Creating a Text Matte Key
 
 
 

A matte key allows you to create a text effect in which the text's fill is, in fact, a background clip. When used with an Axis effect (or a Sparks effect that takes a matte), it can be used to layer text made of one background on top of another background.

All static (non-animated) fill colours are set to a transparency of 0%.

In the following example, the front layer is used for the text’s fill. The fill is then composited over the background layer with an Axis Key soft effect.

To create a text matte key:

  1. Add two layers to the timeline.
  2. Add a Text soft effect to the front layer and then create the text in the Soft Text editor.

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    Image courtesy of Technicolor (formerly Toybox)

  3. Enable the Matte Key button.

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    The Alpha Processing Mode box changes to RGBA and the Fill field resets to 0%.

  4. Select Context from the Preview Options box to preview the effect.

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    The text fill is composited over the background layer. This text layer is then applied to the timeline background layer.

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    Image courtesy of Quietman, Technicolor (formerly Toybox)