Tutorial: Masks Exposed Vol. 1

Please post your tutorials here for ProShow Producer only. Provide a lnk if you have a file that can be downloaded by others. This is not a discussion section, but rather a source for sharing tutorials.
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Postby rkligman » Tue Oct 16, 2007 11:21 am

BarbaraC wrote:I did a four-slide test using the same two photos in each of the four but using a different version of a simple oval shape as a mask in each:

(1) Black oval on white background
(2) Black oval on transparent background
(3) Transparent oval on black background
(4) Transparent oval on white background

The results were identical for 1, 3, and 4. Not a hair of difference. The only one that was different--and expectedly so--was number 2, which showed an exact reversal of the others.

This has led me to conclude that black and transparency are equivalents, but oddly enough, when combined with a transparent portion, it doesn't matter whether you use white or black. If this isn't confusing, I don't know what is.

Barbara


Well, I tried making the same things as you and the Black/Transparent (2) worked exactly as I have said. #1 got a little weird and now the bottom line is, your stretching outside the bounds that I have defined as having a specific behavior. It's going to take me some time to see what the behavior is and since I spent all morning making my site right again, I need to get some work done! So you're on your own right now! Stick to black and transparent (2) and things will be peachy.
Rick Insane Diego...

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Postby BarbaraC » Tue Oct 16, 2007 11:29 am

Rick, the listing of tutorials is now fine, but the tutorial itself still requires scrolling all the way to the bottom. What sits in its place at the top is a huge block of blank white space.

Barbara

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Postby BarbaraC » Tue Oct 16, 2007 11:33 am

So you're on your own right now! Stick to black and transparent (2) and things will be peachy.


What we need is for someone who truly understands masks to jump in here and explain something...anything at all will do.

Barbara

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Postby Osgood » Tue Oct 16, 2007 12:15 pm

Rick,
Thanks for your tutorials, they are very well done and I need to check this one out when I get a few minutes, too.

Your site looks great to me in Firefox. I've been using it for several years now and hardly ever use IE. I tried installing IE 7 some time ago and it threw my laptop into utter chaos. I got rid of it!

IE was getting very sluggish so when I tried Firefox a few years ago, I was instantly converted with it's speed and it's tabbed browsing, which, I'm told IE has now copied. I'm sure that once anyone tries Firefox, they would be unlikely to want to go back to IE again.
"Don't try to teach pigs to sing. It wastes your time, and annoys the pig."

Osgood.

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Postby srq102 » Tue Oct 16, 2007 12:32 pm

rkligman wrote:
srq102 wrote:Hi,

I appreciate your sharing the tutorials. I need all the help I can get. :D Based on the comments you are getting they must be wonderful tutorials.
Sorry to say I have been unable to view any of them yet. I have enabled java and downloaded the camtasia player but no luck yet. Can you advise me on what I am doing wrong?
Also Is there away to download the tutorials with out having them load from your web site?

Thanks,
Rick G


I loaded up IE7 and I needed to download the Flash Player first of all since it's a test machine and all it had on it was IE7. Once I did that, not only did my front page Flash Slideshow play (different software) but so did the Tutorial. That's the good news. The bad news is that IE7 royally messes up the layout of the site and that may be your problem. All of the content is actually at the bottom of the page rather than near the top of the page. Scroll completely down any of the pages to see the content. I'm using CSS to format the site and I assumed what worked in IE6 would also in IE7 but guess not, arrgghhh.

Tell me that the scrolling was the problem and then all I need to fix is the formatting for IE7. If it's not at the bottom of the page, if you could PM me with a couple of screenshots of what your seeing then we'll see what the issue might be. All I have is a straight IE7 default install so nothing needed to be set which is good news also.


Hi Rick,

I used my laptop to watch the tutorials. They're great! I don't know why they play on my laptop and not the desktop since I am running the same setup on my laptop as I am on the desktop computer, has to be something to do with Mcafee Security I have installed. Anyway, on my laptop the formatting looks fine. Looking forward to seeing more of your tutorials
Thanks again,
Rick G

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Postby sihyp » Tue Oct 16, 2007 4:07 pm

Rick wrote
As for getting hard copies of the tutorials, I have to think about how I'm going to distribute them


First of all, I appreciate very much your tutorials. You are a perfect teacher by telling in simple words all those those tricks to get the best from PSP.

In fact people are themselves able to keep your files in two ways ( both before closing your pesentation link):

The safest way:
Using IE (I'm using IE7): Tools/Internet options/Settings (located in browse history area)/View files

Not so safe
Using the browser: Documents and settings/<user>/Local settings/Temporary internet files
( In case this forlder isn't visible, click on: Tools/Folder options/View, and uncheck the box that says "Hide protected operating system files").

In both situations you will find the Rick's file having FLV as extension.

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Postby rkligman » Tue Oct 16, 2007 4:20 pm

BarbaraC wrote:
So you're on your own right now! Stick to black and transparent (2) and things will be peachy.


