Not sure... if this can be fixed... I put one vid over the other then masked out one half side of the top video. Does what I want it to do (same guy, me, in one video) but... you can visibly see a "mask line" please view the picture > http://www.cjtvlive.com/temp.htm (arrow pointing to it). I got the "colors" of the two vids as close as possible (outside day but an hour apart) and they look the same (to general audience... except the floor) but that mask line really gives it away. Why is it there? it's black? Shouldn't the mask... just end without creating a line?

When I originally put the two together and masked, without any color correction or levels there was no line but... of course the colors were off. Hmmm... "coloring" and "levels" somehow make the mask make a line on the edge... any "tips" or advice on how to make this line dissapear.

If you apply the mask before you apply the FX, you shouldn't have a line.

But what you should be able to do is go into the FX dialog box, and then go down to the keyframe timeline. Click the little arrows next to the timeline.

Thanks David for your reply and your right there is no line before effects but if color or level the video after... then the line shows up... but this is what I did and it worked.
1. put "main" video on top and mask off part I want
2. Color ONLY the video under the main to make it same as "main" video
3. Reder this out as .avi
4. bring it back in and place it same position
5. color/levels it any way you want.
Line is gone...

When doing fixed-camera position shots like this, you want to make sure that everything lines up between the shots you are putting together.

Alternately, if you wanted to cheat, you could just feather the crop for the top layer and call it a day.


It will look best if you match the footage plates (if possible).

I have a fixed-camera shot here:

http://matthew.chaboud.com/vegas5/dwalk/dwalksmall.wmv

and here:

http://matthew.chaboud.com/vegas5/twocats/

Can I ask why you're using the mask to do this instead of pan/crop or the 3D Plugin Pac LE? It's just a straight split screen, right? not a fancy shape you're cutting out? If your footage is progressive, you can use the 3D Plugin Pac (it'll make interlaced footage look progressive, so no good for keeping the interlaced look), and there's a filter/plugin (can't recall which offhand--cookie cutter, border, something like that) that would let you blur/feather the edge of your crop. I've noticed that the 3D plugin pac slightly resizes the video (it's true!) just a hair, so you'll have to scale it up to compensate, but it should be unnoticable when you do.

Pretty cool Matthew. I downloaded your files, took a look and at first being totally confused... played around, played around... shot my own footage... did it... and Got it! Now I pretty much understand. Still getting parts of people dissapearing as they move in and out of light... but keep on trying. Thanks!

A key thing to do is shut off automatic gain control.

It's fun stuff to play with. I'm glad the technique is spreading.