Shape Animation Mask Help

Hey guys, i currently have a single shape, a red line. Starting at the top, it then rotates 180 degree to the bottom area. I need to mask off the line from going into the stands. How do i do this? I tried simply adding a rectangle mask to the line, but the rectangle rotates with the line?

> what do you mean by precompose?
Here's a page that defines precomposing.
But I don't understand why you need to mask the shape to limit the line's length. Why not just draw the line on the shape layer at the length that you need?
By the way, I strongly recommend that people new to After Effects begin at the beginning and work their way through some introductory materials so that they understand some of the basic concepts like precompositions and drawing paths. This is a good place to start:
http://blogs.adobe.com/toddkopriva/2010/01/getting-started-with-after-eff.html

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Animated mask on an animated clip : huge problem...

Hello,
Am I completely hallucinating or what ? That's several years I'm working with Flash, and today, i want to do the simplest animation ever, and it just doesn't work....
I want to mask an animated clip with an animated mask (a shape animation), but every time the mask arrives at a keyframe, the clip restarts to the frame 1 !!
I added a piece of code to see at which keyframe it is blocked, and at every mask keyframe, the code says 'TypeError: Error #1009: null property...'.
What is this $@#?!@$ ???
Here is an example : http://moonpalace.fr/AdobeForum/testClipMasked.fla
Thanks for your replies !

The 1009 error indicates that one of the objects being targeted by your code is out of scope. This could mean that the object....
- is declared but not instantiated
- doesn't have an instance name (or the instance name is mispelled)
- does not exist in the frame where that code is trying to talk to it
- is animated into place but is not assigned instance names in every keyframe for it
- is one of two or more consecutive keyframes of the same objects with no name assigned in the preceding frame(s).
If you go into your Publish Settings Flash section and select the option to Permit debugging, your error message should have a line number following the frame number which will help you isolate which object is involved.

Animated mask problem

I am new to Flash and am using Flash 5. I have created a fla
file that contains an animated mask layer consisting of a rectangle
with no fill or stroke that moves over an eps file I imported from
Illustrator. There is no text involved. When I hit enter to view
it, the animated mask works. When I publish it as either a swf or a
mov file, the animated mask does not appear at all. I don't know
what is wrong. My default browser is Foxfire. I don't know how to
preview it in IE to see if it works there but because it doesn't
show up in the Flash player or in Quicktime, I figure I've done
something wrong but I have no idea what. Can anyone help?

exactly my reaction - a rectangle with no fill or stroke is
indeed nothing :p
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cinemaguy wrote:
> I am confused. How are you animating a mask that is in
the shape of a rectangle with no fill and no stroke. Wouldn't that
be nothing?

SWF Export; Rasterized Layer from using a simple animated mask?

I'm currently animating some drawings from Illustrator in AE CS3, and exporting them as SWF's. Everything has gone pretty well, up until I used a simple rectangular animated mask (Inverted, Mode 'Add') that revealed a layer. Whether I have the mask directly on the layer, or have it parented on an adjustment layer, the output is horribly rasterized, but only for that layer. I've looked at the Help Viewer and it states that masks are a supported feature of exporting to swf, but I am flummoxed how to keep the vectored images I began with. Any suggestions? Thanks!
Mike

Thanks for the reply! I had considered that fact, even though I couldn't find any documentation for it. However, even with a static mask, drawn onto the layer, the rasterization still occurs. Is there a way to have even a static mask produce a non-rasterized export? It seems it should be the case considering it's a 'supported feature.' Do I need to import vectored shapes from Illustrator as masks, instead of drawing them in AE? And yes, Continuously Rasterize is checked (althought it doesn't seem to be necessary in any other of the Illustrator layers). Any ideas?
Mike

What is the difference between Create shapes or masks from text characters?

What is the main difference between Create shapes or masks from text characters and why use one over the other, or when is one preferred over the other?
I am still fairly new to AE and am trying to better understand this, or can you point me to where i might look for the answer?
CS5 if that make a difference.

One creates masks, the other creates shape layers. There are properties that you can animate with shape layers that are not available to masks. There are also a few things you can do with masks that you can't with shape layers.
I'd suggest you take a look at the help files or do a Google Search on After Effects Shape Tutorials.

Shape Animation - can't copy/paste keyframes

I'm using bezier masks to remove some talking heads from their lame surroundings. I've set keyframes at the most extreme points of movement, and now want to go back and fill in some additional keyframes, but I am unable to copy/paste shape animation keyframes in the keyframe editor. Any suggestions?

