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Masking in Vegas, and also Audio Effects
Here’s an interesting question.
I’m working on a fan project titled, “Godzilla: Zero Hour”, about- you guessed it. Big monsters running amok in cities. We combine real footage with CG or props generally for FX shots- this shot has me stumped in Vegas, however…
I’m doing a scene in which Godzilla is walking behind a bridge. There are two video layers here in Vegas, and it looks like this:
1. Godzilla CG model walking against a pure green background (Green Chroma Key effect is turned on here, to fantastic result)
2. Bridge footage
Now the goal here would be to create the illusion of Godzilla walking behind the bridge, as opposed to in front of it. I’d prefer to accomplish this using the masking tool I’ve just been informed of, but I’m having a small issue. I understand that in the Pan/Crap window there is the option to do a point to point mask. However, if you are unable to see the footage behind Godzilla in the Pan/Crop window (ie, the bridge) I cannot very well create accurately the smaller little spots and open space on the bridge.
Is there a way so that in the Pan/Crop window on the “Godzilla” layer that I would be able to see the footage under him (Bridge layer) so that I can correctly mask the open spaces?
Additionally, I’m a big fan of how intuitive the Video FX menu is for Vegas, but I was wondering- is there a similar window for audio? If so, how do you bring it up?
I’m not at all sure how to use Audio FX in Vegas- I’ve been doing them in other programs until now.
Is there a topic you could direct me to with a how to?
Thanks!
– Franz Vorenkamp
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3 Replies
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If your bridge footage is high contrast, you could easily create a travelling matte using the mask FX.
If you are creating a Bezier mask in Pan/Crop, place the bridge footage on a higher track so it is in front, and apply the mask to that.
Audio FX works the same as the Video FX. Do you have a more specific question?
Gary Kleiner
Learn Vegas and DVD Architect
http://www.VegasTrainingAndTools.com
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So there isn’t any way to see both layers in the window when applying the bezier mask?
How do you apply a traveling matte?
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It sounds like you need 3 tracks.
the bottom one is just the bridge. If it isn’t shot from a tripod, make this a still (jpg or png).
Above that there’s your monster
Above that you copy the bridge event again. In this upper one you meticulously mask out the parts of the bridge you want visible. (use mousewheel to zoom in to make the mask points exact. If the bridge is indeed a still, you could do this a lot faster in an image editor like the Gimp (free program that has a very nice option to intelligently find the borders of a mask, called: select shapes from image).that’s the sandwich you need.
Your question about audio isn’t very clear. I think what you imply is you want to use audio fx on an event level, just like the mask you just made. In Vegas audio that is less intuitive than putting fx on track level: give the audio it’s own track, and press the green button in the track header. There you can keyframe and do whatever you want, dependent on the effect you’ve chosen.
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