GrindedDown
Member
I know generally about this form of matte, but if someone could explain it to me so I may get a better understanding, I would appreciate it. Also, what are some practical applications of this kind of matte?
help with hi-con mattes
- Thread starter GrindedDown
- Start date
Matt Grunau
Adobe Demigod
A high con matte is used by compositing programs (and some broadcast devices) to define what parts of a graphic or video will be seen. They are pretty much the same as an alpha channel, but are a separate file. Not all image or video file types have the ability to have 32 bit depth, something necessary for embedding an alpha channel in 8 bit additive color, so a separate file is needed for the editing software. In a high con matte, white is fully opaque and black has no opacity.
Compositing programs like AE can use a high con matte easily, in the case of AE, it is as simple as dropping your main content file in the composition, dropping the high con matte on top of it, hiding the high con matte layer, and setting the track matte of the content layer to use the Luminance of the high con layer. Most elements which come with a high con layer are filmed/rendered against a black background or against a blue or green screen, so you can use blending modes and keying with blending modes (respectively) to enhance your compositing.
The main problem with high con matte use ONLY for compositing is not being able to use blending modes appropriate to have your element blend in. That’s usually the case with “light” kinds of effects like fire, steam, white smoke, fog, sparks, and things of that nature, where there is rarely complete obscuring of the background plate, but also with darker elements like smoke, paint, shadows, etc, where darker blending modes will get the job done, and obscuring the background is exactly what you want.
With solid objects like a 3D rendered model or a filmed model, blending modes don’t really enter the equation, and so a high con matte would be helpful. But since you are effectively leaving the keying out of the element to someone else to create the matte, you are limited to the skill level and techniques they use to pull a key and create the matte. Personally, I’d rather have the original footage, and do it all myself.
Lastly, high con mattes are used when you have different types of elements, but light and dark in one file (such as a rocket with a smoke trail), where lightening and darkening blending modes can not be used simultaneously. But, to get around that, you would simply take the individual elements that compose the finished piece and keep the as separate files which can have blending modes applied to composite them in.
But to do that, you have to have access to each separately filmed or rendered part of an element, something not always available, leaving you, unfortunately, with the only option of having to utilize their mattes for your compositing.
I hope that’s pretty clear. It’s late, and my eyes have begun to bleed after typing all this.
heh
Compositing programs like AE can use a high con matte easily, in the case of AE, it is as simple as dropping your main content file in the composition, dropping the high con matte on top of it, hiding the high con matte layer, and setting the track matte of the content layer to use the Luminance of the high con layer. Most elements which come with a high con layer are filmed/rendered against a black background or against a blue or green screen, so you can use blending modes and keying with blending modes (respectively) to enhance your compositing.
The main problem with high con matte use ONLY for compositing is not being able to use blending modes appropriate to have your element blend in. That’s usually the case with “light” kinds of effects like fire, steam, white smoke, fog, sparks, and things of that nature, where there is rarely complete obscuring of the background plate, but also with darker elements like smoke, paint, shadows, etc, where darker blending modes will get the job done, and obscuring the background is exactly what you want.
With solid objects like a 3D rendered model or a filmed model, blending modes don’t really enter the equation, and so a high con matte would be helpful. But since you are effectively leaving the keying out of the element to someone else to create the matte, you are limited to the skill level and techniques they use to pull a key and create the matte. Personally, I’d rather have the original footage, and do it all myself.
Lastly, high con mattes are used when you have different types of elements, but light and dark in one file (such as a rocket with a smoke trail), where lightening and darkening blending modes can not be used simultaneously. But, to get around that, you would simply take the individual elements that compose the finished piece and keep the as separate files which can have blending modes applied to composite them in.
But to do that, you have to have access to each separately filmed or rendered part of an element, something not always available, leaving you, unfortunately, with the only option of having to utilize their mattes for your compositing.
I hope that’s pretty clear. It’s late, and my eyes have begun to bleed after typing all this.
heh
GrindedDown
Member
Thank you very much for the help. Sorry for the bleeding eyeballs.
Matt Grunau
Adobe Demigod
GrindedDown said:
Ha! :beer: :beer:
No sweat, the bleeding eyeballs was just as much a disclaimer for what may have been a difficult read due to my being tired as anything else.