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“Inverse” or “Negative” Color Keying in Adobe After Effects CS6
Dear Creative Cow Community,
I am trying to create a visual effect on HD video in Adobe After Effects using the concept of color keying. Normally, when we do color keying, we wish to REMOVE a certain color from the image. I am trying to do the opposite: keying one one (or more) chosen color(s), but KEEPING that color, while getting rid of EVERYTHING ELSE. I am trying to figure out how to do this, but with limited success. (I could not find this on Video Copilot, but I do not know what this effect is called, if it has a name).
If you have any idea as to how to accomplish this, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you very kindly for your time and expertise.
Best regards,
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6 Replies
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Hi — I dont know where it is but I expect there is a ‘key invert’ button somewhere…
….. however if you just want to press on and worry about that later you can duplicate the footage ( delete the key ) and use the keyed layer as a track matte which you can invert using the drop-down menu..
——————— all the best —-chris —
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Thank you Chris. In the footage that I’m working with, the color that I want to keep is a bright color that is part of the costume of a character that is moving across the screen. It moves a lot, and the patches of color change shape constantly (the fabric containing this particular color is flapping in the wind). Is there a way to use a track matte or other tool to isolate this? I looked at a video online, but it’s not clear to me how this could be accomplished. Thank you again.
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Hi Amar — if your footage is of good quality ( format ) its probably a lot easier than you think — below is more info –
1 ) key footage over a background that shows up well so you can check the ‘holes’ are how you like them.
2 ) duplicate footage and cancel key
3 ) make sure keyed footage is on the layer above the duplicate without the key
4 ) select the lower layer without the key and hit f4 to make sure the track matte option is available
5 ) select the track matte button and then select ‘alpha invert’
This should give you what you want as this should take the resulting key from the above layer and apply it to the lower layer while inverting it.
It doesnt matter if its moving or not – just pr0cess it …..
——————————— chris —
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I’ll give that a go. Thank you again.
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—-you are welcome
— it shouldnt be too tricky
– if you dont get want you want first time just checkout the different keying options till it looks how you want it to
———— good luck —————————- chris —
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Will do, Chris.
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