animated GIF.
Regards, Myles.
"Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted."
-- Groucho Marx
-- Groucho Marx