Apple Final Cut Express 4 - Manual (Page 829)

Chapter 52 Compositing and Layering 829
IX
Important: When you import a clip with an alpha channel that contains no data, the
clip appears white. To display the clip properly, change the alpha channel for the clip to
None (see “
Changing a Clip’s Alpha Channel Type ” on page 830).
Working with Clips That Have Alpha Channels
You can edit clips that have alpha channels into your sequence as you would any other
clip, but you must make sure that a clip with an alpha channel is on a higher-numbered
video track than any clips that are supposed to be beneath it.
For example, suppose you have a title graphic that was created in Photoshop, so it has
an alpha channel already set up. When you import it into Final Cut Express, the alpha
channel is recognized automatically. To create your title sequence, you edit the title
graphic and a background image into your sequence, so that the background image is
on track V1 and the title graphic is on track V2.
The alpha channel in the
graphics file makes the
areas around the text
transparent without
requiring you to change
any opacity settings.
The title graphic with the
alpha channel is on a
higher-numbered track.