Box top slides back

[smokinggoldfish]

I have made a sequence where the lid of a box slides back to reveal the contents inside. I did this by taking a picture of the box with the lid shut, moving the lid open a tiny bit, taking another picture, and so on until the lid was fully open. This took about 35 shots which were then sequenced in PTE. But even after playing with the transitions the effect is too jerky.

Is there a way in which I can keep the picture of the box without lid below a moving picture of the lid using animation?

Sorry if this is too simple a question but I have not done much with animation and masks, although I have used PTE for a few years. I have PTE 6.5.

[fh1805]

My approach to this problem would be to take two shots of the box (lid closed and lid fully open - presumably no lid at all?). Then use Photoshop or equivalent to created from the lid closed image a PNG file that had only the lid, the rest being transparent. In PTE you would then use the PNG file set over the lid open image and animate the slide of the lid.

regards,

Peter

[Lin Evans]

I would agree with Peter - You really don't need the multiple pictures at all. You actually only need the two as described. Also, I would suggest upgrading to 7.0 because you have lots of nice features available now such as the ability to add video clips.

If you post two images (one of the box closed and one of it opened) I'll be glad to make a really quick sample you can use to see how it's done. The "secret" is to use your photo editing software to make the PNG file of the lid itself with everything else being transparent. Once you have that done (if you don't know how to do this, just say so and we can show you how) the rest is very easy to do and you will have a very smooth opening box.

Best regards,

Lin

[smokinggoldfish]

Thanks Peter and Lin. I learnt at my camera club tonight that a PNG image was the one to use for the lid because the JPG I had tried does not allow a transparent part. I'll have a go myself now based on your advice and if I get stuck with the animation bit I'll come back to you. Watch this space!

[smokinggoldfish]

It was simple! The use of the png file was crucial. I did not realise until recently that a jpg file could not have a transparent area. I put the "open" box image into animation as the first object and then the lid image as the second object (child of the first). The lid image had transparent areas each side where the box sides could show through. Then animating the lid image to pan downwards completed the job.

Thanks for your help!