[travisimo]

Please Replies from Industry Professionals and Advanced Users only.

In photoshop in the blending options panel on the bottom of the "default" tab there is a "blend if", assuming it's set Gray you can adjust the sliders to reveal and conceal the current selected layer based on the alpha channel created by the monochromatic sum of the RGB layers. I use this extensively when working the grungy degraded textures because of it's uncanny ability to provide a realistic weathered look for text and other elements without the use of 6 million misprinted type brushes....

My Question is: How can I replicate that advanced blending in After Effect?

I suppose I'm ready to accept there isn't a way to do it without the use of a plugin, but considering they're almost EXACTLY the same image processing engine and in many cases After Effects trumping photoshop as a more advanced processor I would be surprised if there wasn't a way i was overlooking.

Please don't respond with "You Can't Do It." Thats no help What i need is an answer in plug in form or other.

Thank you so so much in advance for all of you advice and help. This forum is wonderful!

Travis Stevens

[dlefebvre]

By using a "Luma Keyer". You can select the white, grey or nlack level you want to keep or discard. You have control on threshold and feather. You can use more than one on a layer, like one for the highlights and on for the shadows per example. It's the closest thing I can think of.

[travisimo]

Unfortunately, the Luma Keyer will only allow you to select the luminosity levels of the layer it's being applied to. Considering most of the layers I'm working with are solid or lacking an acceptable luminosity range this method doesn't work. What I need is something that will allow me to mask they layer with the adjustable luminosity of another layer (the layer with the texture).

Thanks for the attempt!

[dlefebvre]

You could use the "track Matte" functionality then. it's a pulldown selection next to the "blending mode" selection of a layer.

That way you can reveal "layer A" based on "layer B"'s luminosity or Alpha. It's an on/off switch, so you have to play with the levels or blurines or whathever of "layer B" to control the amount of "reveal".

[travisimo]

Yeah I've attempted to use that Invert Luma and Luma Matte tracking method before.. it provides results however, less than acceptable.. Mostly because of the lack of dynamicisim. I suppose if there are no other suggestions, thank you for your suggestions they're very much a long my train of thought ..

[dlefebvre]

By default, when you use a track matte to reveal "layer A" from the luma info of "Layer B", "layer B" visibility is turned off. You can then apply a "level" effects to "layer B" combined with a blur effect (for feathering) to preceisely control the luminosity of "Layer B" and therefore what is revealed of "Layer A"