[Lillian Young]

I am happy to report the solution.

I created a track of the screen, then on a separate layer, rotoscoped the obstructing object.

I turned OFF the tracking for the obstructing object’s layer, and only exported the screen’s layer, applied it in AE, and that’s all for part one.

To get the screen to lie behind the obstructing layer, I did the next step:

I returned to Mocha, selected the obstructing layer, and now exported shape data.

Back in AE, I pasted that shape data onto a solid, and with the tracked footage underneath, used that shape as an Alpha Inverted Matte.

It worked!!

I also purchased the Curious Turtle Rock Steady course on AE CS5/Mocha v2. Hopefully that’ll help further.

https://www.imagineersystems.com/store/index.php?target=products&product_id=29874

Sources: Lynda.com’s “AE CS5 New Creative Techniques: mocha tutorial” lesson

Creating Motion Graphics chapter on track mattes

[Lillian Young]

I can’t post the actual image for confidentiality reasons, but it’s like this (below).

Let’s say I tracked this TV screen in Mocha. I drew my track box aroud the screen and the remote (as one).

Now in After Effects, I pasted that tracking data onto a solid layer. The solid with the tracking data fits over the screen of the TV as it should. BUT, the (tracked) screen appears OVER the remote control.

How do I get that tracked solid to hide under the remote control instead of lie over it?

[Lillian Young]

Thank you, Simon. I ended up using Primatte Keyer Pro and Key Correct from Red Giant. Of course, these are my personal plug-ins, and I am trying to avoid doing that in case the client doesn’t have the same ones. So your advice is valuable when I’m on a machine without 3rd party plug-ins.

Anyway, I greatly appreciate your solution, and am happy to know I’m not the only one who’s come across that issue 🙂

[Lillian Young]

Okay, after racking my brain, here’s the best I can do, and I hope this helps someone else…and I hope it works 🙂

1. I had to install the Apple MPEG-2 codec

2. Next when I exported from Adobe Media Encoder CS5, I got the options under Multiplexer to export a TS

3. After exporting a TS, I opened MPEG Streamclip, and with step 1 done, I could now get the Convert to TS options, so I converted to a TS with MPEG 2 audio (though my clip has no audio, but TS wasn’t an option in Media Encoder without checking audio)

Now I’ll see it if works for the client

[Lillian Young]

Thanks, Tom. I’m giving the x.264 a try.

[Lillian Young]

Hi Chris – Thanks for your suggestions. After a 14-hour render that resulted in a crash, I re-tried with small samples.

I found that h.264 was the quickest, but resulted in the most noise. However, for time’s sake, I’m going to go with that as the file size was a fraction of the other codecs. If a higher quality is desired, I’ll just give a heads up that it’ll take a LONG time!

[Lillian Young]

Thanks, Craig.

I’m not using my own machine, so I have no control over that, but I’ll make the suggestion for future reference.

[Lillian Young]

I’ve requested an extension for delivery.

Given that, do you have any suggestions for a faster render?

I’m leaning toward exporting the next video as an h.264 single pass. These are just powerpoint-style slides of business chart images and text. However, some of the text is very small, so I’m trying to retain the quality in the mov file by exporting in animation.

[Lillian Young]

Hi Todd,

I never knew about that option in Media Encoder, thanks.

I’m running into an FLV settings error, however when setting up a watch folder.

I’ve started the folder as instructed, then next to the folder name, I’ve selected FLV|F4V

Under Preset, I’ve selected FLV – Same as Source (Flash 8 & Higher)

Under Output File, on the next line down (the only clickable link), I check the format, and it’s f4v, not flv as specified.

Am I doing something wrong?

Media Encoder CS 4.0.0.374

Thanks to both of you.

[Lillian Young]

Hi Dave,

This is for a video player within a web page, so the dimensions are based on the live capture. It’s not for any standard DVD or display. I mentioned the dimensions to give an idea of how physically large the videos are, which of course contribute to the file size.

I’m exporting an animation codec mov from After Effects, not an FLV. Correct.

I’ve watched a couple of vids on Lynda and VideoCopilot on exporting (which I know how to do, but have never exported something this large, so I need suggestions), so I think I’m going to try a jpeg or h.264 on the next render. But I’ll also take this question to the appropriate forum.

Thank you!