Hi,

What would be a good format to convert to, for working in AfterEffects from HD100 720p25 footage? (including alpha, so no prores)

Nick,

for short clips, you can use sequential files of TGA or TIFF. Your NLE is also a consideration, I use Edius, so i use HQ , i also use HQ in after effects since HQ avi support alpha channels. In my 3D work i use TGA sequences with alpha for compositing in AE.

^^ I'm hopefully picking up After Effects in the next couple of weeks and my NLE is FCP. With AE not being an apple product I presume you can't 'send to > after effects' as with Motion for example? Would I convert a clip/sequence to Tiff from FCP? Send a QT mov file?
I really like Motion but there are a few things I need to achieve which do not really fall into it's remit....here's for another steep learning curve :( !

David,

Motion is a relatively new app, I can't say much about it. I do know AE since it was version 5 so I'm quite sure that AE is robustly supported, not only by plug-ins but also by knowledgeable people on the app.
After Effects accepts MOV files, no need to convert to TIFF.

Ted

David,

Motion is a relatively new app, I can't say much about it. I do know AE since it was version 5 so I'm quite sure that AE is robustly supported, not only by plug-ins but also by knowledgeable people on the app.
After Effects accepts MOV files, no need to convert to TIFF.

Ted

Thanks Ted...looking forward to getting my mitts muddy on AE as soon as possible.
Cheers.

Hi,

What would be a good format to convert to, for working in AfterEffects from HD100 720p25 footage? (including alpha, so no prores)

Take a look at SheerVideo (http://www.bitjazz.com) It's a lossless compressors (QT plugin) with alpha support and size at about 1/2 the size of Uncompressed. It's also very fast. They have a trial version for 20 days with NO watermark.
Of course AE also handles /m2t file directly...

Take note only the new versions do. The old one i still use, version 6.5, don't support m2t.

Take a look at SheerVideo (http://www.bitjazz.com) It's a lossless compressors (QT plugin) with alpha support and size at about 1/2 the size of Uncompressed. It's also very fast. They have a trial version for 20 days with NO watermark.
Of course AE also handles /m2t file directly...

I can add my support to SheerVideo. Excellent codec with some features that are advantageous on several levels. Details on their website. Tech support is excellent, as well -- fast and personable.