Creating Super Tight Junk Mattes

A CreativeCOW After Effects Video Tutorial

Super Tight Junk Mattes-- A Creativecow.net Video Tutorial by Aharon Rabinowitz

Aharon Rabinowitz
New York, USA

©2006 Aharon Rabinowitz and Creativecow.net. All rights reserved.

Article Focus:
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz shares a method of quickly and automatically creating extremely precise junk mattes/gargabe masks for use in the keying process.

Download project files here.

This tutorial is also available as a podcast. Click here to find it and many other AE podcasts.

Feel free to post any questions on the After Effects Forum at CreativeCOW.net.

Have fun!

If you found this page from a direct link, please visit our forums or read other articles at CreativeCOW.net

Comments

•

@Creating Super Tight Junk Mattes
by eduardo Marmol

Great tutorial,

Question, once you have this super tight junk matte... is there a way to render it so that everything on the outer edge of the green is transparent that way i could be used at a later time with another composition? or use multiple clips at the same time with one background.

Please let me know.

E.

•

Re: Tutorial: Creating Super Tight Junk Mattes
by Oliver Buckie

Great tutorial Aharon - many thanks!

However, in both AE CS4 & CS5 I am having a problem Auto-trace... I have some green screen footage of a person walking on the screen, talking and then walking off - about 1 min. When I do an Auto-trace, the result is only a few masks of 2 to 5 frames within the movie - the whole walking on/off bit has been completely ignored and most arm/leg movements as the person is talking too. Any ideas what I am doing wrong?

Thanks for any feedback / tips.

•

Creating Super Tight Junk Mattes
by Michael Fitzer

In every attempt auto-trace cuts off a good portion of the intended matte (just like Jeremy's problem).

Any suggestions?

•

Version AF?
by akiem asd

Allways when i see the video tutorial i feel silly, cause i never have the same version of AF, and use some plugin that i haven't. It will usefull if the people who make the tutorial, tell the current versión of the AF that he used, and if he used a plugin.
But anyway, thats a good tutorial.

•

same here...
by Simon Vincent

what is it? I cant wrap my head around it!

•

Creating Super Tight Junk Mattes
by Aharon Rabinowitz

that's a new one to me. I wish I had an answer.

•

Creating Super Tight Junk Mattes
by Jeremy Mullen

This has been a great technique for me, but I often run into this: the auto-trace will cut off a section of the intended matte, usually something that doesn't move much, like a standing person's legs. The mask on the first frame is good, but after that the mask ends abruptly at some unknown edge.

http://img357.imageshack.us/img357/6808/picture10sp9.png

Any ideas? I've fiddled around and gotten it to work, but I couldn't pin down what specifically did it. Other times, nothing doing.

•

@Jeremy Mullen
by Oliver de Morassé

Hi Jeremy - I get exactly the same results. Were you able to find a solution to the problem?

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