Resolve 15.2 compound clip alpha channel problems

A continuation of this thread except targeting Resolve 15, as, indeed, this is still broken at least for the most obvious (to me) use of alpha channel in compound clips.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Create a timeline with 3 video tracks
2. Drag a video on the bottom most track
3. Drag a PNG with alpha channel (e.g. a lower third graphic) onto timeline above the video
4. Drag a title onto the timeline above the PNG
5. Select both the PNG and title clips
6. Right click, New Compound Clip

Expected results: the timeline with the resulting compound clip should composite the same way as when the clips are separate.

Actual results: the compound clip is fully opaque (with transparency rendering as black) and obscures the underlying video

Resolve 15.0.0.086, Windows 10 x64 (1709 build 16299.547), NVIDIA 1080 Ti (391.35), i7 8700K, 64GB RAM.

This is similar to something I have done often in the past so I just tried what I hoped would be a workaround. I added the PNG/title clips to a new timeline and then nested the new timeline in the main timeline.

Same problem. No alpha.

I hope they fix this, it's my only issue right now with BM/DR

I contacted a transition company and they said these are the 2 issues:

1. Clip Flattening
Resolve is flattening all clips layers before the transition is applied. We want to be able to apply transitions to individual clips on separate layers so we can create logo reveals, text animations etc...

2. Alpha Channel
Alpha channels are handled by Resolve, instead of the OFX transitions.
All Alpha Channel modifications we make are ignored by Resolve.

Does anyone know if BM are actually looking at fixing these problems? (there's so many threads about it but no comment from them from what I can see)

I hope they fix this, it's my only issue right now with BM/DR

I contacted a transition company and they said these are the 2 issues:

1. Clip Flattening
Resolve is flattening all clips layers before the transition is applied. We want to be able to apply transitions to individual clips on separate layers so we can create logo reveals, text animations etc...

2. Alpha Channel
Alpha channels are handled by Resolve, instead of the OFX transitions.
All Alpha Channel modifications we make are ignored by Resolve.

I received the same email from the same company. Filmimpact for the win! They make my life so easy on Premiere -- if their transitions worked in Resolve, I'd be free of my Adobe subscription forever. It's kind of mindblowing that Resolve is lacking this basic feature. How can anyone take it seriously as an editor without this?

Quick update to say 15.2 still affected.

Just adding, I am having this issue now with 3 text layers on top of video. When compounded, black background

Very frustrating!

I wish this was fixed too. The ONLY thing I am missing from my Premiere work. Not EXACTLY a show-stopper, but SIGNIFICANT, none-the-less.

+1
same problem in 15.2.3.015

Issue is still present in 15.2.4 in both compound clips and timelines. Resolve has so many flaws on basic little features like this.... I am a newbie editing basic stuff, and almost every time I try a new feature I encounter a bug or a missing feature which is very limitting like this one. With such a behavior, it is hard to beleive pros in Hollywood use Resolve for their edits... Too bad, I like the software though.

Pros in Hollywood use it for color grading, not for titling or VFX.

It must be assumed that if you transform clips into compound clip: it becomes a clip but without ALPHA.

If you want an ALPHA, you must then declare it:
Edit TAB via Composite mode (not best),
TAB fusion via a Matte,
Color TAB either via a qualifier or an OFX + Alpha output.

It all works well.

Thanks a lot for the tips Jean-Claude. I was thinking there would exist this kind of workaround. Too bad it is so counterintuitive though.

This mess with compound and timelines alphas should have a NORMAL BEHAVIOR!

Actually if you put a tilte over a transparent png and make a compound o timeline BOOM! NO ALPHA AT ALL!
thats abnormal and if you think go to fusion and do another workarounds is the right way you are wrong!...

please guys!, fix de edit tab composite capabilities! ( alpha on transitions) (alpha on ofx titlers plugins) (alpha on compound clips that use graphics and titles , etc...)

Blackmagic Guys.. take this as an unbreakable rule:

RGB + A managment in all tabs, every single tool, each parameter that involve color managment... Alpha for all!

I'm pleased to report this looks addressed in 16b1. From the changelog:

• Improved alpha channel handling for compound clips with more than two layers^

I just ran through the reproduction steps at the top of this thread using 16b1 and now the expected results are what is observed.

How has this not been fixed by now?

I like to make my graphics as timelimes/compound clips and this is making it pretty much impossbile to do that (even in 16) it also means I can't add direction blur to an element without alpha being black

I just encountered the same problem.

As I made a water mark in fusion page by myself, I can just resize them and use them instead of making them into one compound clip, but it certainly is not convenient in many cases. I would appreciate if someone can share how to resolve this problem if there was any patch that actually solves this problem.

I'm assuming they're still aware this is a problem in 16.1B3?

Delivery in a single clip or individual clip

For those still experiencing problems, although not ideal, applying a zoom other than 1.0 to the image may work around the issue.

See this video at 16:43: