Can you copy and paste a shape to be a mask?

[Walter Biscardi]

[scot walker] “Is there any quick way to make a new mask exactly the size and shape of an existing shape? “

Yep, with Travel Matte Alpha. Just copy the layer as you would normally do in AE and then use the Travel Matte Alpha command. If you go to the Tutorials section of the Cow, I have three tutorials on how to work with Travel Mattes in there.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Creative Genius, Biscardi Creative Media
https://www.biscardicreative.com

Now in Production, “The Rough Cut,” https://www.theroughcutmovie.com

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters

[Greg Niles]

Another method is to add an image mask to each object you want to be masked and use the shape as the source. This way you don’t have to do any copy and paste, any changes you make to the original shape will automatically be made to the masks as well.

— Greg

[Walter Biscardi]

[Walter Biscardi] “Yep, with Travel Matte Alpha. Just copy the layer as you would normally do in AE and then use the Travel Matte Alpha command. If you go to the Tutorials section of the Cow, I have three tutorials on how to work with Travel Mattes in there. “

Whoops, that a Final Cut Pro trick. I get so many posts in my emails I didn’t realize this one was in the Motion forum! Sorry.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Creative Genius, Biscardi Creative Media
https://www.biscardicreative.com

Now in Production, “The Rough Cut,” https://www.theroughcutmovie.com

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters

[Scot Walker]

No problem. Thanks for the response anyway! 🙂

Greg, I’ll try that Image Mask method. That sounds very cool.

Thank you!

[Greg Niles]

Motion has an equivalent, so the trick should still work. If you set the shape to “Stencil Alpha” blend mode and place it on top of the video you want masked, you get the same effect as FCP’s Travel Matte Alpha.

— Greg