Exporting Targa with Transparency Question

Retired Products Animate Support and Troubleshooting
1

Hi,
When I export animation (image seq) which requires transparency, I normally use the Targa File format.
When I export in Animate Pro using render network set to Drawings - TGA4 and import into Photoshop the rendered image does have transparency, but there is a fine grey outline around everything as though it’s premultiplied with grey/black. How can I render out without this.
Rendering out with PNG4 is exactly correct, but how do I get Animate Pro to render TGA files the same way?

Thanks.

2

Animate Pro and Harmony creates TGA4 pre-multiplied with black as you thought. PNG is a different case, it does a “straight” alpha and is the only format like that in Animate Pro. You could use it but sometimes it might give strange results, for example in blurred areas.

Anyway for TGA and PSDs, what you have to do in Photoshop it to remove the black matte. Here’s how to do it.

- select the bg layer> Right-click and choose Layer From Background
- Select the alpha channel, then Layer > Load from Selection > Alpha1 (or ctrl+click directly on the alpha channel)
- Invert this Selection.
- Delete selection from the layer 0 to remove the black pixels on the RGB channels.
- Clear your selection
- Now remove the black matte by using Layer > Matting > Remove Black Matte.

3

Thanks Steve for the workaround, but it seems like such a longwinded process, especially if you’re working with image seqs which are over 100 frms long. Almost prohibitive.
I wonder why there is no option to select how to write the transparency on export when there is the option to do just that on importing images?
Other software I use do TGA transparency as Straight and that seems like the ideal default.
All my clients want straight transparency, and they all prefer TGA files, the only option I seem to have now is PNG.
It does seem like a real ommission.
Thanks again,
Mark.

4

It seems like it’s never been asked much. I’ve never heard about it myself but it could be added as a feature request.

It’s not done by default because of optimization reasons when doing the compositing but it could be done as an extra module that would let you choose to output as straight, I am told.

5

I’d have to double-check but you might be able to create an Action in Photoshop to automate the process on your images.

~Lilly