Toggling Layer controls turns OFF mask visibility in 2018

[tristansummers]

Hello friends

Is this a BUG? Is it fixable?

I have mask visibility turned on.

I shift Contrapple G to turn off LAyer controls.

I repeat and they come back on.

All good so far.

BUT

if I do something else, then turn them on again, masks are no longer visible.

I have to click dangerously on the comp, Alt ContrAppleU to get view options then turn masks on again.

Any idea why AFTER EFFECTS is turning off my mask visibility behind my back?

Tris

(Please don't ask me why I want to turn masks on and off??! I know I could have multiple views, or Mercury Preview as  workaround, but I would like toggling to work again and wondering if I am missing a new keyboard shortcut or something.)

[tristansummers]

going to have to list every single other THING to prove I am not making it up.

I'll leave until working again

[Roei Tzoref]

use this to get the masks back

you are correct about the behavior:

if you hide the layer controls (Ctrl+Shift+H) or press the toggle mask and shape path visibility icon, and rotate the layer or change the anchor point with the anchor point tool (which is not intuitive because you are missing the layer controls) , then if press Ctrl+Shift+H, the mask path and shape visibility is not back on with the layer controls. you need to add it manually.

from checking other version, it appears this was always the behavior.

[tristansummers]

Thanks RT for the reminder of the button.

I have mostly ignored these buttons as they can nearly all be done with Keyboard Shortcuts.

One click is better than a CtrlAltU click

I was thinking this:

If you have layer controls hidden, and you select the Pen tool, they will come on, so that you can draw.

Makes sense.

So the code could query:

Is the selected tool the Pen /MaskFeather/Puppet Tool?

If no then leave  masks off.

And maybe this behaviour incorrectly turns them off instead.

This sort of programming makes sense, even though it is probably much more complicated than that.

Rotate and masks are pretty old, predating the toggle and the pop up I think, so the older code is probably deeper embedded.

Thanks go out to everyone for working on it all though. Nostalgia aside, if I still had to work in 4.1 on a G3 Powerbook  I would have headed for the hills a long time ago

[Rick Gerard]

Ok, now I can reproduce your problem using rotate (w) or the Anchor Point/Pan Behind tool (y) even if you don't use the keyboard shortcuts. I would call that a bug. Did not check previous versions because my machine with all the versions of AE in the CC bundle is rendering now. I am filing a bug. Looks like Roei checked his previous versions and it has always been that way.

This thread would have been a lot shorter if you had accurately described the workflow that was causing the problem. I can't remember the last time I was editing masks and used the rotate tool with the Layer Controls hidden. That is definitely not part of my standard masking and roto workflow. I don't know anybody else that I have ever seen work that way.

A quick workaround to get the mask visibility back is to pick the pen tool (g) and click anywhere in the comp panel then Ctrl/Cmnd + z to undo. This will turn visibility back on for masks which also turns Layer Controls back on. It's actually the same number of keystrokes as turning the layer controls back on and selecting a new tool. This is what I do when I'm doing roto and I keep hiding the layer controls. I just click anywhere with the pen tool and undo, leave the control/cmnd key down and drag a selection around the mask points I want to edit and then continue my editing. I've done it that way for so long that I had to stop and watch myself to remember exactly what I was doing because it is so automatic.

Puppet pin turns off mask visibility even when Layer Controls are on. I'm pretty sure it has always been that way. It actually makes puppet pin easier to use if you are not distracted by the mask paths. I prefer to have the masks off when working with Puppet Pin so I don't call this a bug. Feel free to file a feature request if you would like to change that behavior.

[tristansummers]

Thanks Rik

I have been doing lots of different jobs, in lots of different places, so it was quite hard to define a specific workflow. All I knew is that it kept happening.

I hardly ever use "W", I drag values in the timeline, so I still suspect there will be other things that set it off.

I found the "W" thing in about ten minutes looking for specifics to show you, but I will keep an eye out for other triggers from now on to further help find what is triggering it.

