Getting your Photoshop graphics to key "properly"

Software: Avid (all versions), Adobe Photoshop
Platform: Windows / Mac
Skill Level: Advanced

I got this great tip from Jorgen, who goes by the username rebusfilm on the Avid Commmunity Forums. These forums are an excellent resource for anyone needing help on Avid, so get over there if you haven't discovered them already. But now for the tip.

One of the most common uses of Photoshop with Avid is to create graphics that can be imported into Avid as a Real-time Matte Key. An example of this would be to create a corporate logo or "bug" that needs to be in one corner of your image for the length of an entire edit. Online editors also use Photoshop to create titles with styles and complexity that isn't supported by the Avid Title Tool.

The main problem with this, is that most of the file types that can be exported from Photoshop "pre-multiply" their foreground (fill) and their Alpha Channel when imported into Avid. This means that if you have any transparency or shadowing in your graphics, they won't "mix" correctly with your video background. The following image shows this problem. The drop shadow is keying over white instead of the flower colours in the video image, leading to a fringing effect.

To get around this problem, you can use the Portable Network Graphics or PNG file format which uses unmatted or straight transparency.

1. Create your graphics as normal in Photoshop including any text or drop shadows. Create these graphics on New Photoshop layers, instead of directly on the default background layer.
2. Delete your background layer so that your graphics appear on top of the Photoshop "checkerboard" background, indicating transparent parts of the image.
3. Save your logo as a .png file and choose No interlacing when the dialog appears.
4. In Avid, use File > Import and in the dialog Options... choose Non-interlaced and Invert Existing for the Alpha information.
5. Avid will import your PNG file as a real-time matte key.
6. Load your imported file into the source monitor.
7. Edit onto the video layer above your background, and you should now have a key that "mixes" with your background, like the one below:

Disclaimer