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- About masks
- Getting started
- Creating a mask with the Pen tool
- Editing a mask
- Feathering the edges of a mask
- Replacing the content of the mask
- Adding a reflection
- Creating a vignette
- Adjusting the color
From the book
From the book
Creating a mask with the Pen tool
The computer screen currently contains a word-processing document. To replace it with the news promo, you need to mask the screen.
- Press the Home key, or move the current-time indicator to the beginning of the time ruler.
- Zoom in to the Composition panel until the monitor screen nearly fills the view. You may need to use the Hand tool (
) to reposition the view in the panel.
- Select the Pen tool (
) in the Tools panel. The Pen tool creates straight lines or curved segments. The monitor appears to be rectangular, so you’ll
try using straight lines first.
- Click the upper-left corner of the monitor screen to place the first vertex.
- Click the upper-right corner of the monitor to place the second vertex. After Effects connects the two points with a segment.
- Click to place a third vertex in the lower-right corner of the monitor, and then click to place a fourth vertex in the lower-left corner of the monitor.
- Move the Pen tool over the first vertex (in the upper-left corner). When a circle appears next to the pointer (as in the middle image below), click to close the mask path.
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