Poblem with Alpha Channel

[dissenyirauxa]

Hi!

Excuse my very poor english. I am a new user of quadrium2 and quadrium | flame and I think that they are two wonderful pieces of software.

But I have a problem when I render an image: the "Export Alpha Channel (No Background)" --on Info tab-- do'nt works in quadrium | flame. I export in TIFF or PNG and when I open the image in Photoshop there are only one layer (background) and do'nt exists any alpha channel.

Instead, Alpha Channel in quadrium2 works correctly.

Ca you help me? How can I export an image with Alpha Channel in quadrium | flame?


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dissenyirauxa

[gandreas]

Turns out this is a bug - there use to be a separate check box to determine if the image had an alpha channel or not (like quadrium2 does). In quadrium2 it allows you to superimpose it on top of a background color, but since quadrium | flame always draws on a background color, it wasn't needed (and thus removed).

Until I get a new release to address this, there is a fairly simple workaround.

Launch quadrium | flame, and then select "Launch Script Editor" from the "Scripts" submenu of the "Structure" menu.

Type the following script in:

Code: Select all

tell application "quadrium | flame"
	tell first document
		set its view space's alpha to true
	end tell
end tell

Save it into your scripts folder (which can be shown in the finder using the "Show Script Folder" menu item - it'll be ~/Library/Application Support/quadrium | flame/Scripts) as something like "Enable Alpha".

You can then run this script whenever you want to export the flame without a background (it'll show up in the scripts menu automatically, assuming it was saved in that above mentioned folder). Don't forget to also turn on the "Export Alpha Channel" checkbox, of course.

This will be fixed in the next release

[dissenyirauxa]

Thank you very much. Now it works perfectly.


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disseny i rauxa

[aether]

I'm enjoying this program immensely … finally, a cool fractal program for the Mac.

However, I have a problem rendering an alpha channel.

I read the earlier post, created the script, etc. it shows up as explained, yet I still get a blank document when I render (tiff and png).

The fractal disappears when I use HDR1, shows up OK in RGB, but I can't get an alpha render.

Please help

[gandreas]

I just tried using the latest release version, and yes, the image does disappear when using HDR and exported alpha channel (so that would be a bug).

JPG images don't include any sort of alpha channel, so that won't work - you'll need to use PNG or TIFF.

I'm also getting differences between PNG and TIFF (with PNG working better, since there are issues of "pre-multiplied alpha" with the TIFF file, which varies from app to app - Preview doesn't like it, while it shows up perfectly in PhotoShop)

So with 1.2 you should just be able to click the "Export Alpha Channel" box (no need to run the script above anymore), and render to a PNG with RGB mode and everything should work.

[aether]

My apologies for initially saying jpg, I knew that format doesn't support transparency … I really meant png. I guess I editted the post a little too late.

I've been getting some absolutely gorgeous images using HDR1, and the Breeding Pool ROCKS! However, when I try to view them as RGB … they really suck : )

Unfortunately when I try to render (even with Export Alpha Channel checked) I'm still getting a blank document with no alpha channel.

Perhaps I have some improper settings:

Background color: Black
Background Opacity: 0% and 100%
Color mode: RGB
Transfer Mode : Normal
Z Transfer Mode: Normal
Height: Current Z

Antialias: 2:1

I'm using a Dual 1.8GHz G5, running on OSX 10.4.10

Any recommendations would be very much appreciated. I'm really looking forward to working with these images in Photoshop, etc. Nevertheless … I LOVE this program.

Best regards.

[gandreas]

If you just take one of the starting points (like the first one is what I usually use for testing), and then go to info panel and click "Export Alpha Channel" (you can leave everything else as is, though I usually cut the resolution down to 72 for testing to make it quicker), and then "Render to File" (use a PNG format), what do you get?

[aether]

Thanks so much for taking the time to assist me.

When I followed your directions (using a default starting point), I got a faint image with no background. I duped the layer a few times and merged them for a stronger image; However, there was no alpha channel though.

Unfortunately, I wasn't successful at all when I started with anything from my favorites.

[gandreas]

I've been messing with this over the past couple of days (and fixing some transfer mode problems as well), so hopefully this should be fixed in the next release (I'm planning an update for flame "real soon now" to fix a number of bugs, but I want to wait until I can test on the GM of Leopard)

[aether]

An upcoming update is excellent news. Oh, and Leopard ships today. Thanks again!

[gandreas]

And there is even a flame beta you can test available today as well (using the "well, Leopard ships today so might as well have an update" excuse) - check the download page <http://projects.gandreas.com/quadriumflame/download.php>

[aether]

EXCELLENT! Thank you

I installed Q|F 1.3b3 … I love it!!
The Gradium additions are a wonderful surprise. As for the alpha channel, a much more usable image appears in the test tiff (from which I was able to create an alpha channel in Photoshop).

I am in another world …

[danielrigano]

The solution also works for me.