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Create a mask or shape from a motion path



You can copy position keyframes, anchor point keyframes, or an effect control point’s position keyframes and paste those keyframes into a selected mask path or shape path. When you create mask paths or shape paths from motion paths, make sure that you copy keyframes from a single Position property only—do not copy the keyframes of any other property.

The motion path of the spaceship (top) is copied to the background layer (lower-left) and used by the Vegas effect (lower-right).

Create a mask path from a motion path

  1. In the Timeline panel, click the name of the Position property or Anchor Point property from which you want to copy the motion path. (This selects all keyframes. To select only some of the keyframes of a motion path, Shift-click them.)
  2. Choose Edit > Copy.
  3. To create a new mask, select the layer on which to create the mask, and choose Layer > Mask > New Mask.
  4. In the Timeline panel, click the name of the Mask Path property for the mask into which to paste the keyframes from the motion path.
  5. Choose Edit > Paste.
    Selecting and copying Position keyframes (left); then pasting them in the selected Mask Path property (right)

Create a shape path from a motion path

  1. In the Timeline panel, click the name of the Position property or Anchor Point property from which you want to copy the motion path. (This selects all keyframes. To select only some of the keyframes of a motion path, Shift-click them.)
  2. Choose Edit > Copy.
  3. To create a new shape layer, press F2 to deselect all layers, then click in the Composition panel with the Pen tool to create a single-point Bezier path.
  4. Press SS to reveal the Path property for the shape. Click the name of the Path property into which to paste the keyframes from the motion path.
  5. Choose Edit > Paste.