Page 469 - ProShow Producer 9 Final Manual

468 16. Masks & Adjustment Layers

Traditional Masking

Prior to the creation of software for making visual art, masking was used
most often in painting. When you wanted to make a specific shape on
something you were painting, you used a mask. I t went something like this:

You want to paint a large white wall in black, but you want to leave
only a circle of white in the middle. To do this, you cut out a circle in
paper or in tape, and stick that to the surface you are painting. From
there, you paint the black over the surface and the mask as well.
When you are done, you remove the masked circular area. This leaves
an unpainted section on the wall in the shape of a circle.

The point here is that traditional masking also determined what you saw in
the final product by preventing paint from being seen on a particular area
of your composition. Digital masking is similar because it gives you the
ability to define areas that you can see and areas that you don’t. Digital
masking is better in a number of ways, too. You can create and adjust
masks with more precision, and the whole process is much faster.

Masks in software are also dynamic, which means that they can update as
the scene changes. This gives you incredible flexibility when making visuals
with masks.

Masking is a key tool in making some of the best visual effects Producer can
offer. You will find that almost any high-quality show created with Producer
features mask use heavily when creating visual effects. It’s a great tool to
know and become comfortable with.