Batch rendering and alpha transparency?

Is it possible to render a filter containing alpha transparency using the FF command line batch processor / XML method? It seems to not work on the handful of filters I've tested. This is what I've set up in the XML:

Code
<DefaultFormat value="TGA" /> <TGA>    <BitDepth value="32" />    <IncludeTransparency value="true" />    <FlipRowOrder value="false" /> </TGA>

and I've also tried:

Code
<DefaultFormat value="PNG" /> <PNG>    <BitDepth value="16" />    <IncludeTransparency value="true" />    <ImageCompression value="NONE" /> </PNG>

Basically, I'm just mimicking the settings I would select when saving manually, but no matter what I try, the alpha is not saved, even though the file-size *does* increase to what it would normally be with an alpha channel. The transparency is just not there.

Grrr.. think hard
Oh, I see it's a Mac application.. Wouldn't work for me, unless you can recommend a good Mac emulator on Windows, I'd be willing to give it a try.

Anyone else used the built-in batch renderer with alpha transparency?

GMM, each 'task' must contain the 'options' tag when writing files with alpha channel?

I currently have what you've listed in the 'task \ options' tag as a separate section at the bottom, within an overall 'GlobalSettings' tag. Borrowing from your code:

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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <Tasks>    <Task>       <Image value="" width="400" height="400" />       <Selection value="" />       <Result path="D:\Images\target1.png" format="PNG" />       <Filter value="c:\Users\GMM\AppData\Roaming\Filter Forge 3\System\Library\Library_3260-1.ffxml" />       <Preset value="1" />    </Task>    <GlobalSettings>       <BitmapFormatOptions>          <DefaultFormat value="PNG" />          <PNG>             <BitDepth value="8" />             <IncludeTransparency value="true" />             <ImageCompression value="NONE" />          </PNG>       </BitmapFormatOptions>    </GlobalSettings> </Tasks>

However, my way is not working for files with transparency. I'll try placing the 'options' tag inside each 'task' tag tonight and see if it works.

No, I didn't include that part in my post, but I am including it in the actual XML. Here is an exact copy from my actual XML:

Code

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <Tasks> <Task><Image value="" width="1024" height="1024" /><Selection value="" /><Result path="E:\img_output\FF_Batch\Library_4356-1 1.tga" /><Filter value="C:\Users\MY_USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Filter Forge 3\System\Library\Library_4356-1.ffxml" /><Preset value="1" /></Task>    <GlobalSettings>       <RenderingOptions>          <UseMultithreading value="true" />          <Dither value="true" />          <Progressive value="true" />          <OptimizeBlurs value="true" />          <AntiAliasBitmapComponentSources value="false" />          <Jitter value="0" />          <TemporaryFilesLocation value="" />          <RAMUsageLim it value="60" />          <NormalMapFlipY value="false" />       </RenderingOptions>       <BitmapFormatOptions>          <DefaultFormat value="TGA" />          <BMP>             <BitDepth value="32" />             <FlipRowOrder value="false" />          </BMP>          <JPG>             <Quality value="98" />             <FullPrecision value="true" />          </JPG>          <TIF>             <BitDepth value="8" />             <FloatFormat value="false" />             <IncludeTransparency value="true" />             <ImageCompression value="LZW" />          </TIF>          <TGA>             <BitDepth value="32" />             <IncludeTransparency value="true" />             <FlipRowOrder value="false" />          </TGA>          <PNG>             <BitDepth value="8" />             <IncludeTransparency value="true" />             <ImageCompression value="NONE" />          </PNG>          <EXR>             <BitDepth value="32" />             <IncludeTransparency value="true" />             <ImageCompression value="PIZ" />             <FlipRowOrder value="false" />          </EXR>          <PFM />       </BitmapFormatOptions>       <Gamma>          <GammaValue value="2.2"/>          <GammaCorrection value="true"/>       </Gamma>    </GlobalSettings> </Tasks>

That's taken directly from the XML file I tested with. The only thing I changed is that I removed all but the first 'task' line.

Thanks! I'll try this today and let you know.

I'm rendering one of my animated filters out to a PNG and also had to specify a fully transparent source file otherwise it only rendered the filter over a white background. I'm using FFBatchMaster for Mac OS X. I also had to make the source transparent file the same dimensions that I wanted to render the final out to, or the numbers entered in FFBatchMaster would be ignored and the result would just render to the same size as the source image.

DLI_FireFlow animated fire texture
http://www.filterforge.com/filters/11236.html

DreamLight facebook page (where samples of the filter animations are posted for all my "DLI_Flow" animated filters.)
https://www.facebook.com/DreamLightIncorporated?ref=hl