Publish video with transparent background

Jul 12, 2012

What video software do you use to publish videos with a transparent background?

I am working on a project where there will be video of a host inserted in Storyline so that the slide shows in the background. It's a common technique you see around these forums like this one MSHA46.com | Hazard Communication

I am using Premiere Elements and can use the "green screen key" to remove the background but I can't get it to publish with the transparent background. I don't think Elements has any options to publish the alpha channel. I'm thinking I need to upgrade to something like Premiere Pro or After Effects but thought I would check with the heroes to see what everybody else is using. Not exactly related to Articulate but I'm sure there are some video editing pro's out there.

9 Replies

Jade Kelsall

almost 12 years ago07/12/12 at 9:39 am (UTC)

I use Premiere Pro, but I am by no means a "pro" in this area!

Joe Deegan
Author

almost 12 years ago07/12/12 at 9:42 am (UTC)

Thanks Jade. I think that's what I'll need to upgrade to since I'm a PC. When I bought Elements it seemed like a good deal because it's about 700 bucks cheaper than Pro but not being able to publish with transparent bg may be a deal breaker for me.

Steve Flowers

almost 12 years ago07/12/12 at 9:43 am (UTC)

In my experience, AfterEffects is best for this. But I know how expensive this can be. The Creative Cloud subscription includes this and isn't too bad at $49 / month ($29 a month for previous license holders for the first year).

Alternatives include Sony Vegas Pro, which will give you an AVI and alpha channel. To my knowledge, you'll still need to encode this to FLV which, unfortunately, is only possible with expensive tools (VP6a). A tool from a company named Moyea is supposed to handle this at $99 but the site gives me a malware warning.

Jen Perkins

almost 12 years ago07/12/12 at 11:43 am (UTC)

Joe, Camtasia for Mac now has a chroma key option, but I don't know if it does what you're saying Premiere Elements does or what. (The option hasn't made it to PC version of Camtasia Studio yet, so I haven't gotten to test it out.)