How do I create a layer?

[mdslammer]

Hi Guys,

I was wondering if it's possible to create a layer (like you can in Photoshop) in Vegas?
What I'm trying to accomplish is:
I have two subjects that are supposed to be in hell. I would like to have both subjects in the front and have some fire video behind them.
I shot this against a black duvatyn background thinking it would give me a "black hole" look. But, because I had to light my subjects to be seen, the black duvatyn is too visible.

So, if there is anyway I could "cut out" my two subjects for the front layer then lay down the fire behind them that would really be nice and very effective.

Thanks for any help.

Regards.

Mark

 

[JRAnderson]

I think what you're trying to do is called masking. You can get a good overview of iy in the help section of vegas itself. There was also a recent thread on this just recently... http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=90170

 

[mdslammer]

Thanks JR. I'll check out the link.

Best.

Mark

 

[Mark Seibert]

You might try using the black backdrop as a key. Usually green or blue works better. You can try using the chroma keyer in the FX tools in Vegas. When I did this recently I had to resort to exporting the segment as a sequence and then used batch processing tools in photoshop to select the background and alpha it out. Then I imported the sequence with alpha...worked great