Every week, Frame.io Insider asks one of our expert contributors to share a tip, tool, or technique that they use all the time and couldn’t live without. This week, Heather Hay shows how to include alpha transparency in your Resolve exports.
Sometimes, you’re given a video with an alpha channel (transparency), text, or VFX to add to the timeline. Resolve does a good job handling these, but the trick is to export your deliverables with the alpha channel still intact. Let’s head over to the Render page.
How to export with alpha channel
DaVinci Resolve offers a range of options to preserve alpha channels, including Uncompressed 10-bit, Uncompressed 16-bit Float, ProRes 4444, ProRes 4444 XQ, and DNxHR 444 formats. In my workflow, I typically render a Premiere XML/ Quicktime Apple ProRes 4444 XQ (the fourth 4 indicates the inclusion of the alpha channel in a Quicktime file) at the source resolution with handles.
However, regardless of which of these presets (or custom settings) you choose to render in, you’ll need to check the Export Alpha box, allowing you to select any of the 4444 or DNxHR 444 formats on the Render page.
Once you’ve enabled the ‘Export Alpha’ box in the Render page, you can opt for a straight alpha or a premultiplied alpha, depending on your requirements. However, it’s important to note that conducting a quality check of your renders in DaVinci Resolve before final delivery is critical. This ensures that your project achieves the best possible results and mitigates any potential issues.
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