It's not so much roto I am doing as editing and building graphic layers and animating elements. Quick placements.  I was putting torn paper edges around objects. Joining up strips of paper. I like AE transform tools more than Photoshops, I am just used to moving anchorpoints etc. So guess I started using W where I would previously have Apple+T d it. Felt more like using a 3d program that way.

Interesting workaround but I will probably use the button to toggle instead. Good to know full screen roto tip though.

Wait, you roto in After effects? That is masochism right there! Silhouette will pay for itself in one day of made up time.

Or commotion running on a G5!

Right answer so far is:

Changing to Rotate/Pan Behind/certain other tools with All layer controls hidden PERMANENTLY turns off Masks Visibility.

Workaround 1: use the toggle button at bottom of comp

Workaround 2: G+click then undo - as using pen tool turns them back on

I will update when I find other causes, if I find them

I guess the discussion highlights that we didn't know W hid masks, and now we do. If we had it would also have been much quicker, as someone could have said, "Are you changing tools with masks hidden? That turns them off forever!"

And a reminder of some shortcuts along the way.

Thanks for thoughts and inputs all and hopefully someone else will read this and it will help!

right

showreel/learn Cinema...

[Rick Gerard]

Yes, I roto in AE all the time, but it is roto can be efficiently done in AE. Trust me, I make a living at this and I always use the most efficient workflows that I can find. If I'm working right next to someone doing similar tasks I usually finish in about half the time. The last roto job I did in AE was a 4-second shot and it only had about 5 keyframes. It took me about a minute and a half to perfect. Much faster than jumping out of what I call an advanced corner pin project and way more accurate than any other method. For different jobs, I use different tools but about 75% of my compositing work is in AE because it is the fastest and most versatile tool for the kind of work that I do.

[tristansummers]

I am not having a go. I liked it too, until I did a compositing course and found Commotion more intuitive. Later on I tried Silhouette and switching tools and transforming masks felt more intuitive. But I make my living in After Effects, and going back felt like such a step backwards, just more awkward. I haven't tried Nuke or Fusion, but in Shake days I preferred Commmotion. That was before After Effects got its limited "roto"bezier masks though, which help a bit. If I was doing a lot of it I would at least try Silhouette seeing as it is a dedicated roto tool that post-houses swear by. But then again, once you have muscle memory and proficiency that makes for speed in anything. And I am not sure how easy it is to load external spplines back into After Effects. It is still not quite a full compositor, but getting better every day. And what it lacks in some areas it makes up for in others.

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi tristansummers,

Great discussion. Would you consider this problem solved? If so, you can mark it as correct. Sounds like you've discovered a bug and it was filed. Please file one, as well, if you have time.

Commotion, now that's a name that brings back memories. I remember when it was demo'd when I was at "Avid Bootcamp." Cool software at the time, for sure.

Check this out.

Thanks,
Kevin

[tristansummers]

Hi.

No.

I haven't had much work past few weeks so been trying to learn the dark art of espresso instead while updating cv and reel.

I'm going to continue monitoring over the next few months to see if there are other triggers for the behaviour, as I'm not presently convinced it is switching to a tool I rarely used that is the only thing provoking after effects to change my settings for me.

I will add another bug report with the info found.

The best thing is the reminder of the detective process.

We found one killer Hastings; let's keep the old grey cells sharp.

[Kevin-Monahan]

Sorry about this, tristansummers. You can always work 1-1 with our agents. Here's how to contact them: FAQ: How do I contact Adobe Support?

If they can't solve it, send me a private message and I will escalate your case.

Thanks,
Kevin

[tristansummers]

Thanks.

That's great.

I'm leaving it at the discovered bug for now, and will add more here if they show themselves, then file more bug reports if necessary.

Be good if I could assign a keyboard shortcut/wacom button that did exactly what the toggle button did instead, as that behaves itself.

Tris