The GAME CHANGING New Track Matte System in After Effects 2023

🎁 Download the FREE project files here!

The 2023 update to After Effects made track mattes friendlier to use and much more versatile, so if ever there was a time to learn how to use track mattes in After Effects, that time is now. Track mattes are a super-powerful feature that may not be widely understood by a lot of After Effects users, but at least for you, that changes *today.*

Don’t know the difference between a mask and a matte? Never had to worry about an alpha channel or luminance values? That’s ok; we’ve got you. Join us on a matte-tastic journey through what a matte is, why you should use it, and all the creative ways you can take advantage of this cool tool in your own work.

🤩 Animation Bootcamp

00:00 Intro
00:33 Mattes vs Masks
01:37 Using Track Mattes
02:37 New Features for AE 2023
03:07 Creative Uses for Track Mattes
04:44 How to Level Up Your Skills
05:18 Alpha vs Luma
05:48 Using Luma Mattes

[neilferguson]

What a brilliant, clear video. I think I have learnt more in this video than I have in a long long time. Thank you

[marcus_ohreallyus]

I still end up with a lot of layers, but at least now I can dump them at the bottom of the comp and not interspersed throughout. Although, a lot of us are probably guilty of not using the "shy layer" feature

[absolute_vk]

2:04 thanks for telling about the transparency grid i was trying to remove sky with track matte and i was successful but couldnt see the transparent part so thought what was i was doing wrong but it was this toggle transparency switch after all

[StoriesByJesG]

Did you hear me screaming around 3:30? You did? Okay, cool LOL. That is a life changing update!!

[fluxmind]

You made Matt into Matte. I do that with Assets I turn those into Asshats. It makes creating Asshats so much more satisfying.

[POSTROOMDK]

I was hoping for some details regarding the new workflow, when copying multiple layers that are linked together with the new track matte.

[ohenao]

I just learned so much in 7 minutes, thank you! Now how much will I retain... lol

[rickardbengtsson]

Honestly, one of the biggest ae updates.. kinda ever!?

[Hyperdriveuk]

Wow, amazing upgrade, however it's made a large amount of all the old youtube videos boarderline redundant lol.

[angrypotato_fz]

4:06 That's a bit disappointing, considering that it's possible to stack mattes using Set matte effect. Aside from that, it's a very welcome update, using track mattes in layers panel was very cumbersome!

[harethayman]

Thanks for the video, I think if you can zoom out a little bit so we can see your upper body and your hand's movement will be comfortable for the eyes.

[JackFright]

Cool stuff! Thank you. I'm just getting started. Do you have anything for basics? All I saw were very expensive courses that seemed to be beyond my understanding level (very new).

[Dezzasheep]

at last - one matte for multiple layers! So adobe do listen to us haha

[chrishogben]

So many 'wait, what!?'s in this video!

[percentdigitalinc]

Can I use 2 track mattes on 1 layer in the same comp? 1 tracking matte is for movement, and the other is for something else.

[davidcasterline]

I am trying to do exactly this but with an .mp4 layer instead of a photo layer.... I am doing everything exactly as you did and nothing happens. The video does not stay within the rectangle I have matted on it. (I need to zoom the video within the rectangle). Thoughts?

[MrTriptik]

So how do I use a black and white image as an alpha mask now???? Used to do this all the time but they done broke it. Thanks Adobe.

[nickli]

I'm a bit confused between this new "feature" and the old "set matte"

[lolop]

i used to use "set matte" for this purposes is kind of the same right?

[Miramo]

Hey! I just have a quick question. I´m using the new Beta of AE an whatever I googled, I couldn´t find a solution to my problem. So basically the whole "Track Matte" selection in the editing timeline is gone. Where can I find or active it?