C4d exporting of tiffs with alpha

**Turan** · 08 February 2006, 04:45 PM

I've rebuilt my PC and re-installed c4d and now when I export a tiff with alpha from c4d, I can't import it into xaraXtreme.

I can import tiffs with alphas from Poser6 into XaraXtreme, so I don't think it is XXtrems fault.

Is there a setting I should be using that I can't find? I'm sure I used to do it prior to the PC rebuild - but then I had XaraX1.

Any C4d/Xtreme users know the answer :-(

Turan

**ivan louette** · 08 February 2006, 05:37 PM

I didn't try Tiffs, but I usually export png with alphas from C4D and they work absolutely fine in Xtreme !

kindly,

ivan

**Soquili** · 08 February 2006, 05:51 PM

Hi Turan,

I'll give it a try when I get home after work. I've never used export to tiff with alpha from C4D before. I use png, as Ivan mentioned.

I've tried every combination of export settings available and if the alpha channel is used, Xara X, Xara X¹, and Xara Xtreme cannot import a tiff created in C4D. If the alpha channel is not used all three version can import the tiff.

**Turan** · 09 February 2006, 08:28 AM

Thanks for the feedback - maybe I never did :-o. Fell into Poser a lot over the last year maybe I got them confused. I've never used png before but will from now on.

Thanks,

Turan

**Broon** · 11 February 2006, 06:23 AM

Originally Posted by Soquili

Xara X, Xara X¹, and Xara Xtreme cannot import a tiff created in C4D. If the alpha channel is not used all three version can import the tiff.

Xara X can import tiff w/alpha rendered in C4D. I do it everyday. De-selecting objects in your scene is the way to go. For example, if you have a floor object, a cube with a sphere on top of the cube and you want only the cube isolated in the channel, you must turn off rendering for the floor and the sphere. This is done by clicking one of the two grey dots next to the object in the objects list. The upper dot is for "visible on/off" in editor --- and the bottom dot is "render on/off" for that object (click until red).
When you turn off the object, it won't appear in the alpha channel, nor will it be part of the render, but it WILL still be visible in the editor provided the upper dot is still grey (or green) and not red as well.

Tip - the upper dot is very handy when it comes to large projects. This dot only controls visibilty in the editor. I have a comparitavely slow machine so for me, toggling this on and off for some portions of my project makes life easier because I don't have to slog through tons of mesh when navigating or moving objects. That, and using "box" for my display.

The example image below shows the Xara X page border behind the imported tiff.

Wayne

**Broon** · 11 February 2006, 06:32 AM

Another render of the same project composed partly in PS, using eps tidbits exported from Xara X. I use C4D, Rhino, Xara and Photoshop quite extensively,.. sometimes in unison :-)

Regards, Wayne

Glad to see your still enjoying C4D, Soquili..

**ivan louette** · 11 February 2006, 10:41 AM

Excellent !!! Thanks Wayne !!!

kindly,
ivan

**Grafixman** · 11 February 2006, 02:09 PM

Excellent real life practical use of graphics programs, Wayne.
Just out of curiosity, what advantage would there be exporting as a tiff instead of png or tga? Is the transparency smoother? How about partial transparencies? Just curious. I do a lot of rendering with transparency in Blender and I always use png. Pretty fine and relatively clean if you have the premultiplied button pressed, too. But sometimes I get a black haze on fine edges and partially transparent sections.

**Broon** · 11 February 2006, 05:16 PM

Originally Posted by Grafixman

Excellent real life practical use of graphics programs, Wayne.
Just out of curiosity, what advantage would there be exporting as a tiff instead of png or tga?

My version of cinema doesn't export to PNG so I use Tiff. I'm a huge fan of the PNG format and use it when I can as well. Xara X doesn't import Targa w/alpha, though.

Is the transparency smoother? How about partial transparencies?

1- No more or less smoother than PNG. 2- To my knowledge, the alpha "channel" in 24 bit bitmaps is 8 bit. This allows for 256 steps of transparency (in one channel) thus, partial transparency is possible (see below). It's a simple plane from C4D with circular alpha in the material.

Just curious. I do a lot of rendering with transparency in Blender and I always use png. Pretty fine and relatively clean if you have the premultiplied button pressed, too. But sometimes I get a black haze on fine edges and partially transparent sections.

Never used blender, but the black haze could be coming from this "premultiplied" setting. I could be burning itself into a background object thus becoming part of the transparent area (??).
Wayne

**Soquili** · 11 February 2006, 05:45 PM

Hi Wayne,

Thanks for the information. The C4D file I was working with only contained a cube. No Floor or Sky sphere or any other objects. The lighting was the default as well. I'm using the version 8.5 Student Edition, not sure if that may have limitations. I tried exporting a tiff with alpha again and when trying to import into Xara Xtreme I get this error: