I have a video clip with an alpha channel. I want to use that alpha channel to reveal the layer underneath.

Originally I asked how to create and install "luma" files, but I finally found the right location in the Wiki which explains it.

From my current understanding, it seems there is no way to create an animated transparency map for a video clip in Kdenlive.

I hope I'm wrong about that...

Is there any way to use an alpha channel or anything to sync an animated transparency with a video clip for transition purposes?

I've rendered out snow, fog, dust, fire etc animations from blender as a series of .pngs with alpha, placed them in a video track above a video track with my dv captures in and successfully got a composite if that's what your after?

You could also check out http://www.blendernation.com/2007/11/27 ... g-blender/ and http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?t=104302 to see how you can use blender for 3D transitions.

Alpha channels in the video file are not supported at this time. Only alpha channels on images (PNG, SVG, e.g.) for now.

A series of PNGs would be pretty huge, but while Kdenlive develops, I might be able to get by with that. Thanks for the tip.

I would use Blender, but my experience is that the name "Blender" comes from the sensation of what the interface does to one's brain. I worked in 3D animation for years, and almost all 3D graphics programs have terrible interfaces with huge learning curves. But Blender is in it's own category for steep learning.

That's one reason why I'm rooting for Kdenlive. It has such an easy to grasp interface.