Creating curved masks

Curved or freeform masks use Bezier curves to define the shape of the mask. Bezier curves give you the greatest control over the shape of the mask. With them, you can create straight lines with sharp angles, perfectly smooth curves, or a combination of the two.

1 In the Timeline panel, select Mask 1, the mask for the office_mask layer. Selecting Mask 1 makes the mask active and also selects all the vertices.

2 In the Tools panel, select the Convert Vertex tool (), which is hidden behind the Pen tool.

_ Tip: The keyboard shortcut for the Pentool is G. Press the G key multiple times to cycle through the Pen tools.

3 In the Composition panel, click any of the vertices. The Convert Vertex tool changes the corner vertices to smooth points.

4 Switch to the Selection tool (), click anywhere in the Composition panel to deselect the mask, and then click the first vertex that you created.

Two direction handles extend off the smooth point. The angle and length of these handles control the shape of the mask.

5 Drag the right handle of the first vertex around the screen. Notice how this changes this shape of the mask. Notice also that the closer you drag the handle to another vertex, the less the shape of the path is influenced by the direction handle of the first vertex, and the more it is influenced by the direction handle of the second vertex.

6 Once you are comfortable moving the handles, position the handle of the upper-left vertex as in the preceding figure. As you have seen, you can create very fluid shapes.

_ Tip: If you make a mistake, press Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Command+Z (Mac OS) to undo your last action. You can also change the zoom level and use the Hand tool to reposition the image in the Composition panel as you work.

Дата добавления: 2014-11-20