Adobe AFTER EFFECTS 5.5 Help Manual page 155

Adobe After Effects Help
Using Help | Contents
4 Do any combination of the following:
To move the mask or selected points, position the pointer inside the bounding box
•
and drag.
To scale the mask or selected points, position the pointer on a bounding box handle
•
and, when the pointer changes to a straight, double-sided arrow ( ), drag to a new size.
Hold down Shift as you drag to constrain the scale. Hold down Ctrl (Windows) or
Command (Mac OS) as you drag to scale around the bounding box's anchor point.
To rotate the mask or selected points, position the pointer just outside the Free
•
Transform bounding box and, when the pointer changes to a curved double-sided
arrow ( ), drag to rotate.
5 To close the Free Transform bounding box, double-click anywhere in the Composition
or Layer window.
Changing the shape of a mask
In the Layer or Composition window, you can freely change the shape of a mask. You can
move, delete, or add control points to reshape a mask; create a flexible outline to accom-
modate any shape; and even change a mask shape over time.
Some changes require the use of tools grouped with the pen tool in the toolbox. To reveal
these tools, click and hold the pen tool in the toolbox. When modifying a mask, make sure
that you click only existing control points or segments; otherwise, you may create a new
mask instead.
To change a mask shape numerically:
1 Select the mask.
2 In the Timeline window, expand the Mask options.
3 Next to the Mask Shape property, click the underlined word "Shape," and specify the
changes.
4 Click OK.
To replace one mask shape with another:
1 In the Layer window, select the mask you want to replace from the Target pop-up
menu.
2 Draw a new mask shape.
Note: After you create the new mask shape in the Layer window, select None from the
Target pop-up menu; otherwise, all subsequent masks you create will replace the targeted
mask. See "Specifying one mask as the target for animation" on page 159.
To reset a mask to its default boundaries:
Select the mask in the Timeline window and choose Layer > Mask > Reset Mask.
To delete one mask:
Select the mask in the Timeline window and press Delete.
Using Help | Contents
| Index
| Index
Working with Masks and Transparency
Back
Back
155
155