Alpha, blending modes and compositions

Hello, I am an animator and have a problem with blending modes in a composition. Hopefully someone can help me.
I use After Effects CS5 on Mac OS.
Please take a look at this screenshot:
I have several layers in a composition (trees and shadows). The trees are set to normal and the shadows are set to multiply. Outside of this composition there are other elements on layers.
The problem is that I get this edge between shadows and trees where the multiply does not apply. I need it to be applyed to the "outside" layer too.
Trying to look my problem up on the internet I found out that the blending mode "alpha add" could solve my problem but I need multiply and alpha add, if that makes sense.
Can I somehow get rid of this edge?

Multiply is being applied to all pixels, it's just that the pixels around the edge are not the same color. You can use Matte tools to refine or choke the edges. (Effect>Matte>Matte Choker) If you very carefully look at the pixel values on the edges of your illustration while viewing the info palette you'll see that you have some semi transparent pixels on the edges. That is where you problem comes from. Alpha add will help in matching antialiased edges but it will not help in your situation.

Similar Messages

Merging/Flattening Layers with different blending modes and maintaining the visual appearance

Hello,
I see there are many others that are having the same problem as me. And alas, it doesn't seem like the problem has been solved or very understood for that matter.
I want to be able to take a document, that has multiple layers, inside of multiple groups with various layers having various blending modes applied to them and from within that document, select simply two of those layers, one with a Divide blending mode and the other layer Normal, merge those two layers, but have the visual appearance of the merged layer maintain the visual appearance of what the layers looked like before I merged them.
Everytime I attempt this, Ps takes my Divide layer, reverts it back to Normal and then merges the layers, thus changing the appearance of what it was before the merge. This is not the desired result.
I understand that when you flatten an entire series of layers, it applies all the blending modes and maintains the visual appearance. Is there a way to do this with just two layers instead of all the layers? If so, that would be great information. If not, why not?
Thank you
Jake

Short answer: No.
A "layer" with a specific blending mode implies a sequence of math operations on a given pixel. Think of the visible pixel R, G, and B values as the result of a potentially complex math formula that combines numbers from each layer in complex ways (those ways being defined by the blending mode you've chosen). You can't always simplify particular factors of your choosing in a given math formula.
The next step is to examine why you would want to do so. Perhaps there's a more direct way to achieve your goal that would avert the need entirely.
Another possibility, if the effect of several layers together is something you'd like to manipulate as a unit, is to Group the layers.
-Noel

Stencil Alpha Blend mode question

Hello guys,
I would like to achieve this: video clip embeded on BLOCKS LEFT DOWN REPLICATOR with another video as a background. So I first apply Replicator, than place the "embeded" video clip into the layer below it. Then I select Replicator to make it active, go to it's properties in Inspector and apply Blend Mode-Stencil Alpha. Up to this point everything works fine. Video plays embeded beautifully on blocks as I want. So I place my background video into another layer below. Here is where the problem starts. My background can't be seen, because it's covered by black areas between blocks. Could you please tell me what I do wrong? How can I make that black area between blocks transparent so anything behind the blocks could be seen?
Thank you so much for any tip or advise,
Cheers,
K.

Don't use Stencil.
Click on your foreground video. Type ⌘-Shift-M to add a mask layer. Drag your blocks replicator into the mask well.
post back,
Patrick

Blending mode and choke issues

Im doing a very simple tutorial and I have encountered a few problems which I have been unaware of before.
Here is the link to the tut - http://ae.tutsplus.com/tutorials/motion-graphics/use-a-jello-jiggly-expression-quick-tip/
In the beginning he duplicates the text and changes the blending mode of the top layer to multiply.   First problem I encountered is my text barely changes colour/appearance in any way when doing this.
Next he applies a Matte>simple choker and cranks it to 40.   Second problem when I do this I see no choke because the multiply hasnt made enough diffeence to notice. Also I soloed the duplicate layer and cranked the choker up but I cant take it any higher than about 8 or it just starts disappearing.
I tried the same thing with a shape and that seemed to be even more problematic. I used a rectangle and duplicated it. When i choked it the duplicate gets round corners and stretches horizontally. WHats going on here?
Am I doing something wrong here? I am following the video instructions precisely.   Thank you.

