CompuServe Messages

Paul, Your welcome, I like to do a lot of multi-layering and I find this technique is one of the most interesting ways to get really professional looking results. I don't know of any other PC based package that has this capability, even though its probably inadvertant. If you have already experimented with it then you know that where the light is cast is where you get Alpha > 0. The beauty of this is that you can use the spots falloff to create a nice soft edge. These images can then be layered with different levels of transparency to create montages that are really high end in appearance. The other way to achieve this is with a paint package like QFX with which you can build alpha ramps, but its alot easier and faster to do it with spots, except when I need to create a mask. Sometimes I will run the sequence through VP with a matte, sometimes I'll let QFX do it as it does come out a bit more saturated and detailed. Just depends on where the focus is. You can use this in combination with Z-Depth to create some really distinctive professional looking work. If you come up with any refinements or complimentary techniques I'm always interested. John