I have been trying (unsuccessfully) to output an Alpha-channel enabled animation from Bryce. I have output both TIFF sequences and QuickTime moveis (with millions+) and TECHNICALLY it is outputting an Alpha channel, but the alpha channel is the ENTIRE image, rather than just the selected object. Is there any way to tell Bryce to create a proper alpha channel? I know you can do a mask render, but that isn't nearly as good as an alpha channel and it is a pain to to use it as such in other programs such as After Effects and Premiere. Thank in advance for any help on the matter. -Tim

Bryce doesn't store alpha channels within the images or animations themselves. If you're looking for a photoshop-compatible 4th, 5th, 6th, etc. channel (such as produced by Ray Dream Studio when exporting to Photoshop files when certain render options are turned on), then you're out of luck. Bryce doesn't support this option. The best you can do is a mask animation render, and then composite it with the full animation in a post-processing program, such as AE or Premiere. This should be relatively straightforward... if you export as a TIFF sequence, and use Photoshop version 4 or later, you can automate the process somewhat using the History/Actions tools in Photoshop, and it's just a matter of bringing in each frame and adding the appropriate mask channels to it, from the auxiliary mask render you did in Bryce. I would assume that Premiere and After Effects have a similar capability for animations for importing channels. A Mask Render renders only the silhouettes of any selected objects, including such effects as occlusion (but NOT complex occlusion such as partial transparency, fuzzy render settings, etc). --flick

Flick: Thanks, I just recently discovered this on my own, but it's nice to have my thoughts backed up. :-) I have After Effects, so I just use the Mask render as a track matte then comp it together and, walla, it now has an alpha channel. The only problem is I have found Bryce Mask renders are not always accurate for some reason. Have you found this to be true as well? Also, I did not know of its further limitations with complex occlusions. Thanks for the heads up! Take care, Tim