Matte Choker will make rounded corners because that's exactly what it is designed to do. If you applied simple choker to a text layer and a very small value change makes the text disappear then the text isn't thick enough. Try a fatter font. As Mylenium said, blend modes based on the value of pixels depend on the color. The max value of red is the max value of red so if you multiply it by the max value of red you still get the max value of red which equals the max value of red, therefore there is no change.
This won't work:
This will but barely:
Setting the bottom layer to something lighter with values like this works better because there is some room to do the math and it is in more than one channel:
But you can see that there's very little edge available and the matte choker is rounding the corners. It does this because all matte chokers work by blurring the edge of the alpha and then adjusting the level or the curve of the blur. You can build your own matte choker simply by applying blur to a layer, adjusting the alpha levels using that layer as an Alpha track matte for your text. See how I've crushed the alpha levels toward white? That is what makes the matte shrink.
I hope this helps you understand the process better.

Blend mode and saving a style

I am trying to save a 'style' with an element that has a 'blend mode' defined. Every time I define the style and apply to a new object the blend mode is not set.
Is 'blend mode' part of a saved style ?? If not, it should be...

Styles include fills, strokes, and effects (as well as text attributes, if there are any) but not the opacity or blend mode of an object. If you click on the New Style button, you can see what's included in a style definition and selectively include or exclude items.

Blend modes and semi-transparent gradients?

Hi all.
I don't do a lot of print, so whenever I have the need I find
myself a little disoriented in my design approach. I know AI has
blend modes, does FH have any sort of blend mode ability?
I also need - and this is my main hurdle - the ability to
fade a gradient to transparent. So a gradient that goes from a
solid color, to a transparent color. I never found a way to do this
in AI, except to mask the object with an opacity mask. Is there any
way in FreeHand?
TIA

> I don't do a lot of print, so whenever I have the need I
find myself a little
> disoriented in my design approach. I know AI has blend
modes, does FH have any
> sort of blend mode ability?
No, FreeHand can make 'simulated' transparency effect from
solid colors by creating third vector object to overalapping area.
There is "true" transparency and effects like drop shadows
which create a bitmap objet like Illustrator but they work ONLY as
rgb. In high resolution output there may be significant blurring,
color sifts and misalignement.
> I also need - and this is my main hurdle - the ability
to fade a gradient to
> transparent. So a gradient that goes from a solid color,
to a transparent
> color. I never found a way to do this in AI, except to
mask the object with an
> opacity mask. Is there any way in FreeHand?
It depends what you have beneath the gradient. I assume that
you have several objects, images, etc. because making a gradient
from color to background color is very simple. In FreeHand this
kind of effects (for print) require a lot of masking (with paste
inside) and even creating parts of the artwork in Photoshop.
In general all the effects and masking work much better in
Illustrator. For example layer vector mask saved me a working day
or two when I made about 150 butterfly distribution maps. However
FreeHand's Paste Inside is superior compared to Iluustrator's
object masking. Especially because selecting objects in Illustrator
is exteremely difficult and masked object is selectable outside
mask area.
I'll repeat myself but I'd like to have some Illustrator
features like raster effects, color management and layer masks
moved into FreeHand. Combined FreeHand and Illustrator would make
truly great product If I get to choose the features that is. ;)
Jukka

Blending Mode Inside Composition

I have CS4 AE. I imported a layered PSD file which brought in all my layers, in addition to automatically making a composition out of all the layer groups. So far so good. However, why is my multiply blend mode on one of the many layers not honored when inside of these group layer compositions? When I open up the composition itself with all the individual layers, the multiply blend mode is indeed assigned.
If I put into the timeline just the individual layer with the multiply, it works. It doesn't when inside of those automatic group layer comps.
Can anyone shed some light?
Thanks!

>However, why is my multiply blend mode on one of the many layers not
>honored when inside of these group layer compositions?
Because AE is not Photoshop! Just like Andrew said, you need to tell AE to pass through blending modes. The principle is simply reversed - in AE you turn this off when you tweak the group blend properties, in AE you need to explicitly turn it on.
Mylenium

How to Fill Rectangle using LinearGradientBrush with Blend mode and Linear Color in c#?

