CompuServe Messages

John and Greg, My original intent when starting this thread was to find out more about 3ds's use of the alpha channel and how my Matrox Illum Pro board treats the signal. It would seem to me that the alpha out of the board should output the alpha information from the rendered .tga file (whether it is being rendered at that time or just loaded in the buffer, as I do when doing frame by frame out to tape). The solution Greg suggested worked: we rendered a matte version of the animation and the animation itself. We then took the signal from one betacam deck and connected it to the ISO input of the switcher. This signal was then keyed with ADO which can generate it's own "negative" black. This entire signal was then recorded on 1" tape for a second generation version of the final animation which can be keyed over anything quite cleanly. My original quest still stands: Since the alpha channel from my matrox card is connected directly into our Ampex switcher ISO inputs, why can't the alpha information (that my matrox board outputs every time a frame is rendered) be used just like any other ISO input and cut the matte for the rest of the animation/frame? This in turn is mixed with my ADO's negative black to get a first generation, keyable recording. Maybe I just don't get it, but it seems to me that if a board is going to output an alpha channel on a separate cable it should be useful. Unless the alpha channel signal out of the board isn't loaded at the same time an image is loaded in the buffer, this would explain it. Thanks to everyone for their responses to this thread. It has made us stop and look at our capabilities and how to integrate new ways of doing things. Thanks for the help….Just wait til my PAR gets here 🙂 Jimbo, "Too high-tech for his own good in Des Moines", Beyer