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How to Overlay

Posted: 17 Jun 2011, 09:49
by peterkneter
Hello there,

I am new to tvp and have one question. I am working on a little animation and i have imported my backgorunds from Photoshop.
but I also have an Overlay created in Photoshop that has to be leveled above the animation. Everytime I want to import that Overlay I import the complete picture - so not only the Overlay but the white around it too.
So how can I import an BG-Overlay correctly? I tried the options "Overlay" in the Layers menu of TVP and also tried some alpha channel with the PSD file but nothing helps...
I would be very happy if anyone knows the answer to my question!
thank you,
Peter

Re: How to Overlay

Posted: 17 Jun 2011, 10:59
by slowtiger
Two ways:
1. If you go with "import footage" anything will be flattened to one layer only. Isolate your OL and save it as PNG with alpha. This imports as layer with alpha immediately.

2. Go with "Open" and select the PS file. This should open as new project with all layers and their alpha.

Re: How to Overlay

Posted: 17 Jun 2011, 14:06
by peterkneter
thank you very much - that helped a lot!!! :D

Re: How to Overlay

Posted: 17 Jun 2011, 18:53
by D.T. Nethery
Slowtiger's suggestion is best (to save PNG file with transparent alpha then Open it in TVP) , but if you happen to find that you have imported an Overlay layer with the clear area around the Overlay object showing as opaque white area instead of clear , then you could also use the Magic Wand Selection Tool to select the white area around the Overlay and then hit Delete key to take it out. That would work, too , though it might make the cut out area around the Overlay look too sharp-edged depending on what it is, so you might need to soften the edges a bit. Experiment with the Expand and Smooth settings to get it to cut out the overlay the way you want it .
TVP_Selection_Magic_Wand.png
TVP_Selection_Magic_Wand.png (18.57 KiB) Viewed 8429 times
TVP_Selection_Smooth_Expand.png
TVP_Selection_Smooth_Expand.png (17.67 KiB) Viewed 8429 times