I don't know how the rectangle Fill using LinearGradient Brush can anybody explain please ,
Regards,
Thank U.

Hi,
the links below can assist you:>
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/0sdy66e6(v=vs.110).aspx
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa970904(v=vs.110).aspx
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms754083(v=vs.110).aspx
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.drawing.drawing2d.lineargradientbrush(v=vs.110).aspx
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/11615/Gradient-Maker-Application
Mark as answer or vote as helpful if you find it useful | Ammar Zaied [MCP]

Wmode transparent and blend mode problem

Dear all,
I'm stuck with this problem so far, got headache after searching many days on google without solution. Our designer using blend mode: screen (in flash) for some movies and the flash's transparent to save the file size display and then ưe are using html background. All'r working fine for wmode transparent but in Internet Explorer, it's not working to display the blend mode and appear the black background. You can check the image below to see what happen:
Loading the movies within blend mode screen
Transparent's working fine with the normal transparent
Test blend mode with opaque wmode to see how it will display
I've tested with IE7, 8, 9. I'm using window 7 Ultimate, 64bit, Flash player latest version. (And my clients, friends, also got that issues when seeing it with IE).
My embed code:
<object width="1000" height="600" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" >
<param value="high" name="quality"></param>
<param value="intro.swf" name="movie"></param>
<param value="opaque" name="wmode"></param>
<embed width="1000" height="600" wmode="opaque" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" quality="high" src="intro.swf">
</object>
We can solve it manually that put the image background into the flash but it's not the good way to do it in our modern web industry.
Any solution?

dont why i can't submit in the bugbase, it's just hanged out though i submit all the required information T.T
Update: the bug only with IE9. (i concerned IE 7, 8 because i've tested it by IE9 development tool, not real IE 7, 8). Today i've tried testing with real IE7, 8 and it's working fine.

Changing blend mode changes behavior

I'm trying to have words grow from very small to "swallow up" the screen—all while using them as stencils through which we see water. With me so far? Anyway, the motion is perfect when the blend mode is on normal, but when I simply change the blend mode to Stencil Alpha, at a certain point, it starts moving sharply to the right. All I've done is change blending modes, honest.
Who knows what the h-e-double hockey sticks this is, and, how to fix it? This is maddening.

Heya,
This is just a guess, as I haven't seen your project, but I think the text is sliding because it is too large for your GPU, so it's getting cropped and recentered.
Why is it happening when you change the blend mode? Good question. I think it's because picking any blend mode but 'Normal' is causing a pre-comp, and since your GPU's size limit is being exceeded, it's cropping (and recentering) the result. Or maybe it's a bug.
Here's a workaround to try: nest the text in its own layer, enable Fixed Resolution for the layer (found in the Layer tab in the Inspector, when the layer is selected), and then change the blend mode of the layer to whatever you want.
Seriously, though, you really should be using (as Patrick suggested) the Image Mask tool, instead of the Stencil Alpha blend mode. Free yourself from the AE-style blend mode tyranny! Vive la image mask!
(good luck)

Blend mode settings

hello photoshopers.
id like to know if possible from what the blend modes are composited by,i tend to like mostly the overlay or soft ligh blend mode,is the a seeting for this?the reason i as for this is that if i tend to lower the opacity i wont get the exact result lik ethe overlay or soflight blend offers.and the major reason im trying to figyre out the settings is that when ever i have a layer with a blend mode,when i merge it with some other layer,i loose the blend,it goes back to normal,so im thinking
that if i know where ot see the blend mode settings maybe i dont use the blend modes and use the light,contrast,colors etc etc etc to get a blend mode Emulation
thank you.

hello k-pxl
thank you for the information.i did try what you suggested.but to tell you the truth it didnt work for the particular technique im after,cos
there is a purpose why im trying to achieve this.Thats exaclty whats frustrating me,the fact that i use the blending modes on 2 layers
to get the result im after devastates me when i merge them and go back on 0 again,i use this technique to achieve great shines and shades
something lowering the opacity wont do on its own,so my A-Z question is how to find a way to merge 2 layers that have a blend mode and ps not
to combines them into a new layer and get rid of the blend.
i hope i find an answer to my solution.

