Brycetech: Mask Tutorial for Bryce

This will aid in learning how to use Bryce's mask render. This feature can help create advanced pictures by allowing you to protect certain areas of a rendered image in an image editor. You will need an image editor for this tutorial. Though this site does not deal with the use of image editors, in this tutorial I will touch on some of the uses of the mask in Corel PhotoPaint and Adobe PhotoShop. If you want to see how to use it with Paint Shop Pro, check this tutorial out. These techniques should be applicable to other editors as well.

What does a mask do? A mask allows you to specifically select areas of an image to either edit or copy. You can use masks to edit the backgrounds, edit the objects, or apply specific effects to the area of the mask. The rest of the image is protected.

**Perspective Render**
It's really a good idea to set a camera memory dot for your scene's camera render position. This will prevent you from accidentally or purposely moving the camera and losing the position that you render the main shot from.
You will have set up a scene in the usual way and rendered it.
Once rendered, export the image to disk. Be sure to name it some arbitrary name that will prevent you from accidentally overwriting it. For instance, when doing a scene that I intend to use "Mask" render on, I call the exported "Perspective" render pname.bmp.. (e.g.: pshadowfury.bmp)

**Prepare for Mask Render**
It's now necessary to set up for mask render. So select all the objects you want to be masked off. If you want the whole scene masked off...just "Select All". Note: An object MUST be selected for a mask render to work!
After the desired objects are selected, choose "Mask Render" from the render options.
Be sure you are at the exact same location that you rendered the perspective render from. (That's why you needed the memory dot!) Then do a render of this scene.
Export this image. I use a name like "mshadowfury.bmp" to let me know that this is the mask for the perspective render of "pshadowfury.bmp" Notice that Bryce rendered the selected objects as white, and everything else as black.

For Corel PhotoPaint

**Load the image**
Open your image editor and load the perspective image.
The perspective image is now open.

**Load the Mask**
It is now necessary to load the mask. So select the load from disk option from the menu. Note: Other image editors should support this feature.
With the mask open, the you should see "dancing ants" in the area of the mask. Remember that the areas in white in the mask render are what is selected. So when you load a mask, the areas that would be white are what is selected now. If you desire, you can copy or edit the ships in this picture without effecting the background. I will apply some contrast effects.

**Load a background**
I want to change the background. I could just add stars, but that isn't what I want to do. I want to add a different background altogether. So after I applied the effects to the ship that I wanted, I remove this mask.
Now locate the background that you want to apply to the picture and load it. Leave the rendered picture open. This background image MUST be the same size as the rendered picture.
Load the Mask to this image by doing exactly what you did above. There are several ways to composite this picture...this is the way I prefer.
Remember that the area of the ships is what is selected here, we want to select the area that represents everything but the ships. So you must invert the mask.
Everything other than the ships is now selected in the picture. So you can now copy those areas.
Choose your other picture from the "Window" menu. (Remember, it should still be open.)
The rendered picture is now visible.
Now paste the background that you just copied.
The result.
Combine the new object you just pasted.