What we need is for someone who truly understands masks to jump in here and explain something...anything at all will do.

Barbara


You are rentlentless. :evil:

Here is my semi-official stance and it's not that complicated because most of it follows the same rule. All of the Masks use the Alpha Channel except the one Mask that doesn't have an Alpha (1). You need to follow the rules I set in the tutorial with the 3 layers. Mask (L1), Main Image (L2), Image to show through (L3).

(1) Black oval on white background
a. You need to use the Grayscale Channel (this is the only one you would do this on).
b. Imagine that: White = Black. Black = Transparent
c. Therefore Layer 2 will show everywhere there is White and Layer 3 will show everywhere there is Black.

(2) Black oval on transparent background
a. Layer 2 will show everywhere there is Black and Layer 3 will show everywhere there is Transparent.

(3) Transparent oval on black background
a. Layer 2 will show everywhere there is Black and Layer 3 will show everywhere there is Transparent.

(4) Transparent oval on white background
a. Layer 2 will show everywhere there is White and Layer 3 will show everywhere there is Transparent.

Your Results where correct in the end result. 1, 3, and 4. will output the same, 2 is the opposite. But don't think about the end result, just understand the rules above and the output will make total sense.
Rick Insane Diego...

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Postby dcbyrne » Tue Oct 16, 2007 11:56 pm

Hello Rick,
This is an outstanding tutorial, Thank you for sharing this.

Douglas

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Postby BarbaraC » Wed Oct 17, 2007 7:46 am

Yes, relentless. I think I mentioned somewhere that my high-school geometry teacher dropped dead in the middle of the school year, and I was sure he did it just to get away from me.

But don't think about the end result, just understand the rules above and the output will make total sense.


I'm still waiting for the sense part, the kind that's surely somewhere inside this brain of mine.

--Barbara

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Postby rkligman » Wed Oct 17, 2007 8:45 am

BarbaraC wrote:Yes, relentless. I think I mentioned somewhere that my high-school geometry teacher dropped dead in the middle of the school year, and I was sure he did it just to get away from me.

But don't think about the end result, just understand the rules above and the output will make total sense.


I'm still waiting for the sense part, the kind that's surely somewhere inside this brain of mine.

--Barbara


The sense part is, don't try to figure out why it's the same or opposite.

1. Determine what you want to do
2. See what kind of Mask you have, i.e., 1,2,3 or 4
3. Choose the scenario that will output Item 1 (what you want to do)

You have a Car in Image 1 and a Person in Image 2 and you want to put the Person in the car. You have a White/Black Mask of the Person. The Person is Black, the rest is white.

In this case you have your Scenario 1, Black on White. Layer 2 should be Image 1, the Car and Image 2 should be Layer 3, the Peerson. Why? Because the Person will show through everywhere there is Black and your Mask has the Person in Black.

Bottom line, you'll basically need to perform this kind of logic when you lay down the Mask and then you'll know what to expect from the output. That's the sense part. Good Luck!
Rick Insane Diego...

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Postby BarbaraC » Wed Oct 17, 2007 8:49 am

By Jove, I think I'm beginning to see the light! Your person in the car turned up the dimmer.

Barbara

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Mask tutorial

Postby Valboo » Wed Oct 17, 2007 12:20 pm

Many thanks, Rick, for another easy to follow tutorial.

Val
Val

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Postby Camlork » Thu Oct 18, 2007 12:22 am

Thanks Rick for such clear and concise tutorials. I'm using the Maxthon browser in both Vista and XP and they run fine.

Ted

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Postby BarbaraC » Fri Jan 04, 2008 9:49 am

Rick, once again I'm doing battle with masks, absolutely determined to gain some control over them, and after achieving some success, the goal being to create the affect of moving or exanding spotlights across a scene, I went back to your first tutorial just to make sure there wasn't a better way to do what I was doing. I ended up stunned when you remarked that three layers were a must. I'm using just two: the mask and the underlying layer. Now I'm once again confused. Can you explain why you need three layers and I need only two? :shock:

Barbara

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Postby rkligman » Fri Jan 04, 2008 11:13 am

BarbaraC wrote:Rick, once again I'm doing battle with masks, absolutely determined to gain some control over them, and after achieving some success, the goal being to create the affect of moving or exanding spotlights across a scene, I went back to your first tutorial just to make sure there wasn't a better way to do what I was doing. I ended up stunned when you remarked that three layers were a must. I'm using just two: the mask and the underlying layer. Now I'm once again confused. Can you explain why you need three layers and I need only two? :shock:

Barbara


Well you caught the error. Since this was my first tutorial, I had always worked with 2 images and the key to masks is getting the sequence correct. It wasn't until Vol. 2 or 3 that I realized that you can actually get away with 1 Image and 1 Mask. What you'd wind up with though is the background showing through. If that's what your looking for, then 2 layers will be all that you need.
Rick Insane Diego...

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