[Al]

i’m not sure of your exact problem but this might help–

once you have used the pen tool to create the first mask – go to your layer and reveal the mask properties (click on the layer and press M).

In the drop down menu, you’ll see that your mask is by default set to Add (by memory!) Try selecting None.

This will mean you can keep adding masks to your layer and still see your layer.

Once you’ve added all your masks, then you can go back and change it back to Add.

[Al]

hmmm… i’ve only ever seen this problem when i’m trying to import a comp which is recycled in that comp already – haven’t seen it trying to bring in a solid or graphic.

rather than quitting the application to resolve the issue, have you seen if flushing the cache solves it? it’s not the solution but possibly a quicker workaround…

[Al]

what effect are you using to create the fire? Within the effect controls, there will be a setting to get rid of the solid bg – it will be listed as Transperancy or the likes. Usually right at the bottom…

[Al]

you can play around with the transfer modes to make it appear as though it were emitting light.

[Al]

if you can get your hands on Combustion – it has a host of lovely realistic explosion particle pre-sets.

[Al]

adjustment layers are used so you can add one effect to all the layers beneath your adjustment layer. for example; if i wanted to add a blur to every layer in my 100 layer comp – rather than go through and add the blur to each layer (time consuming + render heavy) – i can just add an adjustment layer up the top of the comp, add the blur to the adjustment layer, and bingo – it effects all my 100 layers below.

in response to your first question; if i understand it correctly – the reason why you’d try keying before rotoscoping is that roto work is very time consuming, so if you can save some time by pulling a key in a few minutes, it’ll work in your favour…

hope that helps 🙂

[Al]

it looks as though your transfer mode is set to dissolve… but this would effect the entire layer and not just the drop shadow… hmmmm… have you tried just duplicating your layer and offsetting it to simulate a shadow? it’s not the answer but a workaround anyway…

[Al]

there’s a few techniques depending on what kind of light you’d like to emit. for rays — try trapcode;shine if you have some spare

[Al]

if you’re doing a battle re-inact then i would definately test this before you shoot, and if you’re shooting in an open field there will probably be some trees that you can track. I would head to the field, with the camera, and look for natural tracking markers. it will save you a lot of time. good luck

[Al]

it’s really a case of trail and error. there’s no magic way for every shot – each shot will call for a different way to remove your marker.

But generally–

cloning works for still shots, if it’s moving you will need to track in a ‘clean plate’ if this doesn’t work you may get away with moving masks of your clean plate over your original footage.

with clean plates- generally the first thing to do when doing rig removals is to generate a clean plate (or at least a clean area of whatever the tracking marker is attached to) – then track it in. if you’re using a still and tracking that in, you’ll need to add noise/grain to match the moving footage. you might also need to add the camera blur back in… and hope you don’t have lens distortion.

there are some tutorials floating around (try googling Compositing/Rig Removal) but this is a skill learnt from trial and error because each shot is so different. if you’re really stuck try posting a link to your shot so we can see the damage 🙂

good luck!