Adobe AFTER EFFECTS 5.5 Help Manual page 150

Adobe After Effects Help
Using Help | Contents
Mask names appear in the order you create them in the Timeline window outline. To
organize and keep track of your masks, rename them as you would rename layers (see
"Renaming a layer" on page 79). To make it easier to work with multiple masks in the
Composition window, you can apply different colors to each mask outline.
When creating additional masks for one layer in the Layer window, make sure that the
Target pop-up menu in the Layer window is set to None; otherwise, you will replace the
targeted mask instead of creating a new mask. See "Specifying one mask as the target for
animation" on page 159.
To apply a new color to a mask outline:
1 Select the mask whose outline you want to change. See "Selecting masks and control
points" on page 153 for information on selecting masks.
2 If necessary, expand the Mask properties.
3 Click the color swatch just to the left of the mask name, pick a new color, and click OK.
Types of masks
You can draw three types of masks:
Rectangular A rectangular mask can also be square. This type of mask is previewed and
rendered faster than any other kind of drawn mask.
Oval An oval mask can also be circular.
Bezier Use the pen tool to draw a freeform Bezier path as a mask. This is the most flexible
type of mask; you can create any shape with the pen tool.
After you first create a mask, you can resize it or rotate it as a whole (see "Scaling and
rotating selected masks or points" on page 154), or you can change parts of it (see
"Changing the shape of a mask" on page 155).
Drawing rectangular and oval masks
Use the rectangle and oval tools to create mask shapes, or specify a mask shape numeri-
cally.
To create a rectangular or oval mask by dragging:
1 Select a layer in the Composition window or display a layer in the Layer window.
2 Select the rectangle tool ( ) or the oval tool ( ) in the toolbox.
3 Position the cursor in the Composition or Layer window at one corner of the mask you
want to draw and drag to the opposite corner.
4 Use either of the following techniques to alter the mask as you draw:
Press Shift as you drag to create a square with the rectangle tool or a circle with the oval
•
tool.
Press Alt (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) while dragging to create a mask that
•
extends from its center.
For more information about moving, scaling, and rotating masks, see "Scaling and rotating
selected masks or points" on page 154.
Using Help | Contents
| Index
| Index
Working with Masks and Transparency
Back
Back
150
150