alicemeade

Q: Using a mask with QuickTime

Does anyone have experience with this.  I looked at several Youtube videos, but was not able to get this to work.  If you have done this successfully, please let me know!

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012), iOS 9.3.3

Posted on Jul 21, 2016 8:08 PM

Close

Q: Using a mask with QuickTime

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

Page 1 Next
  • by QuickTimeKirk,

    QuickTimeKirk QuickTimeKirk Jul 22, 2016 4:48 AM in response to alicemeade
    Level 9 (53,089 points)
    Jul 22, 2016 4:48 AM in response to alicemeade

    QuickTime Player 7 Pro movies can have up to 99 tracks. Each track can have it's own position, layer, transparency and mask.

    A mask is just a black and white image sized to cover the dimensions of your video. It is usually a shape that blocks some of the video.

    The Pro version of QuickTime is no longer sold by Apple.

  • by alicemeade,

    alicemeade alicemeade Jul 22, 2016 5:30 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Quicktime
    Jul 22, 2016 5:30 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

    Thanks.  I have created  a mask with black and white areas.  I have tried going to Visual Settings and adding this PNG file to the Mask.  I have tried opening and dragging the file into this.  But it does not mask my video at all.  What am I doing wrong?

  • by QuickTimeKirk,

    QuickTimeKirk QuickTimeKirk Jul 22, 2016 5:41 AM in response to alicemeade
    Level 9 (53,089 points)
    Jul 22, 2016 5:41 AM in response to alicemeade

    Screen Shot 2016-07-22 at 7.34.22 AM.png

    Click the Choose... button and navigate to your .png file. Switch back to your .mov file and you should see the effects of your mask track.

  • by alicemeade,

    alicemeade alicemeade Jul 22, 2016 7:44 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Quicktime
    Jul 22, 2016 7:44 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

    Yes, I do this.  I choose the file and then close the Properties window.  Nothing changes in the view of the movie. I saw in one Youtube video something about getting to choose where the mask appears in your movie.  I don't know how to do this.

  • by QuickTimeKirk,

    QuickTimeKirk QuickTimeKirk Jul 22, 2016 8:16 AM in response to alicemeade
    Level 9 (53,089 points)
    Jul 22, 2016 8:16 AM in response to alicemeade

    Your mask track must match the dimensions of the video track it covers. Take a look at the screenshot I posted above:

    You can scale your video track but not the mask it covers. The offset values show how many pixels from the upper left corner your other video tracks might be. The layer values move multiple tracks to the foreground and lower number values are further to the "top". The transparency options are also for multiple video track movies.

    If your video only has a single video track your mask must be the same dimension.

  • by alicemeade,

    alicemeade alicemeade Jul 22, 2016 8:43 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Quicktime
    Jul 22, 2016 8:43 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

    Do you mean the dimensions of the mask must match the dimensions of the video.  I did that, but still nothing shows up.  Take a look at my screen.Screen Shot 2016-07-22 at 11.41.39 AM.png

  • by QuickTimeKirk,

    QuickTimeKirk QuickTimeKirk Jul 22, 2016 8:51 AM in response to alicemeade
    Level 9 (53,089 points)
    Jul 22, 2016 8:51 AM in response to alicemeade

    I see 3 colors in your mask track. The word Hello appears to be gray. Is this correct?

    You have a very small area that shows as white and that would be where your underlaying video track would play.

    Click the Invert button and it will swap the black and white areas. Does that work for you?

  • by alicemeade,

    alicemeade alicemeade Jul 22, 2016 9:03 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Quicktime
    Jul 22, 2016 9:03 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

    The word Hello is in Red in the PNG file.  I wanted the white rectangle to be the "mask" and block out that portion of the video.  I tried Inverting.  When I did this, it resized my movie and cut off about 1/3 of the left side.  I don't see the word "Hello" anywhere.  Nothing is "masked".  I saved the movie as Temp.  When I went to Finder and launched the movie Temp, it was the original movie.  Nothing had changed!

  • by QuickTimeKirk,

    QuickTimeKirk QuickTimeKirk Jul 22, 2016 9:07 AM in response to alicemeade
    Level 9 (53,089 points)
    Jul 22, 2016 9:07 AM in response to alicemeade

    A mask track can only be black and white.

    When you inverted the .png file it resized because its dimension doesn't match the dimension of the video track it covers.

    Resize your mask .png file and make it black and white only.

  • by alicemeade,

    alicemeade alicemeade Jul 22, 2016 9:09 AM in response to alicemeade
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Quicktime
    Jul 22, 2016 9:09 AM in response to alicemeade

    Actually, that is not true.  When I double click it launches in QuickTime Player 10.4.  I did all of this editing in QuickTime Player 7.  If I open the movie in QuickTime Player 7, then the cut off pieces are still cut off.  But the word Hello does not appear anywhere.  Also, I don't know why it cropped my movie and did not Mask it.  Could this be that the Mask was smaller than the original Video.  Also, how would this appear on YouTube?

  • by QuickTimeKirk,

    QuickTimeKirk QuickTimeKirk Jul 22, 2016 9:16 AM in response to alicemeade
    Level 9 (53,089 points)
    Jul 22, 2016 9:16 AM in response to alicemeade

    YouTube may not be able to play your file until it is "converted" by QuickTime X.

    If QuickTime Player 7 (the authoring app) can't display your file as you want then your .png file is the wrong dimension. The word Hello will not display because it not a part of a mask track that QuickTime understands. They can only be black and white (hide or show the underlying video track).

  • by alicemeade,

    alicemeade alicemeade Jul 22, 2016 9:19 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Quicktime
    Jul 22, 2016 9:19 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

    I made the mask all black except for a little white rectangle.  I chose this as the mask, but nothing happens.  My movie shows completely underneath.

    Screen Shot 2016-07-22 at 12.17.48 PM.png

  • by QuickTimeKirk,

    QuickTimeKirk QuickTimeKirk Jul 22, 2016 9:23 AM in response to alicemeade
    Level 9 (53,089 points)
    Jul 22, 2016 9:23 AM in response to alicemeade

    Did you size the dimension of the mask track to match that found in your video track?

  • by alicemeade,

    alicemeade alicemeade Jul 22, 2016 9:24 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Quicktime
    Jul 22, 2016 9:24 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

    How can you get the real dimensions of your track?

Page 1 Next