HELP: Globally Change Mask Path Key Frames

[Darby Edelen]

You’ll need to duplicate the layer that has your original mask on it and use the duplicate as a track matte. You can then move the layer to get the position/scale right instead of the mask.

Darby Edelen
Designer
Left Coast Digital
Santa Cruz, CA

[Sterling Youngman]

Darby,

Thanks again for your help.

[Sterling Youngman]

Hi Darby or anyone else out there,

Unfortunately, I can’t use the existing layer as a track matte. The mask shape modifies an existing alpha. Moving the layer so that the mask is in the right place, moves the existing alpha shape out of place.

Any thoughts on how I could move all the keyframes at once? Is it possible to write an expression for the Mask Path raising the Y coordinates or something like that?

Thanks,

[Darby Edelen]

[Sterling Youngman] “Unfortunately, I can’t use the existing layer as a track matte. The mask shape modifies an existing alpha. Moving the layer so that the mask is in the right place, moves the existing alpha shape out of place. “

Try applying your mask to a new solid layer that is exactly the same size as the footage you already have masked, then use that solid layer as an alpha track matte. If the solid is not the same size as the footage then the mask will end up being smaller or larger (although this isn’t necessarily a big deal since you can just scale your solid layer after the fact).

You’ll also want to enable ‘Continuously Rasterize’ on your solid layer to avoid loss of resolution along the edges of the mask if you scale the layer.

Darby Edelen
Designer
Left Coast Digital
Santa Cruz, CA

[Jonathan Shohet]

If there is additional alpha information on the original layer, preventing you from using its duplicate as an alpha matte, why not just create a new solid layer, copy the mask unto it and then use it as an alpha matte instead?

cheers,
Jon

[edit] whoops, sorry, didn’t see that Darby has already answered with the same solution

[Sterling Youngman]

Darby and Jon, Using the solid layer worked perfectly. Thanks very much for your help. Although, I wish you could make global changes on the matte position. You can do this in Combustion and it would be very convenient.

Thanks again,

[Jonathan Shohet]

combustion in general lets you toggle “animate” mode on and off and choose between global changes for a property or individual keyframe changes.
I too really wish this feature would find it’s way to a future version of After Effects 🙂

[Brian Berneker]

I wonder if you might have gotten away with adjusting the position offset in transform…