I am fairly new with the Pro version of Vegas and am wondering how to make a special effect appear behind an object in a video. Any tips, tricks, or info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
It's all about Mask making . cut a green screen and you have a Mask . use the Bezier tool to cut a shape to make a Mask . Cookie cutter makes a Mask . Import a specially made Black and White image , to cut a Mask .The Mask should be on the Track above the background . Depending on how the Mask was made , Vegas might Auto cut the Black , or Auto cut the white to "Transparency" . Other times , you might need to use Multiply Blend mode .
Trap and Pitfall Tip , to avoid . iI you have just 1 track on the Time Line , with an image or video . Now use Multiply Blend mode . Vegas viewer goes Black\Blank. Why ? Because anything Multiplied by 0 is ,...Zero . There is No track below , so the lower object is black\zero . Red * 0 = 0 ,...etc ,... White equal 1 . ( Red * White ) is equal to ( Red * 1 ) = Red . "Anything" * 1 is equal to "Anything" . * is the math multiplication operator .
With 2 tracks , you can lower the opacity of each track to 50 % each . On the clip itself , is a Opacity green horizontal Line . Blending 2 tracks without a Blend mode . That is a high tech trick , for you can apply individual color grading to each clip , and combine\mix the clips in Parallel ( similar to Parallel mixer node, in Davinci Color Tab ) In this particular usage , both clips are of the same clip .
If the object is moving in such a way that the mask changes shape, you are going to need some more advanced motion tracking tools like Mocha, and even then it can require some extensive work to get just right.
If the mask doesn't have to change shape to pull off the effect, you can make a mask using the bezier mask tool, then motion track it using Vegas' motion tracking capabilities.
Thank you for the info. Is there a way to zoom in on the Video Preview window when you are in Bezier masking in order to create a more accurate custom mask? The anchor points seem to block much of the object detail especially if I need to place them close together.
This is the project for reference. So basically I am trying to mask the figure itself and insert a smoke effect in front of the figure. Should the clip be duplicated and put on two sections of the timeline or can you just mask the single clip with the effect on another line of the timeline?
Try looking at this one.
You will find that almost anything that can be done in any other editing program can be done in Vegas, you just have to know the program well and how tools can work creatively in combination.
You might also want to look at this one too. Usually knowing how to mask well is the key to many effects.
