Alpha masks out of Cine4d

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know if it is possible to create an alpha mask for clipping a rendered image in cine4d similar to the way the Maxwell plug-in does? I've checked and unchecked the 'generate alpha mask for environment' button in general settings but this has no effect.

[Eduardo Rolon]

First guess. Check how you are saving the image PNG, Tiff and TGAs should create the Alpha Channel, JPGs will not.

[Anonymous]

Eduardo,

I always save as a tiff but with no such alpha being generated. I have tried all of the file formats with no luck either.
Do you know where it would save it to? Or where it would be generated?
I am used to Maxwell creating the alpha in a set location with image etc. This has always been invaluable when composition, particularly with tight or fine geometry.

Thanks

Dave

[Eduardo Rolon]

When you save the Image, click on options and…

[Anonymous]

Eduardo,

That works great, thanks. I foolishly kept looking for the option in the 'photo rendering settings', I didn't think to look in the 'save as' dialog options.
Do you know if there will be a release of a cine4d manual other than the videos? Little things like this would be so helpful!

Thanks again,

Dave

[Eduardo Rolon]

Don't feel foolish you looked in the right place for it, I did the same since you expect that there is a choice so that the computer does not spend time calculating the Alpha channel if it is not needed.

• The step you missed was in asking "where would it not make sense to put it?"

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As to your other question the web Help file is actually quite good.

[Anonymous]

Hello, I have the same issue. I saved the render as a PNG color with alpha mask and when i open it in photoshop, the backround is not transparent!

am i missing something in the settings?

[Anonymous]

The background will still be there. In photoshop you will need to have the channels pane visible where you will find an additional channel other than RGB, you can use this to select the background and mask out

Scott