Masks

[TonyFalla]

As usual I am behind the times and have only recently downloaded 5.6 and have spent the last couple of days trying to come to grips with masks. My question concerns whether or not you have to create your own masks or is there a file of “standard” masks somewhere?

I ask this question because my reading of the User Guide and comments on the Forum suggest that you have to create your own. I have looked and the only ones I have found are the two in the example that comes with 5.6 and some on the The Dom’s site.

Yesterday however I downloaded 2 shows by J P Dollangere from Beechbrook Cottage called Mask Effects - Catalogue 1 and 2, which illustrate a large number of different masks.

Are these masks in a catalogue, if so where, or are they individual masks that that he has set up?

Tony Falla

[liebgott]

As usual I am behind the times and have only recently downloaded 5.6 and have spent the last couple of days trying to come to grips with masks. My question concerns whether or not you have to create your own masks or is there a file of “standard” masks somewhere?

I ask this question because my reading of the User Guide and comments on the Forum suggest that you have to create your own. I have looked and the only ones I have found are the two in the example that comes with 5.6 and some on the The Dom’s site.

Yesterday however I downloaded 2 shows by J P Dollangere from Beechbrook Cottage called Mask Effects - Catalogue 1 and 2, which illustrate a large number of different masks.

Are these masks in a catalogue, if so where, or are they individual masks that that he has set up?

Tony Falla

The download for his masks are at the end of each catalogue.

Barbara

[fh1805]

Tony,

I confirm that the masks that JPD uses are his own creation.

regards

Peter

[Lin Evans]

Hi Tony,

Because masks are so specific to what you wish to accomplish, the user must create their own. Fortunately, the concept of a mask is incredibly straight-forward. You have black and you have white. White is opaque to the main image and transparent to the layer underneath. Black is opaque to the layer underneath and transparent to the main image. Since the properties of white and black are very specific, various shades of grey will have limited opacity and limited transparency for their respective counterparts.

For example, if you create a gradient running from black on the top to white on the bottom, then you place something inside the mask container between the container and the mask, this object will be variously opaque to transparent depending on its position.

Let me give you a concrete example. Load an image into PTE. Create a gradient mask as described above in Photoshop or make one in PTE as a background and screen copy and save it as a jpg or png file. Next create some text an put this text inside a mask container with the gradient mask having the text on top of the mask. That is, mask on the bottom, text sandwiched between the Mask Container and mask. Main image goes beneath on the Objects list.

If you created your gradient with black on top and white on the bottom, it will work as follows. If you reversed it, just rotate the gradient mask so that black is up with white down.

Place the text string under the image and over time scroll it upward. The text will be visable in the white area of the mask, become translucent in the grey area and dissapear as it crosses into the black. By adjusting the "position" of the mask vertically, you can control where the text disappears, etc. The position of the mask can be altered not only by "moving" the mask but by changing the vertical perspective. That is you can hold down the shift key and with the mouse "squeeze" or "stretch" the mask to make it longer or shorter, etc.

Once you fully understand this relationship, the sky is the limit for mask creation. you can use Photoshop, Elements, PixBuilder, etc., to create hundreds of custom masks to use as you need. You can also download hundreds if not thousands of masks via the web and use them in innovative ways.

Best regards,

Lin

[TonyFalla]

Hi All

Thanks for the replies, my wife always says I haven't enough patience and as you have guessed I did not let JPD's Catalogues run through to the end where as Barbara quite rightly pointed out you can download the masks. Not only that, but the PTE project is also there, which has greatly helped my understanding of this subject.

I can see that what Lin says is correct that masks are individual, but the way JPD has done it is to expand the number of transition effects you can have in PTE. It appears to me that the use of masks is far wider than I first thought, there is the way it is used in the PTE Example that only affects a part of an image or the full image transition that JPD has demonstrated, and I suspect that this is only the tip of the iceberg.

Just goes to show how powerful PTE is I look forward to exploring more

Tony