making a matte

K

kookooframe

Well-known member
My photoshop skills are rather limited and I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. Here's the problem:

I want to make a matte to bring into Final Cut so I can combine it with live footage by using Composite - Travel Matte Alpha.

But I suspect I'm making the matte wrong somehow. Final Cut does not seem to be recognizing the alpha channel. I can't seem to get the live footage to appear in the matte area.

Would appreciate it if any of the more savvy Photoshop users out there could walk me through the steps of creating a matte for use in Final Cut for this purpose.

(I am creating the matte on a PC computer with Photoshop on it, then transferring to my Mac. Would that pose any problem? Also, should I save the matte as a Photoshop file, or a TiFF with layers. Or a TIFF without layers?)
 
Why not create a matte in FCP itself, or am I missing something here. In the viewer you can make the matte by opening the button in the bottom right. Choose matte and color and you have the same thing as your trying to do in Photoshop.
 
It's probably something very simple, but I'm still not getting it. I have a still image which I would like matted so I can show live footage happening behind the parts of the still image which are matted out. I think once I get the concept it will all sound easy. But neither online tutorials nor the final cut help seem to provide any examples that I can follow step by step.
 
For TIFFs, if you are cutting out holes for your video to show through in Photoshop (ie. creating areas of transparency in your image) then don't forget to select "Save Transparency" at the bottom of the TIFF Options dialog when you save it.

The alternative is to save the transparencies in the image as an alpha channel (in the Channels pallet in Photohsop) and then save the TIFF with Alpha Channels.
 
kookooframe said:
I want to make a matte to bring into Final Cut so I can combine it with live footage by using Composite - Travel Matte Alpha.

But I suspect I'm making the matte wrong somehow. Final Cut does not seem to be recognizing the alpha channel. I can't seem to get the live footage to appear in the matte area.

Would appreciate it if any of the more savvy Photoshop users out there could walk me through the steps of creating a matte for use in Final Cut for this purpose.

(I am creating the matte on a PC computer with Photoshop on it, then transferring to my Mac. Would that pose any problem? Also, should I save the matte as a Photoshop file, or a TiFF with layers. Or a TIFF without layers?)
Click to expand...

Are you trying to create a graphic with transparency or are you trying to create a matte for your video?

There are a couple of ways to create a matte for your video. One way is to create your matte, which will be a black and white image, and save it as a flat image(no layers) with no alpha channel. You can save it as a .tiff, .jpg, .png, or .pct file.
Bring that file into FCP and place it ABOVE the video layer you would like to cut out. Right click on your video layer and change the composite mode to TRAVEL MATTE LUMA. If you find that instead of cutting out the area you wanted you are revealing it, you need only to reverse the Matte. In FCP go to your EFFECTS tab and choose VIDEO FILTERS> CHANNELS> INVERT and apply INVERT to the MATTE LAYER.

If you are trying to create a graphic with an alpha channel I can send you a pdf file I made tha can help you with that.
 
Matt--
I realize this isn't a Photoshop forum but I have been trying combinations for hours today, consulting Photoshop help, online tutorials, and I still can't do this simple thing! I've taken Photoshop courses but I simply don't use Photoshop enough -- how do I make this matte you speak of? I'm stuck at the part where you say it will look black and white. When I select a portion of the image in Photoshop I want to matte, I see no options for "Matte". Are we talking about a "mask?" When I create a mask I see only part of the image as white (or checkerboard indicating transparent). The unselected part remains as the image. When I look in the layers palette there is no layer with just a black and white image. I suspect that's the layer I want to save and throw away any other layer.

What seems to keep happening to me, is when I bring my "masked" image into Final Cut and stack it on the timeline with the live video track I want, I can see the video track running through the transparency, but the other part of the image is black. I want to see the unmasked part of my still image that I saw in Photoshop, not a black silhouette.

Could you just walk me through the four or five simple steps to create a matte in Photoshop that will look black and white as you mention?

For the life of me I can't figure this thing out!

(also, yes, I would appreciate the PDF file about how to create a graphic with an alpha channel, which will be my next challenge once I get my head around the concept of mattes.)
 
Sorry, I goofed up on that last post. I was thinking of After Effects.
I did a quick screen capture going through the process. Sorry, no audio. I didn't have a mic at the time.

http://www.vimeo.com/5717148

Here is the corrected version:
There are a couple of ways to create a matte for your video. One way is to create your matte, which will be a black and white image, and save it as a flat image(no layers) with no alpha channel. You can save it as a .tiff, .jpg, .png, or .pct file.
Bring that file into FCP and place it BELOW the video layer you would like to cut out. Right click on your video layer and change the composite mode to TRAVEL MATTE LUMA. If you find that instead of cutting out the area you wanted you are revealing it, you need only to reverse the Matte. In FCP go to your EFFECTS tab and choose VIDEO FILTERS> CHANNELS> INVERT and apply INVERT to the MATTE LAYER.
 
Thanks, Matt. Appreciate it. What is the password to the vimeo piece? Still trying to figure out how to make a b&w matte in Photoshop...
 
The way I understand it is that you have a graphic and in certain areas you want video to appear?

Here is a quick and easy way to get it done without getting into alpha channels and travel mattes:

1. Create a new document in Photoshop appropriate for your video format. I'm assuming you are using a recent version which has the video presets. In this case, I'll be making a graphic for NTSC DV.

1.jpg


2. Create your graphic. Here I created basic theatre curtains.

2.jpg


3. Once you are happy, save as PSD so you have an original. Then flatten the image down to one layer: Image > Duplicate. Layer > Flatten Image.

3.jpg


4. Next, double click on the single Background layer (which has a lock next to it), and click Ok. This will unlock the layer so you can create your transparency (the area where you want to show the video).

5. Create the shape for your transparency. You can use the selection, pen shape, etc. tools. Whatever you want as long as you can create a selection from it. In this case I just took the rectangular marque tool and drew out a rectangle, then I added a feather to the select (Select > Modify > Feather) to create a soft edge.

4.jpg



6. Then, delete the selected area by pressing the Delete button (or Backspace on Windows). This will punch a hole in your graphic where you made your select. Where ever you see the checkerboard, that's where your video will show. If you see white or some other color instead, then you forgot to unlock the layer first (step 4).

5.jpg


7. Time to save your graphic. File > Save As and select TIFF. Deselect Alpha Channels and Layers. Then in the TIFF Options dialog, make sure to select Save Transparency.

6.jpg


8. We are done with the graphic. Now import it into your FCP project and overlay it over your video tracks. In this case I only have one track so I put the graphic on V2.

7.jpg


9. If you have feathered edges (like in my case) then double check to make sure that your alpha type is set to black. Modify > Alpha Type > Black.

8.jpg


And you are done!

9.jpg
 
Thanks Matt and Cools for taking the time to give me those detailed walk-throughs. I'm sure they will help others as well. Yes, I was able to create a matte that worked by following those steps. The transparency -- layer -- alpha concepts are still not clear to me, I would need to work a lot more with Photoshop to understand it, but at least this is a start.

By the way, you guys do good stuff -- I'm blown away by the quality! Ah, someday...
 
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