Problem with Alpha Matte in Vegas Pro 16

Adam-Loper wrote on 1/4/2020, 1:19 PM

I have footage of a atomic mushroom cloud (pretty sure it's CG) that I got from Storyblocks. It's on a sky-blue gradient background, and doesn't have an alpha channel (sadly). However, the second half of the clip is a black and white alpha matte, where the black is the sky and the white is the mushroom cloud, and where the two colors meet it's nicely blended. I sliced the original clip into two, synced them up, and I can't for the life of me figure out how to make the black and white file knock out the proper transparency on the original, full color file so you can see another track underneath it. I've been searching YouTube videos and forums for two days now, I've tried Mask Generator and parent/child compositing, and nothing's working as it should. I'm hoping someone here can help me out, as I'm trying to get more into compositing and animation in Vegas and this is putting a damper on it. Thanks!

Comments

Marco. wrote on 1/4/2020, 1:52 PM

You'd need to combine a "Multiply Mask" compositing mode with a "Mask Generator" FX within a 3-track compositing.

Adam-Loper wrote on 1/4/2020, 2:36 PM

Sorry, I guess I don't understand your instructions. I put the black and white file in the top track, the color file in the second track, and the image I want to use as the 'background' in the third track. I tried to use Mask Generator FX on the black and white track, but the best I get is the black background being transparent, but the mushroom clod just being white.

Marco. wrote on 1/4/2020, 4:08 PM

Your background video has to be on the first track. This first track is to be set into the compositing mode "Multiply".

Your black&white mask has to be on the second track, the Mask Generator FX has to be applied to it and this second track is to be used as Child Track to the first (Parent) track.

The fill video (which fills the mask) has to be on the third track.