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masking multiple layers
Hi, am trying to mask two layers with one mask… is this possible?
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13 Replies
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Mask one layer and then copy and paste the mask to the second.
Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
Senior VFX Artist -
Part of my problem is that I already have a mask on each of these two layers and when I add another mask to each one individually I am not able to control the newly added mask in the way I want to because it is somehow interacting with the previous mask that I have.
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Precomp the two layers together and mask the precomp.
Another method would be to mask a solid above the two layers and then change the transfer mode of that solid to Stencil Alpha. This method affects everything below the solid, so it wouldn’t work if you only wanted to affect 2 layers in a 20 layer comp.
Johnny Cuevas, Editor
Thinkck.com“I have not failed 700 times. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”
—THOMAS EDISON on inventing the light bulb. -
It’s a matter of setting the mask to Add or Substract, or any of the other options. One other way is to create a Shape layer, draw a shape instead of a mask and then use that layer as a Track Matte. Duplicate and place above each layer in order for it to work.
Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
Senior VFX Artist -
you can move your mask to a new layer and then use that layer as a track matte for each layer (you’ll need to duplicate the matte layer to use it 2x). if needed you can parent the mattes layers together, so they act as one.
you can also pre-comp your two layers, then use a single mask on the pre-comp.
there are blending modes (silhouette and stencil alpha) that allow you to transfer the alpha from one layer to the layers bellow it… so you might be able to have a single matte layer with a blending mode that transfers it’s alpha to those 2 layers.
— again john was faster than i was… blast my remedial typing skills
Kevin Camp
Senior Designer
KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW -
I’ve never heard of a track matte, could you describe that process?
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I’ve never heard of a track matte, could you describe that process? Also, I don’t know what you mean by precomping two layers. Sorry, I’m still learning a lot 🙁
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A track matte uses either the alpha information of the layer above it or the luma information to determine what is seen. Create a new comp, and drop a picture into it. Now create a solid(Cntl+Y) and mask it. In the “TrkMat” column change the pulldown from “None” to “Alpha Matte”. Your bottom solid now is using the alpha channel of the layer above it to control where it’s visible. Move the solid around and it will reveal different parts of your photo.
Precomping is when you create a composition and it’s placed into another composition. If you make changes in the precomp, they ripple forward into the main comp.
Take a look at this project I created the other day: https://f1.creativecow.net/5549/luma-matte
I took a shot of the moon, duplicated, added some effects and then dropped that into a final composition use just the brightness(Luma Matte) of it to determine what parts of the map would show through.
If you are just starting, check out this link: Getting started with After Effects (CS4, CS5, CS5.5, & CS6)
If you try to learn this program by just jumping in, it will end up just frustrating you.
Johnny Cuevas, Editor
Thinkck.com“I have not failed 700 times. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”
—THOMAS EDISON on inventing the light bulb. -
[kristen garcia] “I’ve never heard of a track matte”
it allows you to use a layer as a matte for another layer (or track). in the timeline, if the blending modes comlumn is visible, then the track matte option would be to the right (it’s a drop down option).
if it’s not visible, then right-click the in the bar at the top of the timeline (like where it says ‘source name’) and choose columns>modes.
you would place the layer to use as a matte above the layer to be matted, then use the trkmat drop down to select what attribute to use as a matte (alpha, alpha inverted, luma, luma inverted).
[kristen garcia] ” Also, I don’t know what you mean by precomping two layers”
pre-composing (pre-comping) will take all selected layers and move them into a new comp, but leave a pre-comp (or nested comp) in the first composition, effectively making multiple layers a single layer.
to do this shift click the layers that you want to pre-comp, then choose layer>pre-compose. ae will create a new composition with those selected layers in the project panel. it will appear as a single layer in the first composition, and you could easily add a mask to it. if you need to edit the pre-comp, double click in the timeline (if you have an older version of ae, you may need to right-click and open it that way, or find it in the project panel).
— doh! i give up, john you win the typing cup.
Kevin Camp
Senior Designer
KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW -
Yeah, but your explanations actually read like they were written by someone who doesn’t treat English as a second language(despite the best efforts of my teachers)
Johnny Cuevas, Editor
Thinkck.com“I have not failed 700 times. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”
—THOMAS EDISON on inventing the light bulb.
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