Blend mode in Particle Generator

A blend mode i set for a particle generator seems to effect the partiles as a whole, but not individualy. I am using Darken for example. The particles darken the background, but not each other. Is there a way to make them darken each other?

Blend modes do not work between particles...with the excpetion of the "Additive Blend" option provided in the particle cell inspector... that's unfortunate.
You can achieve good "separation" by applying a drop shadow to the Particle Source.
You cannot get a true Darken effect, but I'm going to outline a cheat to get some interesting effects (this assumes your particle source is a shape, white in color -- colorization is controlled by the Particle Cell color controls.)
[For a quasi-darken effect, use Color Over Live, with a darker color on the left grading to a lighter color to the right. You will want to start with Additive Blend turned off -- you can turn it on afterwards to see if you like the effect.]
With the Particle source selected, in Properties, turn on the Drop Shadow (you will want to experiment with the color -- depending on the mode you choose.) Soft Light, Color Burn, Color Dodge, Hard Light, Hard Mix (sometimes) and possibly the Stencil/Silhouette group will create some interesting different effects. [Remember to experiment with drop shadow color.]
You can adjust transparency with the Particle source (Properties) Blending Transparency, the Fill Opacity (shape tab) or use the Opacity control in the Particle Cell color control.
Since we're cheating here, watch out for a specific effect "sticking" (usually you can snap out of it by sliding one of the gradient sliders in the particle cell color control.)
These settings created a sort of lozenge looking shape -- color gradient on cell is a medium dark orange to a medium light orange. Drop Shadow is a green and the blend mode set to Soft Light.
Below (same frame as above) is a white drop shadow with Silhouette Alpha blend mode...
HTH
happy hunting!

How to Apply adjustment layers to multiple layers that have different blending modes ...

How to Apply adjustment layers to multiple layers that have different blending modes and keep the colours the same as the adjusment done?
I work in Animation painting Backgrounds. My files are sometimes upwards to 200+ layers.
I will use adjustment layers to quickly balance colours and constrast on top of those many many layers.
The only way that I know of how to apply adjustment layers it to every single layer ( by applying I mean I need to get rid of the adjustment layers because we cant use them in production but i need the new colours be applied to all layers underneath ) in a psd is to manually do it By duplicating the adjusment layer 200+ times and then merging each layer to one of those adjustment layers so that that layer can take the adjustment layers effect permanently.
The issue is that Within Those 200 layers I have some layers set to Multiply or OVERLAY.    IT obviously wont apply the adjustment layer properly to those layers because those layer blend mode affect the layers under them. The colour wont be the same anymore in the spots that had the multiply blended mode.
HEres an example of a simple File. to show what i mean.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3408266/ball%20layers.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3408266/ball.psd
I have 2 adjustment layers up top. I need to get rid of them by applying them to each layer! I cannot merge any of the layers. We need all those layers for production.
I can apply the adjustment layers manually and this works GREAT for all Layers set to normal. THey take on the colour change just FINE.
However, The issue is that layer 6 and layer 4 are both set to mutiply and this screws up the colour once i apply the adjustment layers to each layer manually...
How can i apply my adjustment layers to a file like this with some layers being set to multiply while keeping the layers exactly the same configuration and The new colour taking efffect exactly how i looks before i apply the adjustment layers?
Now the simple solution is to merge the multiply layers to the layer that it affects HOWEVER I NEED those multiply layers to be seperate!
I'm assuming what I want to do is impossible? Hope this isnt confusing. As far as i know its impossible to do what I want it to do. but just wanted to ask and see.
I would REALLY REALLY love to talk to a adobe programmer/ technician/pro working at adobe about this. Theres just no way to get in touch with anyone... =(
any thoughts ?

