Using a mask to make character appear from the shadows
Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2026 10:30 am
Hi.
I'm trying to make my character look like he's been hidden in the shadows. Then he walks forward into the light and his body catches the light from bottom to top as he moves into it.
My thinking is to mask the entire body, then make a vector layer of a black object to covers the whole body. As he moves I could just move the vector layer up or down to reveal the character.
I thought it would be easy, but I must be missing some understanding of masking. I tried many different options in the main masking layer and masked layers but nothing is doing it.
My character has a bone layer and layers and folders inside it. One folder is just all the head parts. The other layers are arms and legs, etc.
Any help is appreciated.
I'm trying to make my character look like he's been hidden in the shadows. Then he walks forward into the light and his body catches the light from bottom to top as he moves into it.
My thinking is to mask the entire body, then make a vector layer of a black object to covers the whole body. As he moves I could just move the vector layer up or down to reveal the character.
I thought it would be easy, but I must be missing some understanding of masking. I tried many different options in the main masking layer and masked layers but nothing is doing it.
My character has a bone layer and layers and folders inside it. One folder is just all the head parts. The other layers are arms and legs, etc.
Any help is appreciated.
