Hi all,

want to make a video clip take the shape of a star, can i do this? is there a way other than using masks (which i dont know how to do)because i want to move the star shaped video across the screen.

any help much appreciated,

Thanks,

Steve.

david_bogie

Open the online help and study the mask and matte sections. There is no Star Wipe out of the box. If you want to do complicated effects with weird mattes, you need to learn how to create the matte.

You can import a star from clip art and use it as a matte, you can even find them with ready-to-go alpha channels.

The problem you are likely to have is that you will need to move the video and the matte together. That's precomposing or nesting and will require another trip to the manual.

Nothing is easy in After Effects. That's why we love it.

bogiesan

david_bogie

Ooh, ooh!

Transition>iris wipe>presets
Here you will find two different star wipes that you can export as still images and import for use as mattes or you could precompose the wipe and simply not animate it.

bogiesan

many thanks for the help!!

Regards,

Steve.

david_wigforss

Definately read up on masks. They're very useful, and you may even start to like using the pen tool in Photoshop! Word of caution-If you import paths from PS into AE, make sure your PS file's resolution is 72dpi.

thanks for your help my friend!!