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Working with mattes
Another feature of the Overlay Options dialog box is that it allows you to
make use of mattes (or masks). In the film world, mattes work like color
keying in that they show and hide various areas of the overlay clip. You
can make any image or video file into a matte or you can create these
yourself in a paint program such as Video Paint or in CG Infinity.
Creating image and video mattes
Image mattes are great when you want to specify a particular area in the
frame for a video to appear and need to get the cleanest possible blend
when overlaying.
To create an image matte:
1. Run your favorite image editing software, such as Ulead PhotoImpact
(Video Paint or CG Infinity can also be used), and create a rectangle
the same size as the frames in your video project.
2. Draw an area where you want the video to appear, such as a circle or a
square.
3. Fill this area with a solid color (like blue) and
then fill the background with a contrasting
color (like green).
4. Load this image into an Overlay track (V1).
5. Right-click on the image and select Overlay
Options.
6. Select the Color Key from the Type list and
click in the blue area. The blue area is then
keyed out to reveal the underlying clip.
Note: When preparing an image or video for color keying, use a solid color as the
background, such as blue. Do not use black or white as these colors tend to
"bleed" into the overlay clip.
VIDEO EDITOR: CHAPTER THREE
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A simple image matte
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