Creating Masks

You can create masks at any time when working in combustion. Masking tools are available in the Paint operator and in the three mask operators (Draw Mask, Elliptical Mask, and Rectangular Mask).

When you apply any of these operators in the Workspace panel (using the Operators or context menus), it becomes the current operator in the active viewport. This means the viewport displays the output of the operator (and the name of the operator appears in the upper left corner). When you apply a mask operator in the Schematic and/or in the Operators panel, it does not automatically become the current operator. Double-click the operator in the Workspace panel or operator node in the Schematic to make it the current operator.

Note: Press Ctrl when adding an operator from the Operators panel to make it the current operator.

If you are adding the mask to a layer, the effect on the layer in relation to the entire composite is not displayed because the mask operator occurs before the image is transformed within a composite, and thus displays the original image without transforms. To see the effect of the mask, you can display the composite result in another viewport simultaneously, or switch the viewport back to the composite.

Note: If you applied a transform to a layer, such as scale or rotation, and you want to apply a mask to the transformed layer (or group of layers), nest the layer prior to adding the mask operator.

To add a mask operator to a layer in a composite:

1. Select the layer to which you want to add a mask.

Note: You can also select the operator to which you want to add the mask (for example, the Footage operator).

2. Choose Operators | Mask, then choose one of the following options.
   
   

   Choose:	To:
   Draw Mask	Access the mask tools and draw a polygon mask immediately (the tool is already selected).
   Elliptical Mask	Access the mask tools and automatically create an elliptical mask.
   Rectangular Mask	Access the mask tools and automatically create a rectangular mask.

   
   
   
3. If you choose Elliptical Mask or Rectangular Mask, a mask appears in the viewport. Click and drag the handles of the mask's bounding box to adjust it as needed.

To change the shape of the mask, click the Control Points option in the Toolbar. For more information, see Editing Masks.

Note: By default, Invert for the Global Apply Mode (for use with multiple masks) is also disabled.

4. If you chose Draw Mask, the Polygon Mask tool is automatically selected, so you can begin adding control points for the mask object.

Set the Invert option according to the type of masking you want. If Invert is disabled, the mask removes the area outside the mask shape and keeps the area inside the mask shape. This is a "holdout mask." When Invert is enabled, the mask is a "garbage mask," which means it removes the area inside the mask shapes and keeps the area outside the mask shape.

5. The chosen mask type is simply a starting point. You can show the Toolbar to select another tool (for example, the Arrow tool to modify the mask object), or add more masks in the same operator.

When you click the Toolbar tab, the mask tools appear.

To create a mask from a Paint operator:

1. Select the layer to which you want to add a mask.
2. Choose Operators | Paint.

Paint becomes the current operator in the active viewport.

3. Show the Toolbar to access the mask tools.

The mask tools appear at the bottom of the Toolbar.



4. Select a mask tool.

Begin drawing the mask.