Adding transparent background to 'smaller' clips

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MarkRM
Met Resolume in a bar the other day
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Sep 23, 2021 10:47

Adding transparent background to 'smaller' clips

Post by MarkRM »

Hi!

I'm a composer by trade, but during the pandemic as a project I thought I'd teach myself to make modest video stuff for my tracks. In other words, I'm a total novice with no experience with any kind of image work (just now learning about masking/chroma keys, etc.). So please excuse to absolute noobness of my question.

My composition comprises a bunch of different footage running at different resolutions. A lot of the time I'm maximizing video size (I don't mind about the lack of fidelity), but I have one very small video (320 x 240) with a transparent background that I want retain the size of. The problem is that because it's 320 x 240 in a 1920 x 1080 composition, Resolume adds a black overlay to the remaining real estate. Is there a way for me to get Resolume to make everything outside of the boundary of that tiny clip transparent? I've tried the different blend modes but no luck.

Again, apologies for the stupidity of the question, and thanks for for the tutorials/resources that make the program accessible to an enthusiastic amateur such as myself.

Zoltán
Team Resolume
Posts: 7075
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2014 13:08
Location: Székesfehérvár, Hungary

Re: Adding transparent background to 'smaller' clips

Post by Zoltán »

Sounds like you might be playing the clip on the bottom layer.
The bottom layer composites onto transparent, so your clip should already be on a transparent background.

Monitors and projectors can't show transparent though, only black, but if you preview your clip or composition, you should see a checkerboard background behind your clip in the preview monitor:
Képernyőfotó 2021-09-24 - 15.05.41.png
For playing the clip on layers above other content, the Alpha blend should be a great starting point.
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MarkRM
Met Resolume in a bar the other day
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Sep 23, 2021 10:47

Re: Adding transparent background to 'smaller' clips

Post by MarkRM »

Thanks Zoltán.

The clip isn't on the bottom layer, and in your screenshots, what you've got on the output monitor is what I'm seeing in both the preview and output monitors (a black background outside the image that is obscuring all layers beneath it). The only transparency is in the confines of the small clip itself, which I've used chroma key to create. Everything outside that clip is black.

I've tried switching the blend mode to alpha but it doesn't do anything for me. I must be doing something wrong. If you have any idea what that might be, let me know. In the meantime, I'll play around and see if I can figure it out.

Thanks!

EDIT: Ok, it was the chroma key effect that was adding the black background! I was able to fix the problem by altering the position of this effect in the chain.

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