After Effects: insert masks
You can create professional films with the video editing software After Effects. This practical tip shows you how you can insert masks in the Adobe tool to hide partial areas.
Adobe After Effects: Add mask to a movie
Using a mask, you crop the original video or photo by placing individual dots and connecting them one after the other. This reveals the level behind it.
- Click the layer you want to crop, and then select the Pen tool. You can also press the letter "G" on your keyboard.
- Click on the layer so that a yellow square appears. If you click again, a second square appears, which is connected to the first. Now add any number of points. At the end, however, you should click on the start point again so that the form is closed.
- With the selection tool, which you can reach with the V key, you can still select individual points and move them if necessary or delete them later.
Edit masks in After Effects
You can change the masks you have created. The menu can be found by clicking on the arrow pointing to the right in front of the video or photo file and then on the arrow in front of "Masks". Then select the arrow in front of the corresponding mask.
- You can change the direction of the mask by ticking "Reverse". This either cuts out the part inside the dots of the mask or cuts out the rest of the part around the outside.
- You can change the shape of the mask during playback by activating the stopwatch symbol in front of "Mask path". For example, if you go on for five seconds in the video and move some points on the mask, the result will be gradually moved from the start to the end point.
- To create a softer edge, drag the number of pixels behind "Soft Mask Edge" higher. A value of 15-25 is recommended here.
- If you have generally set the mask a little too small or too large, you can correct this with the "mask extension". The number of pixels can also change to negative in order to reduce the size.
In the next practical tip, we will show you how to create slow motion in After Effects. If you want to spice up your film a bit more, you can also add additional effects.