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ARG! Moving a layer INDEPENDANT of mask??
I have an arrow I have made in Photoshop. I have placed a mask on this layer. I want to move the graphic independant of the mask, ie the mask stays in one place while the arrow below it moves either into the mask or out to reveal itself. I know this is an easy thing to do (without animating the mask) but for the life of me I can’t remember how it’s done.
Any help would be greatly appreciated as I am under a bit of a deadline.
Thanks in advance.
Paul Whishaw
PDVpro.com
“If it moves, We’ll Shoot it” -
9 Replies
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Hi!
Use the Pan Behind Tool.Good Luck,
Jim -
Well I tried the pan behind tool but my masks are still moving with the layer. I’m obviously missing something. I’ve keyframed the mask to remain stationary. I’ll revisit this issue after I’ve finished this project.
Thanks.
Paul Whishaw
PDVpro.com
“If it moves, We’ll Shoot it” -
This may not work…. Create a new comp size solid and make the mask on that layer. Play with the settings for your modes for the layer and the mask both. Like screen and overlay, alpha, difference ect… I think I have done this before.
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Cant you just precompose the layer and then use a mask?
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What JoeyTheDog probably means: put the mask on a solid right above the arrow layer in the timeline and in swiches/modes, chose MODE – Alpha Matte “Solid 1”.
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I agree that precomping the arrow then masking the comp is the way to go. That way you can move the layers within the pre-comp anywhere you want and the mask won’t move.
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Thanks for the input everyone. I’m going to have to do this effect many more times for this project so I’m sure this will save me a tremendous amount of time. Some neat suggestions.
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You just have to separate the mask and put it into a different layer in Photoshop. (Select the white of the mask and then create a new layer with that selection filled with any color.) Then import the file as comp in order to preserve the layers. Now set the mask layer (should be on top) to be an alfa-based track matte for the image layer. (You might have to click on the Switch/Modes button on the bottom of the timeline to get the “Trk. Mat.” column.) This is the equivalent of having a mask umlinked to a its layer in Photoshop. The cool thing is that you can also have a moving layer for a track matte.
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Some of the above posts are very confusing, sorry. The simple answer to your question:
Create a solid above your masked layer.
Copy and paste the mask from the arrow layer to the new one. Delete (or deactivate) the mask from the arrow layer.
Set track matte option of the lower (arrow) layer to Alpha Matte.
Move lower layer as much as you like.
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