Page 419 - ProShow Producer Manual

419

Practical Applications for Masking

You’ve now learned how to use masking, so the question that is left to
answer is: what exactly would you do with masking?
The most interesting aspect of masking is that it provides such a range of
creative freedom that it can be tough to pin down exactly what kinds of
effects use it well. To help you come up with some ideas, here’s a list of
various ideas for integrating masking into your slideshows:

• Blend two images together with various angles of gradients and
grayscale masking. Cause one image to zoom in, while the second
zooms out, giving a great sense of visual depth.
• Make windows, doorways, and other areas in your photos come to
life by placing a transparency mask into those openings, letting
you display other images inside of them.

• Combine two versions of the same image with masking. Use one
in the background, while another version in the foreground is
combined with a transparency mask to draw attention to
interesting parts of it.
• Create letterboxes by changing the size of a transparency mask to
a long rectangle in the middle of your slide. Images can be moved
inside the letterbox without breaking the proportions of the slide
frame. Enhance this just a bit more by adding another image into
the foreground.
• Give images an interesting texture by converting the actual image
into a grayscale mask and attaching it to an image that features an
abstract texture or pattern.

• Make a moving spotlight by adding two versions of the same
image to your slide – one with reduced brightness. Add an
transparency mask to the bright version in the shape of a circle,
and move it around. Now you have a light source that appears to
move around the darkened image, highlighting it.

One of the best ways to get ideas for your own masking effects is to watch
what other people have done with the feature. You can find plenty of great