Transparency in a Gradient

kavlor · Post by **kavlor** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 4:21 pm

What is the limit on this because I cant get anything to show through it(vector,Video,Bitmap),Im talking about when you make colours within the gradient transparent and not the whole thing.

Genete · Post by **Genete** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 11:57 pm

Transparent color of the gradient reveals the current shape color not the background. So it is not possible to create transparent gradients to see what's behind the shape.
Making the shape transparent affects to all the gradient a the same time.

Shadow only and Halo only are the only effects that shows something behind the shape.
-G

Post by **Víctor Paredes** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 12:07 am

I a recent post the creator of AS noticed this need, so I hope transparent gradients will be implemented some time. I hope soon

madrobot · Post by **madrobot** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 4:23 am

That would be awesome.

Darramouss · Post by **Darramouss** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 8:58 am

The only thing I've been able to do that's remotely like having a gradient fade to transparency is making the shape's colour match the background shape and make one of the shade's colours transparent.

Of course this only works if you have a solid block of colour behind the shape with the "semi"-transparency.

kavlor · Post by **kavlor** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 10:32 am

selgin wrote:I a recent post the creator of AS noticed this need, so I hope transparent gradients will be implemented some time. I hope soon

I hope so too because you could do so much with it layering them over video or over each other.You could still achieve the same thing now with masked bitmaps but it would be much more long winded.

Barry Baker · Post by **Barry Baker** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 1:17 pm

You can use a mask layer with a shape on it that reveals (or hides) the area you wish to make partially transparent. Then give that mask layer a blur radius of anything up to 256...

...and render it:

Hubcube · Post by **Hubcube** » Sun Jun 27, 2010 5:11 am

I will profit of this topic to introduce myself!

I'm a young guy from Canada who always had interest for animation. I'm french-speaking, then you'll understand why I do so much syntax mistakes!

I learned Flash by myself four years ago and I'm now learning Anime Studio during the vacations. So that's it! I'm happy to evolve in an all new version of this awesome software! The learning goes well, but I'm far to be an expert!

I'm a very active member of the Macbidouille forum (HardMac fr) and I've been surprised to find here a community that seems as pleasant then what I know and I'm happy to be now part of it!

I was looking for a transparent gradient, but been disapointed to see that the feature's still missing... For the moment I'm using this mask technique (glad to see that I'm not the only that had the idea

) but it's not very convenient when you need a longer gradient (more than 256). Is there any new technique that been developped after one year?

Thanks!

madrobot · Post by **madrobot** » Sun Jun 27, 2010 11:50 am

Unfortunately there isn't another way inside Anime Studio that I'm aware of.

Another idea off the top of my head might be seperate lines and fills, render out seperately, and do you masking and gradient fills in After Effects. That might work, and possibly give you some more flexibility, but you'd have to try it out and see if it works for you.

Hubcube · Post by **Hubcube** » Sun Jun 27, 2010 5:57 pm

Sure AE can always help for this kind of work, but surely like many others, I would like to done the entire project in only one software. For my part it is even not a project, just a test

I enhanced the mask technique and used many masks to give the feeling of a long gradient.

You'll understand that this is increasing the render's time, but the result is almost convincing!

barryem · Post by **barryem** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 2:22 am

I just tried something that sort of lets you have a transparent gradient and it sort of works.

I created a circle in Inkscape with a transparent gradient, fading from blue to transparent, and exported it as a .png. Then I loaded that into AS as an image layer over a layer with a solid circle in it and it worked.

I suspect this will only be useful in some situations but at least that's something.

Barry

madrobot · Post by **madrobot** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 2:37 am

Hubcube wrote:Sure AE can always help for this kind of work, but surely like many others, I would like to done the entire project in only one software.

I totally agree.
Unfortunately, with a lot of 2d stuff in AS left unaddressed for the last couple of releases, you kind of have to make the best of a bad situation. Which you have done, congratulations.

heyvern · Post by **heyvern** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 3:29 am

Another trick would be to have a few transparent pngs to use for gradient masking. A transparent png as a mask works as expected, using the transparency to mask/reveal. This can work with just a few "greyscale" png images since they can be scaled to any size and not look too bad resolution wise since they are just gradients.

I used this technique on my "Gary Gopher" character at the shoulders.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NBVCSicHG4

I have a png image with a soft circular transparency fade off at the top of the shoulder and a "hard" edge at the base that blends into the bicep shape. Thiss allows for a very nice blend into the body. The image itself was scaled and rotated to fit the character. I used a png because I had WAY more control over the "soft edge". It was difficult to achieve the "gradual" fade off using vector shapes in AS.

Using a similar trick for other uses could work just as well.

-vern

chucky · Post by **chucky** » Tue Jul 06, 2010 6:37 pm

This isn't the kind of thing that people should be making up 'workarounds' for.
Maybe in Debut but certainly not in any new release of PRO.

Transparency in a Gradient

Transparency in a Gradient

Introduction and up!