Possible feature???

Jessariah67 wrote on 1/1/2004, 3:48 PM
Okay, I'm not a programmer. That said...

Would it be possible to draw your own shape for use in the cookie cutter plugin? Or at least create a shape and import it as a psd, etc.? With the use of the feather function, this coul be very helpful in masking certain setups (I've tried to use the Mask plugin and I can't seem to get it to do anything I want). Besides, the nice thing about the cookie cutter is that it isn't based on color or mode -- it's just "here's a shape...see it or lose it..."

I think some sort of advanced masking and/or rotoscoping would be quite a boost for Vegas. Yeah? Nay?

Comments

farss wrote on 1/1/2004, 3:56 PM
I just made a mask last night, only a static one but easy enough to make moveable.
Take still from video into PS (at which I'm no whizz!) , add extra transparent layer. Draw outiline using lassoo and fill white. Turn off background layer and save as .png.
Bring into Vegas on new upper track,, add some blur to soften edge, turn on composite link, job done. With keyframed track motion you can make the mask follow something, if it changes shape just create a new mask.

Why did I do this?
Well I was, just for fun, trying to do a conversation with myslef type of trick. Excpet just using a split screen didn't work because I'd forgetten about my shadow from the first clip getting cutoff in the split screen given the show away. So I had to create a mask so just the 'double' of me was visible.
Jessariah67 wrote on 1/1/2004, 4:09 PM
I guess I'm just wising for a way to a) do it more "on the fly" (the ability to draw/adjust the shape right in the plugin window would be wonderful) and b) not have to set up a two-track composite for it.

Again, I'm not a programmer, so I have no idea how "realistic" this would even be.
farss wrote on 1/1/2004, 4:20 PM
The cookie cutter should be that flexible but it ain't :(
Problem with being able to draw the shape in the plugin I suspect is it needs to be stored somewhere. At the moment it's defined by a set of vector primatives. If you want a really flexible shape the it needs to be a bitmap or more complex set of vectors which means firstly, somewhere to store the thing and some way to draw it. As I said theer's already a mechanism to do that and heaps of applications for drawing shapes.

I do agree though, even within the limitations of the existing cookie cutter framework it could be much more flexible,
Spot|DSE wrote on 1/1/2004, 4:45 PM
I fyou check out the Sundance Media Group help site, you'll find a tutorial called "Who Was that Masked Man" which is a tutorial on masking and making your own masks, akin to what the cookie cutter does.
www.sundancemediagroup.com/help/kb is the location.
Sr_C wrote on 1/1/2004, 6:13 PM
The makers of ALAMDV (CSB Digital) are coming out with a new program dedicated to composting. It will let you import DV and create garbage mattes animating them frame by frame if needed. It's expected to be realesed any day now.

http://fxhome.com/chromanator/


side note: I am in no way connected with this company, just thought I'd share :)
Spot|DSE wrote on 1/1/2004, 6:29 PM
But you can already do this with Vegas, very quickly. Unless Alam will allow you to hand draw the mask feature lines, which would be great, but if it won't allow for export of uncompressed files, then it's still somewhat of an issue, as the matte will suffer in the compression. Using multiple chromakeys, or secondary color correction, it's very fast and easy to make mattes from existing media in Vegas.
filmy wrote on 1/1/2004, 6:38 PM
>>>http://fxhome.com/chromanator/
side note: I am in no way connected with this company, just thought I'd share :)<<<

Just thought I would say something because I posted almost the same comment on another thread a few days ago - "Sr_C" is NOT me under another name. :)
Sr_C wrote on 1/1/2004, 7:21 PM
SPOT, supposedly with the new program (chromanator) you indeed can draw freehand masks. It will also let you export uncompressed.

Jessariah67 wrote on 1/1/2004, 8:13 PM
Spot,

Are you sure about that location/name? I went through the 17 pages twice and couldn't find "Who Was That Masked Man."
epirb wrote on 1/1/2004, 8:18 PM
Spot|DSE wrote on 1/1/2004, 9:07 PM
It's as advertised, added on March 15, 2003, in the tutorials section. It can also be accessed at http://my.digitalmedianet.com/cgi-bin/displayarticle.cgi?articleid=16337