Creating Masks

When you select a Creation tool, default values for future masks are made available for modification. These default values are initially set to the previously saved values. You can reset default values in each Garbage Mask tab by selecting the Factory Default button—see User Settings. You can change the following parameters once a Creation tool is selected:

• Garbage mask Name
• Opacity (animatable)
• Intensity (animatable)
• Smoothing
• Invert (animatable)
• Compositing Operator—see Compositing Operators.
• Correlation. Specify how input mattes are correlated. This can be used to improve the quality of the composite in special cases. For example, if you composite two mattes that share a good portion of their outline, you should indicate if they are Adjacent or Superposed. By default, the correlation mode is None, assuming that normally, the input mattes are not correlated.
• Mask Color and Auto Mask Color toggle
• Initial In/Out Edge distance
• Edge Color

To create a shape using the Freeform tool:

1. Select the Freeform tool button or press D.
2. Set initial mask parameters if necessary.
3. Click and drag on the image in the Player to place the first control point and adjust the tangent (if not in Auto Tangent), or (if in Auto Tangent) to move the point.
4. Move the cursor to the location where you want the next control point to be and click.
5. Continue to click in the image to add more control points.
6. To close the shape, click on the first control point you created, or press Enter. If you hold Ctrl + Alt, the shape will be closed in Auto Tangent mode.

Once the first control point has been created using the Freeform tool, the garbage mask is automatically set to edit mode.

To create a rectangular mask:

1. Select the Rectangle tool button or press S.
2. Set initial mask parameters if necessary.
3. Select Rectangle Options settings if necessary. These options include:
   

   Use:	To:
   From Center	Click and drag the cursor to draw the mask from the center of the first mouse/pen click.
   Unconstrained	Create an unconstrained mask. Click and drag to draw and change the shape of the mask.
   Square	Click and drag to draw a perfect square.
   Fixed Size	Create a rectangular mask based on width and height values you set. Once the values are set, click the location in the image you want the shape to appear.
   Proportional	Create a rectangular mask based on width and height proportions you set. Once the values are set, click and drag to create the shape.

To create an elliptical mask:

1. Select the Elliptical tool button or press W.
2. Set initial mask parameters if necessary.
3. Select Ellipse Options settings if necessary. These options include:
   

   Use:	To:
   From Center	Click and drag the cursor to draw the mask from the center of the first mouse/pen click.
   Unconstrained	Create an unconstrained mask. Click and drag to draw and change the shape of the mask.
   Square	Click and drag to draw a perfect circle.
   Fixed Size	Create an elliptical mask based on width and height values you set. Once the values are set, click the location in the image you want the shape to appear.
   Proportional	Create an elliptical mask based on width and height proportions you set. Once the values are set, click and drag to create the shape.