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Stroke Effect on an Object Matte
I’m playing around with the object matte tool. My goal is to use the path of the mask generated by the matte tool as the source for the stroke effect. I’d have the first key frame have Start and End both set to 0% and the later keyframe would have the end set to 100%.
I am able to generate the Selection->Add Object attributes to my source image (it’s a static picture if that matters). Under the Add Object is Path and also Stroke Options. I can’t determine what the Stroke Options (Hardness and Opacity) do with the object, but it doesn’t appear to be the stroke effect that I want.
The Path attribute seems like I should be able to use that with the stroke effect, but when I add the stroke effect, that object path is not an option for its Path input. I tried copying the Object Path and pasting it to the Stroke Path, but that gave me an error.
I tried creating a solid and added a simple mask to it. I then pasted the Object Path into the Mask’s Mask Path attribute. It didn’t work.
replied 3 weeks, 3 days ago 2 Members · 4 Replies
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4 Replies
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yo bro! for a shape-agnostic solution you absolutely need to discover an effect called VEGAS.
here’s the best method i studied for you:
1 precomp your object matte.
2 add the Vegas effect to the precomp.
3 set Render to Transparent.
4 ncrease Segments until the outline looks smooth enough.
5 adjust Width and Softness untill it looks right.
6 animate Length (or Rotation if thats the effect your after) to make the outline move around the object.
7 vegas follows the alpha automaticly, so if the object changes shape the outline updates by itself.
I hope you like this method and i wish you the best 🔥
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Thanks for the help, John, but it is not doing what I expect. This should show you what I am encountering.
1) Get the picture of Queen Elizabeth from Wikipedia.
2) Bring it into your comp as the only layer and scale it to fit in your comp if needed.
3) Double click on the picture in the comp window so that the layer window opens.
4) Apply Object Matte Tool to the queen – it should do a decent job of selecting her.
5) Pre-comp this layer (I tried both ‘leave attributes’ and ‘move attributes’. ‘Move attributes’ worked better since ‘leave attributes’ left me with an empty screen)
6) Add Vegas effect and do the settings you recommend
The Vegas effect appears, but it is not following the outline of the picture. There seem to be other paths in the necklace, on her face, her torso, etc. that the effect is finding. Note, in the attached photo, the render blend mode is not transparent as you suggested, but is ‘over’. This was just so you could see some context of the paths and the picture of the queen. When I make it transparent, it just shows the vegas light trails (which is close to what I want).
Thanks,
Paul
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I found a solution using Vegas – Thanks John for that pointer. I left my original reply since I’m still curious what Vegas was trying to do with the matte and showing the multiple paths.
What I did:
1) Create the Object Matte of the queen
2) Create a new solid layer above the picture of the queen
3) Set the Track Matte of the solid to the layer below it
4) Pre-comp with ‘Move all attributes’ the solid layer
5) Put the Vegas effect on the pre-comp and set blend mode to Transparent and adjust other variables.
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Vegas is indeed the goat of instant tracing, i’m happy you like it, have fun!
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