How Do You Video Mask A Quicktime Movie?
You may have seen a movie play through an odd shape (a window frame or a keyhole), and wondered how they did it. They used a simple technique called an alpha channel, or mask. You don’t need expensive video editing software you mask your own digital movies. You can create a mask in QuickTime Pro. Create your mask shape in any image editing program. Begin with a white background (white will hide the movie) and paint the shape you want to reveal the movie in black. Save the file in any QuickTime compatible format (for example BMP, GIF, JPEG or PICT). Open your movie in QuickTime Pro. Choose “Show Movie Properties” from the Window menu. You will see a list of all the movie’s video and audio tracks (usually one of each, but some movies may have more). Select the video track you want to mask in the Movie Properties window. Click on the “Visual Settings” button. A number of track settings will appear, including a smaller well, or window named “Mask.” Drag your image file from the desktop to
