<p>Yes.  </p>

<ol>
<li>Navigate to your .png in the media browser and import it into your project</li>
<li>Create a bin, make sure the new bin is selected.  Unfortunately, Resolve won't let you import the same image twice, regardless of which channels you're interpreting.  Using a second bin is a workaround.</li>
<li>Right-click on the .png again in the media browser, and select "add into media pool as a matte"
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/bNdPg.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/bNdPg.png" alt="stepThree"></a></li>
<li>Drop the original .png onto your timeline above whatever footage you want to be the background</li>
<li>open the color page and select the fox.png clip in the timeline</li>
<li>right click on the background of the node editor and add an alpha output, wire the output of node 1 to the master alpha out.</li>
<li>right click on node 1, and from the context menu, choose your matte from the Add Matte submenu at the bottom
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/AzZzz.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/AzZzz.png" alt="stepSeven"></a></li>
<li>use any other roto tools you need to knock out whatever you need to knock out.</li>
</ol>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/uPFjI.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/uPFjI.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-09T20:46:29.460Z
Thanks for the idea, but the Firefox logo, for example, already has transparency information and I don't want to ignore it have to replicate that with polygons (if it's difficult to do with this static picture imagine how much harder it would be to rotoscope an animated series of transparent PNGs). In theory I should be able to just subtract from the alpha channel and make arbitrary holes in the already partially see-through picture. In practice it's trivial to do in After Effects and in Fusion, but I'm looking for a way to do this specifically in Resolve.
Plouj
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-09T21:52:12.497Z
Sorry.  Misunderstood.  Updated answer.
Jason Conrad
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-09T21:56:28.100Z
If you're doing roto work with something else, like mocha, or if you have a multichannel export from a 3D app, this is one way you bring it in.  Another way would be to install the mocha ofx plugin and use it directly.
Jason Conrad
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-10T05:00:32.760Z
Thanks! Your updated answer lead me to the Using External Mattes chapter on of 2367 of the dr16 manual where I discovered that I can use the transparent clip as its own external matte simply by dragging it from the Media Pool into the Nodes panel while on the Color page; no need to mess with bins to import it twice!
Plouj
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-11T00:13:25.973Z
Haha.  Well, I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks.  The Dev team at BMD improves things so quickly, that it's easy to miss (or forget...I'm the kind of nerd that reads all of the release notes for even small Resolve updates) nice new features like that, and the manual's so long, that I think my laptop would choke on a DIFF comparison against an old version ;-)
Jason Conrad
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-09T08:24:27.400Z
2020-02-09T22:00:13.027Z
2020-02-09T22:00:13.027Z
Jason Conrad
<p>Is it possible to use some combination of Color nodes and power windows to hide parts of an already partially transparent clip such as one whose frames might be made from transparent images like</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/VgHcu.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/VgHcu.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>?</p>

<p>I'm specifically looking for a solution without resorting to Fusion.</p>

<p>My unsuccessful attempts at trying to cut out a hole in the middle following <a href="https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&amp;t=70131#p391409" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this advice</a>:
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/hMrGq.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/hMrGq.png" alt="enter image description here"></a>
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/9xPZz.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/9xPZz.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<davinci-resolve><mask><alpha>
Mask clip with transparency in DaVinci Resolve
Plouj
# Mask clip with transparency in DaVinci Resolve

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-02-09)

Is it possible to use some combination of Color nodes and power windows to hide parts of an already partially transparent clip such as one whose frames might be made from transparent images like

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/VgHcu.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/VgHcu.png)

?

I'm specifically looking for a solution without resorting to Fusion.

My unsuccessful attempts at trying to cut out a hole in the middle following [this advice](https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=70131#p391409):
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/hMrGq.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/hMrGq.png)
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/9xPZz.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/9xPZz.png)

**Tags:** davinci-resolve, mask, alpha


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-02-09. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

Yes.

1. Navigate to your .png in the media browser and import it into your project
2. Create a bin, make sure the new bin is selected. Unfortunately, Resolve won't let you import the same image twice, regardless of which channels you're interpreting. Using a second bin is a workaround.
3. Right-click on the .png again in the media browser, and select "add into media pool as a matte"
   [![stepThree](https://i.sstatic.net/bNdPg.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/bNdPg.png)
4. Drop the original .png onto your timeline above whatever footage you want to be the background
5. open the color page and select the fox.png clip in the timeline
6. right click on the background of the node editor and add an alpha output, wire the output of node 1 to the master alpha out.
7. right click on node 1, and from the context menu, choose your matte from the Add Matte submenu at the bottom
   [![stepSeven](https://i.sstatic.net/AzZzz.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/AzZzz.png)
8. use any other roto tools you need to knock out whatever you need to knock out.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/uPFjI.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/uPFjI.jpg)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks for the idea, but the Firefox logo, for example, already has transparency information and I don't want to ignore it have to replicate that with polygons (if it's difficult to do with this static picture imagine how much harder it would be to rotoscope an animated series of transparent PNGs). In theory I should be able to just subtract from the alpha channel and make arbitrary holes in the already partially see-through picture. In practice it's trivial to do in After Effects and in Fusion, but I'm looking for a way to do this specifically in Resolve.  
> **username_1**: Sorry.  Misunderstood.  Updated answer.  
> **username_1**: If you're doing roto work with something else, like mocha, or if you have a multichannel export from a 3D app, this is one way you bring it in.  Another way would be to install the mocha ofx plugin and use it directly.  
> **username_0**: Thanks! Your updated answer lead me to the Using External Mattes chapter on of 2367 of the dr16 manual where I discovered that I can use the transparent clip as its own external matte simply by dragging it from the Media Pool into the Nodes panel while on the Color page; no need to mess with bins to import it twice!  
> **username_1**: Haha.  Well, I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks.  The Dev team at BMD improves things so quickly, that it's easy to miss (or forget...I'm the kind of nerd that reads all of the release notes for even small Resolve updates) nice new features like that, and the manual's so long, that I think my laptop would choke on a DIFF comparison against an old version ;-)  

---

