Mask In Vegas

[Plamen Petrov]

Hi there,
I wonder how to mask an object if there is a hole which needs to be masked too. For example, when I mask a cup of tea, it is ok. But then when I mask the hole inside of the handle, it still remains not masked. Help???

[Andrew Kufahl]

I'll assume you have one mask physically on top of another... Select the mask for the hole, then over in the properties window change the mode from "Positive" to "Negative". That should work unless I'm misunderstanding how you are doing this.

Andrew

[Graham Bernard]

Good question, and goes to the core of what masking is about.

My way is to:

1] Create 3 Video tracks with the same media on T1 and T2

2] T1 HOLE in Handle

3] T2 the WHOLE teacup

4] T3 Background - or whatever you are using having now CUT/masked the teacup

5] Make T1 a parent to T2 and select Multiple Mask from the Track header Compositing Mode

6] Mask INSIDE handle in T1 and set Path>Mode to Negative

7] Mask your WHOLE Teacup in T2 and set Path>Mode to Positive

I don't/can't see a way to produce an overlapping, multiple-layered mask within ONE masking session in Pan/Crop? And yes, I can have many Mask in one Pan/Crop session but here, with the handle hole, we are overlapping masks. In which case selecting Positive or Negative "modes" will have a global effect on that session.

Good question! It really makes us think about the value Vegas brings in terms of Multimask and compositing - well, it did me!

Grazie

[Andrew Kufahl]

Graham,

Attached are two print screens that illustrate two masks in one pan/crop window, where each mask has different attributes (that is, the attributes are not global). In the "MaskCup.jpg", the mask for the cup is selected, and shows it's "Mode" as "Positive". In "MaskHandle.jpg", the mask for the cup's handle is selected, and shows it's "Mode" as "Negative". Again, this is within the same pan/crop window.

I would suppose it's possible that this isn't possible in certain versions... I'm using Vegas Pro 8.0b, what are you using?

Andrew

[Graham Bernard]

Andrew - thank you!

I just repeated the same process and I now DO get a Neg and Pos within one session. But when I posted, having repeated my "method", I didn't.

Now I can get neg within pos and pos within that neg too. It's as if something decided to "kick-in". This is far more straightforward, flexible, logical and more sensible than the approach I wrote.

Andrew, THANK you!!

Graham "Grazie" Bernard

[Andrew Kufahl]

Glad to hear it works for you Graham. I was pretty sure I triple-checked everything before I posted my first reply... I was starting to feel bad that I might have given someone bogus information. Anyway...

Take care,
Andrew

[Graham Bernard]

Originally Posted by Andrew Kufahl

I was pretty sure I triple-checked everything before I posted my first reply... I was starting to feel bad that I might have given someone bogus information.

Ah, right. Understood and excellent advise.

Grazie