Learn how to refine and combine object and vector masks using feather, opacity, expansion, inversion, and blend modes in Adobe Premiere.
Object masks and vector masks have the same refinement controls.
Feather
It softens the edge of the mask. You can adjust this from the Effect Controls panel or, in the case of vector masks, from the UI in the Program Monitor. Drag the handle away from the feathering guide to increase the feathering or toward the feathering guide to decrease it.
Opacity
It controls the transparency of the mask. This is useful to dial in the strength of the mask. The slider controls the mask opacity. At a value of 100, the mask is opaque and blocks out any underlying area of the layer. As you lower the opacity, more of the area under the mask becomes visible.
Expansion
It can grow or shrink the mask. This is especially useful on Object Masks to help clean up the edge. Shrinking by a few pixels can often remove an unwanted fringe. Positive values move the borders outward, and negative values move them inward.
Inverted
You can protect areas that you want to leave as-is by masking them and select the Inverted checkbox to apply effects to the unmasked areas.
Blend Mode
It combines the masks together. Any number of Object Masks and Vector Masks can be combined to create complex masks. The Blend Mode of a mask operates on the full result of all the masks that came above it in the stack.
Mask overlay
The mask overlay is a semitransparent shaded area that fills in the inside of the mask. This is a visual aid to help you judge where the mask is. There are six colors to choose from (red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, yellow) as well as black and white, which shows the alpha. Different colors are useful if the predominant color in the content you are masking is the same color as the overlay, and it’s hard to distinguish. Set the Overlay to None to turn off the overlay entirely if the overlay is obscuring your ability to judge the effect you are working.
Direct manipulation toggle
Use this tool to enter and exit direct manipulation mode. In other words, turn on and off the on-screen controls for things you can directly interact with in Program Monitor. This goes beyond masking. Select the chevron icon to toggle open the list of each item that has direct manipulation controls. This is contextual to the currently selected clip.
Select the Toggle direct manipulation icon to disable all on-screen controls. This is useful if the on-screen controls obscure your ability to see the effect you are applying.
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