Sure... if you want to put it that way. Either way its not the desirable outcome.
its just frustrating that theres no way to apply adjustment layers to hundreds of layers while keeping them in the same configuration ( blendmodes, layer order , without merging) while keeping the same end result.
works great if all your layers are set to normal though..    But I really need to keep shadow layers seperately and be able to adjust on the fly aswell as apply those adjusment to all my layers.
I suppose that just isnt possible.   I understand the math required for this would be tremendous/ complicated if something like this would ever be implemented. Would be nice if adobe could come up with some solution to this. Its really a huge issue in my work flow and theres no alternatives.    How else can I adjust colours to 100+ layers with a few clicks that lets me play around the the adjustment until im happy with the outcome.    Really wish i could adjust and the quickly apply that adjustment to all my layers regardless of blend mode.   LIke If the Layers with blendmode could somehow take the properties of the adjustment layer and keep adjusting those layers undereathe on top of that blended mode that its doing...

{PC CC2014} Blending modes REFUSES to export

Hi there,
I'm not exactly the strongest when it comes to Illustrator, so hopefully this isn't some stupid preference issue on my part, but...
I'm having an issue with my blending modes. Basically I have 3 stars, larger to smaller, top to bottom. I have a simple shape with 67% gray in multiply mode to create a "Texas Star" effect. The issue, is that when I go to export this file to ANY format, or I copy and paste it out, that 67% gray shape just sits on top. It refuses to go anywhere. I've tried expanding, even rasterizing (though that gives the SAME error). Nothing seems to work.
I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but I know that I'm not extremely strong in illustrator (I can just hack my way through it). Perhaps someone else might know of how to fix this issue. Yes, I know I can copy and paste, then copy and paste the blend mode in PS and re export, even live trace if necessary, BUT I'm trying to figure this issue out. I REFUSE to do that for all my blend modes FOREVER. Something I wrong, I just don't know what.
Thank you very much,
-David A. Turner

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/t1.0-9/10563173_10152595627323524_5 65109011631487628_n.jpg
So it's VERY complicated, lots of crap all over. Like I said, I'm not very good at illustrator, just good enough to bludgeon my way through like two virgins on wedding night.
That said, I don't know if you can see it or not, but on the top and bottom row, are stars.
So I created a star with a layer atop it that had the multiply for the seen effect, duplicated it, made the duplicate a color variation, and did a blend. Expanded them, grouped them.
Now, whenever I try to export this in ANY way, it has problems. When I have a multiply blend mode, and I try ANY method to export it (other than screen capture), it comes out like this:
Notice how the stars just have that gray block in front of them. That's the problem. This does not seem to happen in other files, just on this one. What might I be missing?
PS, Just starting to work for the client, just making quick short changes, if anyone sees anything to change real quick, let me know, please. I'll gladly take other advice as well.
-David Turner

Learning blending modes

I've learned most of what I know about PSE from a certain magazine from England. But in their step by step instructions, you are told to use this or that blending mode, but not why.
Are there any threads on here that expalin what the different modes do and when to use what? I've tried to do search but didn't work.
Thanks
Ricih

http://www.ronbigelow.com/articles/blend1/blend1.htm
The above is a set of tutorials that includes tables listing practical uses of blend modes for photographers.
His examples are done using photoshop but the blend modes are the same in both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. Layer masking is used to constrain the blend mode effects to portions of the photos. With elements, you will need to use an adjustment layer so you can hijack the mask. If you are just going to blend the image with itself, create a levels adjustment layer...leave it at the default setting and click ok to accept. Adjust the levels adjustment layer's blend mode and opacity if desired. This will act just as if you were working on a duplicate of the image...and you have a mask.
If blending two different images, use a clipping mask/group. Here's a link on info about using clipping masks/clipping groups...same thing different name.
http://www.photokaboom.com/photography/learn/Photoshop_Elements/layers/layer_groups_clippi ng_masks/1_layer_groups_clipping_masks.htm
Other tutorials that cover blend modes...
http://www.northlite.net/ps/blend.htm
http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-editing/layer-blend-modes/
http://www.photoshoptut.com/photoshops-blend-modes/
http://www.psdtop.com/blog/basic/understanding-blending-modes/
Still one more...don't read #20 as it covers advanced masking (Blend If) that isn't available in Photoshop Elements.
http://www.teamphotoshop.com/articles-The-Techniques-Layer-Blend-Modes-Explained!-5,8,65a. html
Edit: That last link you'll have to copy and paste it into your browser to get it to work. It's not linking correctly.

Alpha, blending modes and compositions

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