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Feathered Edge Mask
ynotfish
Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Offline
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Hi All -

Over in the DZ forum, a member was asking about creating a feathered mask (soft edges)... http://directorzone.cyberlink.com/posts/list/4603529.page

Since there's no facility there to attach images, I'm posting here so he can use the attachment.

I tried applying a border to the image in PiP Designer... adding a fair bit of blur & transparency to it. Very modest success. The hard edge remained.

Next I tried modifying the rectangle mask (01.png) in C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDirector\Masks by featherng its edge & making a new thumbnail image. Saved it as something else.

It looks like this...



I'll do some further fiddling to try to remove what's left of the original hard edge.

The mask & thumb are attached. Just place them in C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDirector\Masks

Cheers - Tony
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This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Apr 18. 2011 03:32


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BarryTheCrab
Senior Contributor Location: USA Joined: Nov 06, 2008 22:18 Messages: 6240 Offline
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There was a member that made a mask creator for version 8, I wonder if he could do it for 9!
Tony Forsythe, I think that was his name. HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
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ynotfish
Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Offline
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That was Charles, old chap!

Yes - that was a great mask making tool... but it stopped applying once PD8 hit the streets. I'm not sure whether CharlesF has since worked on modifications for PD8 or PD9.

Cheers - Tony


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ynotfish
Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Offline
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The edges are a bit softer with this one...



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Dafydd B [Avatar]
Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 26, 2006 08:20 Messages: 11973 Offline
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The principle of a "mask" in PD has been is a defined edge and no feathering is possible.

Now if you took a fade/transition which is a grey scale image and works on a different process you may have better luck.

A poor example, see attached image.

What we should be looking for perhaps is a combined use of a mask and a transition with the transition providing the feathering and have it fully controllable in Modify. The transition becoming a fully editable overlay.

Dafydd

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This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Apr 18. 2011 04:34

KenMorgan [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Mar 06, 2011 19:11 Messages: 3 Offline
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I took your advice and created these masks in GIMP. It took some figuring out but they work great! If you want a customized one let me know, but these are pretty useable. I will upload another with the transparency in the middle.

Ken
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KenMorgan [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Mar 06, 2011 19:11 Messages: 3 Offline
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Cranston
Senior Contributor Location: USA Joined: Aug 17, 2007 02:26 Messages: 1667 Offline
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Thanks for the feathered masks Ken.

I just downloaded and copied them to my masks folder (C Drive > Program Files > Cyberlink > PowerDirector > Masks), and upon opening PIP Designer in PD9, there they were and available in the Add/Edit PIP Effect Mask window. Your feathered masks seemed to work just fine, with a little Transparency slider adjustment.


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Robert2 S
Senior Contributor Location: Australia Joined: Apr 22, 2009 05:57 Messages: 1461 Offline
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Wow thanks also Ken, this opens up new possibilities for my flying videos. My youtube channel====> http://www.youtube.com/user/relate2?feature=mhsn
ynotfish
Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Offline
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In the spirit of sharing & caring, here are some soft masks you can use if you wish... attached is a zip file including the masks & associated thumbs. Just take them from the folder & drop them in C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDirector\Masks

These are very similar to Ken's (best), but with slightly different shape. As Cranston mentioned, these soft edged masks seem to work more cleanly when the default 75% transparency is adjusted (I usually just shoot for 100%).

Cheers - Tony
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Robert2 S
Senior Contributor Location: Australia Joined: Apr 22, 2009 05:57 Messages: 1461 Offline
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Thanks Tony you are a legend. My youtube channel====> http://www.youtube.com/user/relate2?feature=mhsn
Robert2 S
Senior Contributor Location: Australia Joined: Apr 22, 2009 05:57 Messages: 1461 Offline
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Here is a quick and dirty test using some masks. I must say using 5 videos, stretching them from 4:3 to 16:9 all with masks and video enhancement applied to all 5 was a stretch to have it play smoothly. HD preview was fine but Full HD preview had a slight stutter. Understandable when you consider what is being done under the bonnet in real time. Finally getting a chance to stretch my i7 950cpu and my dual GTX460 video cards although only one is used in PD.

I tried a similar but less intensive layout using Vista 32bit and PD6 and it would not handle Full HD, not enough ram or grunt.

I must say though hardware acceleration doesn't seem to be working. My Video card jumped up to 54% for about 1 second then dropped down to 4-5% till the end of the H.264 render.

Anyway enjoy.

My youtube channel====> http://www.youtube.com/user/relate2?feature=mhsn
KenMorgan [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Mar 06, 2011 19:11 Messages: 3 Offline
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Thank you again! It was a long and frustrating journey but it really did pay off! I knew other programs such as Sony Vegas and others had the feathered edge option so I thought it would be possible with PD. I am working on a few more and will post them. Fading out from left to right, right to left, top to bottom and bottom to top.

Ken
BarryTheCrab
Senior Contributor Location: USA Joined: Nov 06, 2008 22:18 Messages: 6240 Offline
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As soon as everyone is finished supplying me with these new masks, I'm gonna make a self-installer.
Dafydd did that for me a few years back for my 3D slideshow templates, although I could never figure out the program he used, above my pay-grade!
It's very convenient to do a 1 click install after a re-install of PD. If anyone would like the link to the self-installer program, PM me. It's uber-ez to figure out.
I'm also gonna make one for my WMV templates. So after a re-install, I can easily replace my 3d templates, WMV templates, and now the new masks, by just a few clicks. HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
https://www.facebook.com/BarryAFTT
ynotfish
Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Offline
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Here's a mask just for you Barry...



I decided against softening the edges. Feathering on a crab just didn't seem to fit.

Cheers - Tony
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BarryTheCrab
Senior Contributor Location: USA Joined: Nov 06, 2008 22:18 Messages: 6240 Offline
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I can still fit in my giant clam uniform from high school, too. I keep in shape bending over backwards trying to keep my timeline in order... HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
https://www.facebook.com/BarryAFTT
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