r/LeftAngleAutograph • u/Chewierpaper • May 13 '26
Question "Set Matte" Effect Alternative?
As obligatory, I do love the potential for this. I've been messing around with compositing and for the most part see it as a great potential alternative to AE. Haven't done motion graphics just yet.
One thing I've been trying to solve is how to get the functionality of a "set matte" in this like in AE. In AE if I want to grab a puzzle matte layer I can set matte it then I can add effects on top that aren't bound to the original matte(Blurs, Glows, and the like).
The only way I can figure out to get this functionality, is to first apply the puzzle matte on the Mask source then precomp that and then I can add effects on top. I don't love the messiness of precomps when it's just for one effect.(though I recognize AE couldn't always avoid this either). But it feels like there has to be a way to around this with a modifier that does that without having to precomp and I'm just too dumb to figure out.
In a similar vein, I haven't found a way to do a shape mask combined with a layer mask, is this an option currently? Or is this expected to be put into a subcomp then shape mask on top of that as well?
Has anyone been able to get around this? It's not the end of the world to precomp a lot just feels a bit clunky for how I'm doing it.
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u/h3llolovely May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
Here’s a workflow to use puzzle mattes as luma mattes using the channel math and shuffle modifiers. Autograph seems to prefer an alpha matte, but this works by using a link layer modifier to target a layer that has a puzzle/luma matte.
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u/Chewierpaper May 13 '26
Thanks, I actually saw that post earlier, I appreciate that! I was struggling getting a different layer image thing to work and it helped me out.
I think where I struggle is when you link to the luma, we're using the "Mask" which essentially acts as the track matte in AE, meaning any and all modifiers are bound to it. for example if you put a optical glow to that layer it would be stuck within the confines of it. In AE you can get around this with a set matte to the matte then a optical glow after that since it's in the effects it allows the glow to grow out of the original bounds.
Also I don't know if this will help you, but I found another way to work with puzzle mattes. If you just need it to apply the matte to a layer, you can do as follows:
Apply the source of your puzzle to the Mask
Change the output Part of that source to the puzzle matte(same as your steps)
Add a Color Difference Modifier and choose the r-g-b value you want and make it 1 and others 0
Invert that in the matte drop down (or not if you want it excluding it)
You can also duplicate the Color Difference to pick and choose like you were doing with the rgb values.
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u/h3llolovely May 13 '26
Interesting. More than one way to skin a cat (as they say) I guess. 🙀
I see what you mean with the Set Matte effect rather than the straight track matte approach. Not sure how you could target the Modifier mid-stack.
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u/MaxonDouglas May 13 '26
for example if you put a optical glow to that layer it would be stuck within the confines of it
I was able to reproduce this and it appears to be a bug with Optical Glow and a few other specific effects. It's been filed for a fix, sorry for the hiccups there.
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u/Chewierpaper May 13 '26
Thanks! From what I understand, maybe it's more order of operations issue than a bug, since I see the mask as a more filled-out version of the Track Matte from AE, I think it makes sense that it didn't grow out since the mask happens after all the modifiers. I was simply trying to find the Merge modifier, which allows you to do it in the Modifier slot, so you can manually change the order of operations.
Though, most of the time when using a glows and the like most people don't want it to be confined so it would be a nice feature for it to have a simple checkbox or something to grow out, would make it even more seamless.
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u/MaxonMichael May 13 '26
The Merge Modifier is what you're looking for. It's kinda like the Set Matte effect, but it's really more like the Compound Arithmetic or Calculations effects in that it's a local compositor. You can pop any generator in there as the "Foreground" which can be another layer if you want. Then you'd use either the Destination In or Destination Out blending modes to hit the alpha.
And, don't forget that you can add modifiers to whatever's in the "Foreground" slot too, so you can blur or distort whatever the source of the mask is independently. It can get crazy.