Multimatte

Today we released a new freebie called Multimatte. It’s been in the works for a while but I wanted to release it alongside the new selectable track mattes in Ae.

Multimatte takes selected layers and generates a new layer with their alpha channels combined together. That allows you to matte one layer with multiple other layers.

You can make a multimatte and use it as an adjustment layer. It works great with rigged characters - you can colour-correct or light a whole character without having to separate it from the rest of the comp. You can even set up self-shadowing, so an arm casts a shadow on the body and legs, for example.

It’s mostly a one-click solution but there are more details in the user guide. Go grab Multimatte here.