Masking for flame on
by punstc
on
Mar 23, 2007 at 3:41:23 pm
Here is a completely new question for my my human torch effect. I've been adding fractal noise layers to add texture over my already orange embery body. problem is i tried using a mask of my body to limit those fractals to my body of course but when the colorama effect is added the edges are way to hard and completely show where my mask is. To solve this i had in mind just leaving the fractals as whole layers instead of the masked version i used previously and masking them later with the whole footage in a new composition. is there a way to create a mask much like in photoshop using like a black and white layer with the contrast on the white and black allowing how much shows through. that way i can control more the softness and hardness of my edges?
Re: Masking for flame on by wuzelwazel on Mar 23, 2007 at 6:52:19 pm
You should be able to set the feather on your masks to soften the edges.
And in response to your query about black/white layer (alpha mask) yes you can use a Luma Track Matte or you can use a few of the Channel effects (Effects > Channel) to set the layer's alpha channel to another layer's luminance. An example:
Apply the Set Matte effect (Effects > Channel > Set Matte) to the layer you want masked, change the 'Take Matte From Layer' setting to the layer you want to use for Matte and select Luminance for 'Use For Matte.' This has a different effect than the Luma Track Matte as when you move the track matte's position it reflects in the matted layer, but when you use the Set Matte effect it changes the alpha channel of the matted layer so that moving the matte layer has no effect on the matted layer (I hope that's not too complicated).
I'd recommend using a Luma Track Matte unless you have a lot of different layers that will be masked (as the Luma Track Matte will need to be applied to all of them).
