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anyone know the answer to this annoying problem (about black solids/masks)
Every so often I want to darken pars of an image while leaving others unaffected…the simplest way i find is to create a black solid, add a feathered mask (to where I want the images to be darkened) and choose a blending mode…usually overlay or soft light. BUT, I notice this usually leaves a posturization effect in the gradations of the feathered mask….it’s like AE is having a problem displaying the subtle shift from “pure black” to my unaffected image. At first I thought that It was an 8-bit issue so I switched over to 16-bit with no luck, the gradations change but not for the better, the just look different. Either way, it’s very clear where my unaffected image ends and my black solid begins (in spite of the fact that I’ve feathered it).
This isn’t an LCD display issue either as it shows up on my crt television output as well
this becomes really annoying when I’m trying to perform seamless cuts between menus for DVDs and the like
clearly I’m missing something, anyone have an answer???
Thanks in advance
I should point out I’m generally using the DV NTSC compression settings
Ken Simmons
G5 dual 2,0
2 gigs Ram
OSX Panther 10.3.9AE 6.5
Final Cut 5.0 -
6 Replies
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Try using a color Burn and lower the opacity to like 5-10 percent.
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Wow
ok will do, thanks for the tipbtw I picked up a copy of the AE serious effects & compositing…excellent stuff!
K.
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Cool, glad you liked it.
Andrew
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Yes, the problem is that masks are 8 bit. When heavily feathered, banding and posterization sometimes appears. One solution is to precompose the feathered solid and apply a blur to the precomp layer. Or, you could make a gradient in Photoshop, save it at a high bit depth, and use that as a matte in AE.
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ah also a good call…this problem has plagued me for some time…thanks for the suggestion.
K.
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If you’re wanting to recolor parts of an image the way commercials and music videos do you may want to simulate the Da Vinci “Power Window”. In AE create an adjustment layer above your video clip. Add the feathered mask shape to the adjustment layer. Now add whatever color effect you prefer on your adjustment layer (I use curves). You’ll notice that the curves now only effects the area in the mask. So for example in commercials where you see the obvious vignette in the sky in a wide shot, make a big oval mask over the sky, then in curves, drop the RGB Gamma a bit and whatever further tweaks make it look good.
Chris Smith
https://www.sugarfilmproduction.com
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