Draw Mask: suddenly I cannot add new Points after adding 286 points (?)

Hello!  I am brand new here.  Pretty cool forum!  I tried to search and see if this was already answered before, but I'm suddenly "at my limit" on the number of points I can put on this Draw Mask I have created on a simple still photo. I have 286 points right now and cannot add any more than this.  It's a fairly big Draw Mask, covering about 50% of a 1920 x 1080 pixel photo.  I've done this before and used so many more points.  This time, when I try to insert a new point it ignores me.  Like I said, I've done this many times the past month or so with success, but I'm stalled on this one.  Problem is, it's coming out GREAT so and I want to continue to add more points to refine the mask to greater precision of the area I'm altering with the mask.

Does this make sense at all?  I hope there's something I'm doing wrong, but it sure seems deliberate - that FCPX is locking me out for a reason (????).  In my research, I saw a suggestion that you had the Transform tool selected...and I have verified that not to be the case.

Anyone have any ideas?  Thanks so much for reading this and for sharing any thoughts you might have.

Are you using linear segments or are you using bezier curves? Bezier curves can really make things easier/faster. Also, you might want to consider using multiple masks instead of one large/complex one...


Cheers.

Thank you for your reply!  It's linear - and only because it's the default Draw Mask "Shape type" it seems. So, Bezier?  I have never tried that until now.  It appears to add some sort of curve between some of the points in the mask (but not all).  I will go look at a tutorial on it.

I also tried multiple linear masks (your other suggestion).  That makes sense, but I can seem to have only 1 mask "active" at a time.  If I have two Draw Masks active at the same time on the clip in the timeline, the picture shows none of the masks - meaning, it shows the picture in it's original, non-altered state. If I make only one linear mask active at a time then the effects of the one mask is there. WEIRD!

On thing, though, is I won't give up! LOL.

You can mix straight segments with bezier (curved) ones by clickj-dragging a new point. You can also control-click on a point to change its type.

But, you're right about multiple masks with only one being active. I just tried a test. I must have been thinking about multiple effects masks. Why would Apple allow us to draw multiple masks but only have one capable of being active at a time?

I am pretty sure you can do multiple draw masks in Motion. I guess that multiple masks would be "specialized" enough to require leaving that functionality for Motion.

Oh, in the Draw Mask inspector, you can open up a list of control points, edit them, add more, etc., right in the inspector. When you hit the limit you might try to add a point in the inspector. I suspect that you have exceeded the built-in limit for control points in FCP. Motion likely isn't as restrictive.

Sorry about the confusion (on my part).


Cheers.

Darn! I typed up the solution I was able to come up with to get this to work fine. It said it was being reviewed by moderator before being posted- and that was 3 days ago. Perhaps the moderators are busy.

I got past his and will explain soon. I am thinking of putting up a quick youtube video to show how I was able to do this - it could help others.

Hmm, I do feel a bit silly about this... a delayed "where is my mind?" (or RTFM) moment...


In case anyone finds this thread later, you can have multiple effects masks in FCP on a single clip:

Combine multiple effect masks in Final Cut Pro

Use multiple masks in Final Cut Pro

This assumes that your draw masks are non-intersecting. If they aren't, the first draw mask removes everything but what's inside of it, so a second, non-inverted draw mask has nothing to mask unless it intersects the first draw mask, in which case it removes the intersected part of the first draw mask.

You can have multiple inverted draw masks on one clip, as the masks are effectively "punching holes" into the clip.

If you have a draw mask on a clip, you can add an inverted draw mask that intersects the first draw mask (or is entirely inside of it) and it will remove the part that intersects with the first draw mask.

This topic is a clear case for using a visual demonstration rather than textual descriptions...


Cheers.