Have you ever had a picture and liked what was in the foreground but loathed the background, well if you’re a proud owner of Adobe After Effects then you’re in luck.
Adobe After Effects Tutorial: Basic Masking Video
Welcome to this tutorial on how to mask using adobe after effects. Masking can be used to remove or cover certain parts of a photo or picutre or completely remove the picture and place it on a new background By the end (unless i’m a hopeless teacher) you should be able to mask out objects e.g. yourself, a family pet etc and put them on the front of a background of your choice. Masking can be a good solution to greenscreening and, if done right, is worth the time and effort.
Step 1: Click the Composition icon in the menu bar. Then Select New Composition. In the Composition Settings box, leave the composition name as Comp 1, then next to preset click the drop down arrow and select NTSC DV, after that click OK.
Step 2: Click File in the menu bar. Then select Import and then File. Browse through your pictures until you find the picture you would like to mask.
Step 3: Once you have selected your picture it will appear in the project pallette. Then drag your picture into the timeline or onto the composition. After you have donw this you can resize the picture a little bit if needs be. When you have resized the picture, near the bottom left of your composition, click on the drop down arrow next to the 50% or 100% (either way it will have a % next to it). and zoom in to around 400%, or close enough until you can clearly see the outline of your picture.
Step 4: You should now be ready to begin your mask. Select the Pen tool and start by clicking where you would like to start your mask. Continue clicking in points around the outline of the object until your object has been fully masked out. Lets say your were masking out a person and the person had there hands on there hips, well you’re going to have a in between the persons arm and the body right. well to get rid of this all you have to don is mask out the space and then in the timeline if you click the drop down arrow to the left of your picture, then the drop down arrow next to masks, then click the arrow next to add and select subtract. You should see that the gap has now disappeared
Step 5: Now that your object has been masked you may want to put a background behind it. To do this we first of all need to go to File, then Import and then File. then select your background. Once you have selected your background drag it into the timeline making sure you put it underneath your picture. There you have it a perfectly masked picture in front of a background.
*TIPS*
“Watch the video” – if there was anything i missed or anything you don’t really understand then its most likely in the video. If you;re still having trouble just message me.
When masking try to stay inside the outline, it may sound like you’re back in school but if you are masking outside the outline you will get a horrible looking outline around your picture (unless thats what you’rre going for)
Take your time and be patient, it will really show in your final product
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