Apple Final Cut Pro 6 - Manual (Page 1202)

Chapter 19 Compositing and Layering 417
II
Choosing a Background
When working with clips that have an alpha channel, you can choose different
backgrounds that make it easier to see which areas of your picture are transparent.
Translucent clips or generated text clips may be easier to see if you choose a
background that emphasizes them, such as Checkerboard 1 or 2. If you’re compositing
colored images, a contrasting color would work better.
When a clip is rendered for export to tape, the background is always set to black. If it is
rendered for export as a QuickTime movie, the background will still appear to be black,
even if the alpha channel is exported along with the clip.
There are several backgrounds to choose from.
 Black
 White
 Checkerboard 1
 Checkerboard 2
 Red
 Green
 Blue
Note: Red, Green, and Blue backgrounds are available from the submenu only when
choosing View > Background.
To choose a background for viewing a clip, do one of the following:
m Choose View > Background, then choose a background from the submenu.
m Choose the background from the View pop-up menu in the Viewer.
Translucent clips or
generated text may be
more visible if you
choose Checkerboard
1 or 2.