You can turn on record animation, and just move the playhead, then move the control points.

Animated mask question.

When i try to test a simple animated mask using test movie command, it looks like my animation stops on frame 1. Anyone seen this before?
Thanks, Mike

Thank you for all the input. I think I may have stumbled onto the the problem. For some reason, if I use a merge object for my mask object everything works fine. I was using multiple drawing objects for the mask. Apparently that's not allowed.
Thanks to all of you who gave my problem some thought.
Mike

Adobe After Effects - Masking Help/Problem!?

I will try and explain this clearly...
I am making a jump effect, so I am making myself jump.
I masked myself, clicked in the transform tab "rotation" and "position"
and then I moved myself up into the sky. Except, it didn't look right, because the size was too big when I made . So I tried clicking on each keyframe I had made, selected the mask, and made it smaller. Except, instead of changing the size on each keyframe, it just changes the size of the mask altogether! So if I go back to the beginning of the scene, the mask is too small, I take it to the original size again, but the size is then too big for when I fly into the sky.
So each keyframe I have made (of me jumping higher into the sky), I want the mask to get smaller.
Thanks
P.S. Please don't mention rotoscoping, its not what I'm after for. I just want to decrease the size of my mask, in each keyframe, so every keyframe the mask gets a little bit smaller.

> Please don't mention rotoscoping, its not what I'm after for. I just
want to decrease the size of my mask, in each keyframe, so every
keyframe the mask gets a little bit smaller.
Despite what you said, I'm going to mention rotoscoping. The basic skills of rotoscoping involve knowing how to change and animate the shapes of masks, so the question that you're asking is best answered by pointing you to instructions that apply to rotoscoping.
If you want to scale and transform an entire mask, but have the change only apply to one keyframe, make sure that just one Mask Path keyframe is selected, and then free-transform the whole mask path.

Want to move an image and it's keyframed animated mask

I want to move an image and it's keyframed animated mask to a new position.
What steps do I need to undertake to accomplish the seemingly impossible task?
Thank you.

You should try placing it all inside a movieclip by copying/pasting it into the movieclip timeline. That way it is completely mobile.

Mask Shape and Mask Feather Matte Bug in 5.1.1

Take a 2160x1620 picture. Add the mask shape filter. Use the square, but happens on any of the shapes. Center the mask over say the face of a person. Render, notice that the mask has shifted to the left 10 to 20 percent. (1/4 inch or so)
Add the mask feather, set the feather to any value so you see a nice feather. Render, notice that the feather is gone.
Anyone care to confirm this for me? I have reported this to Apple feedback. Worked in 5.04 just fine.
FYI - I use 2160x1620 so that when I enlarge the picture from 33% up to 100% (tripple the size for panning) i get really good quality.
Thanks,
Bob

Update - it is related to the 2160x1620. If I export a still, which ends up as 720x480, and reimport, then add the mask shape and mask feather, after render it looks like it should, no movement in the masks.
So I guess that is the workaround for now on the pictures I want to use the mask shape filter. Hopefully the developers will add this to their bug fixes.
bob

Why am I having trouble cutting and pasting shape animation keyframes?

Thank you for taking a look at my little problem...
I am creating a shape animation - a simple box that "dances". I create eight keyframes with control point changes. After the eighth keyframe I want to begin with the first again, by cutting an pasting the keyframes I've already created. When I try to paste one or more keyframes after the eighth keyframe, the pasted keyframe(s) produce unintended results. Point one seems to reset to 0,0 - and the others do not reflect the pasted keyframe either.
Is there something I am missing about cutting and pasting keyframes in the shape animation parameter?
Thanks

Thanks Zoom - This will probably be the solution for me. Unfortunately there is some underlying problem going on. I can't get the "repeat" option by clicking and holding on the keyframe, but I can get it in the right column of the keyframe editor. But when I select repeat it doesn't change anything. I even selected "generate keyframes" - nothing. However, the program did slow down as though I had done something, and the "undo repeat" option was available in the edit menu. So the program thinks it did something. I'll keep poking around...

