Auto Mask (Local Adjustment) does not work

Per Karlsson

• May 11, 2013 13:18

I cannot get the Auto Mask to work.

I follow the instructions here:
http://help.phaseone.com/en/CO7/Editing ... aspx#item7
but when done painting the mask (Part 2, step 4) nothing happens. The mask that I have painted is there but nothing "snaps into place". The mask is just there as I painted it. I have made sure that Auto Mask is selected on the brush settings and that "the inner circle" does not touch anything outside what I want selected. Am trying to do this on an area that has very clear and sharp edges, so it should be a snap. (sorry for the pun)

What's wrong?

(Using C1 7 Pro on Win 7 64-bit, to process Canon cr2 files.)

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  SFA

  • May 12, 2013 00:25

  Hello Per,
  
  Using the same combination Auto Mask does work on my system. However ....
  
  In my experimentation it needs some care to make its working visible, works best where the edges are VERY well defined, the bush is set to full hardness and full opacity (though in practice lower settings might work better) and you use a small brush. Working with short distances when moving the brush does indeed seem to work better than long distances.
  
  I think it would be great to see a more complete description of the feature to better understand when it will work well and easily and when is can be made to work but is more challenging. In the and I suppose it can be thought of as an aid that may remove most of the effort some of the time, some of the effort most of the time but in some situations will not be able to differentiate what we ask it to look at well enough for our intended purposes.
  
  Hopefully there will be further developments as things progress. (Or someone can tell us the tips and tricks that make it sing and dance.)
  
  
  Grant Perkins

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  Per Karlsson

  • May 13, 2013 13:25

  Grant,
  
  Thanks for your comments.
  
  I have done a little more testing and it seems you are right (also on my computer): when I used a smaller brush with fairly hard edge and did it very carefully then I did manage to get the snap-to effect to happen.
  
  It also seemed that I needed to get as close as possible to the edge with the *inner* circle in the brush. Since they warn that you must absolutely NOT go over the edge with the inner circle I kept it at a safe distance, which perhaps was why it did not initially work.
  
  It is a pity that much of the information in the CO manual (and tutorials) is so very POOR. They explain very little of how things are supposed to work. It being such a feature-rich application so it would be helpful with some more details. (Another example: the clarity and structure tools. Try figuring out what they really do...)
  
  -Per

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  SFA

  • May 13, 2013 19:14

  Per,
  
  I think for a very hard edge, where needed, precision is extremely important.
  
  On the other hand for some types of selective adjustment a softer edge can work rather well.
  
  There are other situations that fall between these two places.
  
  This is a new tool that is perhaps ready for some situations and less ready for others. Hopefully it will develop into something enhanced over time. But in reality there will always be situations where highly specialised applications used ofr difficult situations will have the edge for providing quality output. This will be the case until the hardward or software has reached a point of capability at which few if any people will notice a difference when in improvement is introduced. One could argue that scanners got to that point some years ago and printers would be there now if ink sales were not more important than the hardware.
  
  For general usage purposes I suspect that camera bodies are close to that point already. Another two, maybe three, software iterations and the mass market will be more than adequately provided for. How much resolution do you need for Facebook?
  
  At that point things get interesting. I'm sure edge detection will become very sophisticated for a year or two.
  
  😉
  
  
  
  Grant

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