Masking for newbes.

synthsin75 · Post by **synthsin75** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 11:24 pm

Yeah, that may be it, GCharb.

Mike, does your other masking experience include the feature to mask in groups that can also be used as further (higher level) masking input? Like GCharb said, the group then becomes a single layer output in relation to stuff outside of it.

mkelley · Post by **mkelley** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 3:07 am

Actually, what GC is saying is that it DOESN'T become a single layer output.

In masking in PS, for example, the masked layer is simply that -- you apply a mask to a layer and that layer interacts with other layers. In AS it's as if you have to both apply the mask in a group as well as have those layers part of that group, which isn't intuitive to me.

Or, to put it another way, masks are "separated" in most other applications from the actual content. In AS it appears Mike wants to have it both ways -- the layer is the mask as well as the content. In PS you might apply a mask to a layer that is a circle, and then have a filled circle as another layer that matches up to this, but in AS they would be the same. In some respects AS is more powerful but less straightforward.

What I know for sure is this -- I use masks all the time in all my other software (PS, Illustrator, Adobe After Effects, heck even in Premiere Pro). I don't use masks at all in AS because I just get confused (sometimes I render stuff multiple times from AS and mask in those other programs because I understand them quite a bit better. In some cases this is actually faster anyway).

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 11:10 am

I must admit that it took me some time to understand the concept, but now I use masks in AS just as intuitively as in other programs. I especially like how I can even use the alpha channel from images and video as a mask. In my recent scenes I use woodcuts, and masks are an easy way to colour these - just put a colour layer somewhere and set it to multiply, mask the images or video, and voilá!

Here's a small example. The zeppelin was animated once, then multiplied and the colour of its one shape changed.

http://www.slowtiger.de/examples/zeppelin.html

jahnocli · Post by **jahnocli** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 12:40 pm

Pretty good! The bg is a bit moire-tastic though!

mkelley · Post by **mkelley** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 2:46 pm

Very cool, ST. I've always been a sucker for what I like to call the "Jules Vern" look (really nothing much of the kind with the exception of some early films that had some of these cutout looking objects for the fantastic stuff of Vern).

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 2:57 pm

Isn't it funny how you instantly relate this style of illustration with Jules Verne? Even people who never saw one of Karel Zeman's adaptions of Verne's books do that. The sad part is that the Verne illustrators all remain nameless.

mkelley · Post by **mkelley** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 4:03 pm

This is why (which I'm sure you know since you refer to him):

http://voyagesextraordinaires.blogspot. ... -1958.html

Anyone who loves animation (or even film-making) should seek this rather obscure film out. As a kid I used to see this film quite frequently (it was shown on television a lot during the 60's, usually on Saturday afternoons in LA). I suspect it has influenced filmmakers as diverse as Burton and Alex Proyas.

jahnocli · Post by **jahnocli** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 4:54 pm

Wow -- that is inspirational! I've never seen it...

mkelley · Post by **mkelley** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 6:20 pm

If you do a search on Karel Zeman you can find most of his works online at YouTube (although I haven't found a subtitled "Fabulous" yet). As I suggest, nearly anyone interested in animation (or filmmaking) should see this film.

Another director that was undoubtedly influenced by him was Terry Gilliam.