transparancy in AVID

I am hooked up with a partner that uses AVID EXPRESS DV to create videos for sale on dvd. I do the stills he does the motion. We can not get an object that we clip and place on a transparent background go into AVID without AVID placing it on a black background. What's up with that????

Also I am thinking of purchasing the ADOBE Video collection; Primere pro After Effects Standard, Audition, & Encore. I have heard that AVID is much more powerful and an all-in-one program when coupled with BORIS RED. Has anybody done both???

What formats can AVID import? Have you tried PSD with a transparent background?

Copy the alpha channel of your transparent image as a new channel into a non-transparent version of the image. Save as TIF (without layers), then import the image into AVID. That may give you better results, as non-Adobe apps are looking for an alpha, not Adobe "transparency".

Transparency isn't an Adobe thing.

But yes, many applications are confusing the concepts of transparency and alpha channels.

You're right, Chris - it's too bad the apps that don't get it straight are major "industry" tools like Shake or AVID. It tends to create problems in production, but it justifies my job, so hey, why should I complain...