Blackmagic Forum

The problem is that transparent areas of PNG files show up as white in ATEM Software Controller when loaded into Media Player for some users.

Most people don't seem to have this problem. But I do.

I create my graphics in a remote location that isn't connected to the network that my ATEM Switcher is hooked up to, so using the Photoshop plug-in isn't an option for me.

I've searched hi and lo for a solution, but despite there being a fair number of folks who report this, no one has yet offered a definitive answer as to what's causing it, nor has anyone suggested an easy way around it.

However, I have discovered an interesting workaround which makes the PNG files work. I have not seen it mentioned elsewhere:

When I'm creating my transparent graphic in Photoshop, if I add a layer at the very bottom, fill it with black, and then turn the opacity down to 1%, and then save to PNG, the transparency is preserved in ATEM Software Controller (Pre-Multiplied Key is checked under Palettes/Downstream Key).

If I turn the opacity down to 0% on the bottom black layer, the transparent areas revert to white again in the Controller. And if I remove that layer, the transparent areas are also white. Interesting...

Adding a layer of black with 1% opacity is barely visible, if at all. So that's a great, easy solution for me at least.

I'm still curious as to why it happens though...

See this earlier post from me about this.

Thanks!

I did see your post before I posted here, and others on this topic in the Blackmagic forum. I followed the steps you (and others) suggested, but the end result didn't work. The transparent areas of the png were still white.

I watched PhotoJoseph's video and followed his steps; that didn't work either. I watched a bunch of other videos and read posts that offered solutions in other forums. None of those worked for me either, and all are time consuming and rather complicated.

My solution on the other hand is super simple and easy. I discovered it by chance. It's just a few easy steps that you can put into a single action in Photoshop (or your graphics creation software of choice). After you've created your transparent graphic as a psd file in Photoshop, do this:

1. Create a new layer,
2. Fill it with black at 1% opacity, and
3. Put the layer on the bottom of all the other layers.
4. Export as transparent png.

That's it!

No creating alpha channels, no masking, no merging and deleting layers or any other complicated moves.

And unlike all the other proposed solutions I tried it actually works.