Hi Bruce,  Yes, PPro can relink media but many times it is a manual procces - hunt and peck - which obviosly is a pain if you have a lot of media files.  ... View more

I just updated and haven't looked into Production. My workflow is creating a new sequence for each reel but I will look into Production mode.    Thanks ... View more

Relinking is ok but automation is iffy. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't.  As for feature films, I am a veteran of the Los Angeles post industry. Avid is the profession tool used there. Don't know any editors doing long form on Premiere Pro. The Sundance films you are referring to are probably short films.  ... View more

Thanks, I'll look into these resources. You would think Adobe would have figured out how to relink media by now, which is why it is not well suited for long form, feature work.  ... View more

Hi Rick, My experience so fat is that simple composites using a sinlge mask is possible in AE . I can only use one mask per layer because the ADD selection on a new mask on the same layer cancels out the previous. From my experience,  Mocha is required to generate multiple masks.   Below, I have four masks, I only want the background to show in these masks. Can't make it work.      ... View more

Thanks, I finally figured out that alpha channels have to be created as seperate elements and exported and imported in order to do compositing. I was under the impression that AE can do compositing natively within the sofware environment. That's my bad for making this assumption.  ... View more

I am not an expert, obviously but I did find another work around. I created layer with a mask and duplicated the layer and deleted the mask from the second layer. I exported the first layer as a RGB + Alpha and the second as RGB only. I then imported both layers into Premiere Pro to achieve the effect I want. I must have missed this workflow but it would be very cool if this work could all be done in AE. And that is the disconnect, compositing cannot be done inside AE alone, because AE doesn't seem to have the controls to manipulate alpha channels withing the software, but please correct me if I am wrong.    That said, I just wish someone could direct me to a tutorial that comprehensivley explains how masks / mattes can be created in AE for compositing work. I tried tech support but no one in support appearently actually uses AE and they directed me to Adobe help sections authored by people who appearently are not actual AE users. The fact that I am unable find such help and tutorial sources indicates to me that compositing is problematic. I would love to be proven wrong on this account. It would be great if someone can show me an actual example of composting work done is AE using masks. From where I stand now, I see scant evidence that AE is a composting tool.  ... View more

I totally disagree with you, AE cannot produce masks for the simplest applications. For example,  the opacity controls do not work with masks when using them as cutouts.  I did follow Rick's input but, as I stated, you cannot use animate opacity because of the mask choices - add or subtract, invert - which, no matter what combination used, it won't generate a proper alpha channel for the cutout, hence the reason why I use Photoshop to create a PNG for a shape masks.   I spent hours working on this, studying tutorials and help sections to no avial. Are your sure you are talking about AE because. Maybe you are referencing Fusion or a like node based program because from my experience, with the exception of using Mocha, I see scant evidence that AE is capable of  compositing, which is why I migrating to a node based platform; far more control and flexibility. There is a learning process but, the logic is much better. There is no logic or standardized workflow with AE for creating masks. I suppose I will eventually guess the right combination of random combinations to make AE work for me in this regard, but I have work to do.  I've done some very cool effects with AE but it not very good for compositing. I can achieve better results in Premiere Pro because the mask controls are far better that those in AE. Hoping someday, Adobe will port Premiere Pro mask tools into AE.    DC ... View more

Hi Gutterfish, I don't think we are on the same page. I thought I could create a cutout inside a video track using a shape. AE is not capable of doing this - shapes cannot not roto out or delete pixels within the shape to for compositing work. The exception is using Mocha. The way to achieve these type of cutout is to create a shape in Photoshop, export as a .png file and then import into AE to animate. Sorry about the confusion.  DC ... View more

Hi Rick, The first things I tried is animating mask opacity but because of the invert option, the entire image is affected by the opacity level instead of just the masked area. No matter what combination of ADD, SUBTRACT and INVERT used, it renders the mask opacity tool useless because either the non masked area shows or the masked area shows, but not both. Hence, I could not composite such a simple shot because you cannot use the mask opacity tool for this kind of work. I did find a workaround in Premiere Pro, so my issue has been resolved for now.    Thanks,   DC ... View more

Pardon the belated reply. I went back to a previous version of AE 18.41 and that solved my problem.  ... View more

The Earth is perfectly round. I finally pulled off the shot after I got the hang of elipse tool and how to re-size it.  ... View more

Aftereffects doesn't do 3D models. You need a standalone solution to build and animate composites.  ... View more

Thanks for the link. I'll look into Element 2 later hoping it is better than Cinema 4D, which is very limiting. That said, AE really can't handle 3D well so I will stick with Blender.   ... View more

Hi Stan, I updated to 2021 and the tool worked very well. Many thanks!      ... View more

Thanks, this did the trick. A very cool feature. Happy Thanksgiving!  ... View more

Thanks, not a single help resource mentioned this. I'm glad there are some actual users here. That said, this tool sucks at creating a an apha matte. No control for feathering. I'm doing more of my effects work in Fusion, so I already got the shot done.  ... View more

I tried all of that. No results.  I don't think we on the same page here - that AE can create a circle shape or other shapes other than a rectangle. I see no evidence of this capabilty. In any case, I used Fusion to create, what should be a simple function in AE, a circle matte.   Given that Adobe has abandonded thier user base by no longer offering technical support,  I am slowly migrating to a platform more suited for professional digital media artists.  ... View more

I tried that. No results. Are you on a Mac? I'm on windows 10 machine, which Adode doesn't fully support.  ... View more