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VEGAS masking – how do I stop it affecting ALL layers below?
Hi all,
I’m a very long time VEGAS user and do a lot of technical media with a lot of video tracks (20-30). So I’m used to the whole nested comp parent/child thing. There is one thing that has always tripped me up though, so jump in if you know what I’m doing wrong please:
If I add a mask to a parent layer, or to any high level layer, the result always seems to drill down right through the layers below. So a simple parented mask takes out the background layer even if that is outside the parent/child group. The compositing options never seem to do quite what I expect in any case – coming from 25 years in Photoshop – but the big issue is that I struggle to get masks etc not to affect everything below them, and usually end up doing sub-renders or other cockeyed work-arounds.
If you want to play along and understand what I’m on about, lets say I have 3 layers. Top layer is text with applied Mask generator, inverted, parented to the Red layer immediately below. Under this is a solid Green layer, outside the parent/child group. What I would expect to happen is that the mask would apply to the top layer only: result – crisp red text over solid green background. What I get playing with the parent track compositing modes is red text over white (Source alpha), Black text over green (Mask) etc.
Probably something obvious (always prepared to assume user error…) but the solution continues to elude me!
John M.
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5 Replies
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[John Matchett] “The compositing options never seem to do quite what I expect in any case – coming from 25 years in Photoshop – but the big issue is that I struggle to get masks etc not to affect everything below them, and usually end up doing sub-renders or other cockeyed work-arounds.”
O..K..
Is this what you want?:
I’ve gotta ask – why not select Green, Red, Pink or whatever colour Text you want in the Text Generator, and do away with the all this – only saying . .
* Grazie
Video Content Creator and Potter
PC 7 64-bit 16gb * Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core 3.40GHz * 2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 Ti
Cameras: Canon XF300 + PowerShot SX50HS Bridge -
Ha – no you may have missed the point of the exercise! I’m not trying to get the text done I could do that whistling in 10 seconds.
My example was just so you could check it was working your end using the layers and masking technique – which you may have done; the result is exactly what I would expect to happen in my example, but it ain’t happening at my end. (Typically I’m doing complex brain surgery and nuclear physics videos; generating text is the least of my problems!)
The issue is how you set the switches in the layers to stop the upper mask blowing right through the bottom layer. In my numpty example, I have the top two layers (red layer and text) parent/child grouped, and Green layer below, outside this group. The mask is currently affecting the green layer, which I don’t want.
John M
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[John Matchett] “Ha – no you may have missed the point of the exercise!”
Not unusual for me. What you need to do, as you are using Masks is to Select from the Compositing Mode Switch, the Multiply (Mask) option:
* Grazie
Video Content Creator and Potter
PC 7 64-bit 16gb * Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core 3.40GHz * 2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 Ti
Cameras: Canon XF300 + PowerShot SX50HS Bridge -
Thanks Graham,
Yes – the trick seems to be to add the mask generator to the FX on the top track header (not the track), set the Compositing Mode switch to Multiply but the Parent Compositing mode to Source Alpha.
Glad to have that figured out!
John M
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[John Matchett] “but the Parent Compositing mode to Source Alpha.”
Why?
Anyways, thanks for the Shout-Out John.
* Grazie
Video Content Creator and Potter
PC 7 64-bit 16gb * Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core 3.40GHz * 2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 Ti
Cameras: Canon XF300 + PowerShot SX50HS Bridge
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