After Effects Help | Creating shapes and masks

This question was posted in response to the following article: http://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/using/creating-shapes-masks.html

Hi Todd,
I don't think either approach accomplishes what I am trying to do. Just as when using a shape tool on an existing layer to create a mask, none of these approaches lets me alter a shape path after creating it, in terms of number of points, inner/outer radius and inner/outer roundness. Nor can I animate those characteristics.
The Help file creates the impression that you can copy/paste a Shape path from a Shape layer. If that were true, I could create a shape, copy/paste that path to a mask path, keyframe it, go back to the original shape layer, change its propertie and copy/paste that new shape path to the mask path at a different time, thus morphing from one shape to another. I don't see any way to do that.
Jeff

Problems with animated masks and external images

I have an instance of a movieClip on the stage and I load an external JPG into the movieClip. The movieClip is masked by a layer that begins animating on a certain frame. As soon as I reach that frame my externally loaded JPG disappears. The movieClip doesn't mind being masked, but as soon as the mask animates the external image goes away. The mask animation is shapes drawn frame by frame.
It is interesting to note that if I create a Class and load the JPG into the movieClip (or do this in a constructor) I do not experience this problem - it is when the JPGs are loaded into an instance of the movieClip that lives on the stage that I encounter this. Unfortunately that is not an option in my project (since I have to get the path for the JPG from an xml file I am loading).
Could someone please help me with this?

that's a flash bug.

Photoshop cs6 animation/timeline help

I am trying to learn how to do a small animation. I have Timeline window open at bottom of screen but do not understand how to get images into the space. Everything is grayed out. I have read the Adobe tutorial but nothing really says how to place keyframes into the timeline space. I watched a YouTube video but it started with there already being an image there and then they showed how to copy and change it so an animation could be achieved.
Could someone tell me the first steps, from the beginning, to get things set up right and have something to adjust and set times to ,etc.
I have spent awhile now playing with it and decided to ask for help.
Thank you!

Each object must be on its own layer.
For this example lets create a shape pick any of the shapes in the tool bar, just make sure you are using shapes which is found in the top tool bar.
Click the create video time line in the animation panel, this should create a timeline for each layer.
Before each layer in the timeline panel is an arrow, click on it to twirl it down.
Lets use position for an example. Location the word Vector Mask Position for that object and click on the stopwatch
Move the timeline head along the timeline to a new time (any new time will be fine for this example, just make sure its more than 15 frames just so its slow enough to see moving. {This will also depend on the distants traveled in the next step})
With the move tool selected (lowercase v - keyboard shortcut) Drag the shape elsewhere on the document. This will create the end keyframe.
Just below the frames in the animation panel is a slider at the beginning and the end of the entire animation. Dragging the little gray box at either end adjusts the start and end work area. Drag the end work area box towards to the end keyframe. This will stop the animation when the shape stops moving. You will see it snap at that keyframe.
Hit the space bar to play your animation. If done correctly you will see your shape move across the document.
Your animation panel should look similar to the attachment. Don't worry about getting the same end timeframe as mine, as it is only an example.

Complex question about masks - help needed please

Hello folks,
new to this forum and new to After Effects. I hope you can help me achieve a particular animation.
The result I want is to move a pair of glasses across the frame and through the left lens of the glasses, the background image is made clearer.
I have 3 layers. The bottom layer has one image (the image in focus), the middle layer up has another image (the same image as the bottom layer but out of focus), the top layer has an image of a pair of glasses.
I want to, first of all, select the area within the left lens of the glasses and make this a mask and have it move when the glasses move across the frame.
Is there an easy way to select a complex area like you have in Photoshop?
I then want this mask to subtract the middle layer image to reveal the background layer.
The mask would move with the pair of glasses.
How do I make the mask apply to the middle layer to cut it out to reveal the bottom layer?
Thanks in advance.

While you are reading the links Szalam gave you (I recommand you to read them all), here is how you could achieve this.
Create a new solid on top of your glasses, roughly the size of your lense (just a little bigger than the area you want to mask out).
Then use the pen tool to draw a mask with the shape to be used as a "hole" for your second layer. Be sure to have your solid layer selected before drawing the mask.
You will now a have a solid layer on top of your glasses with the shape of the lens. To make it follow your glasses, parent it to the glasses using the parent dropdown menu in the timeline, next to your layer's name.
Now in the stack, move your solid on top of your out of focus layer. Then select your out of focus layer, display the matte/mode column and in the matte dropdown select alpha (or alpha inverted). AE will then use your solid layer as a mask to cut out your out of focus layer.

Shape Animation Mask Help

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