Masking Policies¶
Masking policies are crucial for understanding the placement and sizing of objects.
There are four masking policies:
- All or Nothing
- Always Present
- Cuttable
- Transparent
You can define a masking policy by clicking directly on an object in the Layers window of the content Editor in which you are working.
Transparent¶
When the Transparent policy is applied, the masking policy of the parent parcel is applied to the subparcel, or child. This policy option automatically transmits the parent mask to the child.
Figure 1: The parent parcel has an Always Present mask.
Figure 1.1: This mask is transmitted to the child.
All or Nothing¶
The All or Nothing policy is used when the parcel area can be filled with the entirety of an object or material, or with none of it.
All or Nothing considers that all of a material can be applied to a specified subparcel when the subparcel is contained within the limits of the root parcel area. When the subparcel area exceeds the parcel area, however, none of the object or material will be applied to the sub parcel.
Fig. 3.1: Two sub parcel areas are defined: one contained within the original root parcel, and the other extending outward.
Fig. 3.2: Two masks are applied to the two areas.
Fig. 3.3: The resulting visualization shows that the material was applied only to the sub parcel contained within the root area. Because the second sub parcel was not contained fully by the original area, the material could not be applied. The condition stipulates that all of material has to apply to a defined area, or none of it can.
Always Present¶
Applying the Always Present policy means that an object or material will always be present in a parcel or subparcel area. The object or material will take up all the surface of the demarcated area. Objects with the Always Present policy are not cuttable.
Fig. 4.1: The sub parcel is defined.
Fig. 4.2: Material is added.
Fig. 4.3: Sub parcel displays material. We can expect that the material will always be present in this position if we place the material and define the sub parcel area with the Always Present masking policy.
Transparent¶
When the Transparent policy is applied, the masking policy of the parent parcel is applied to the subparcel, or child. This policy option automatically transmits the parent mask to the child.
Figure 1: The parent parcel has an Always Present mask.
Figure 1.1: This mask is transmitted to the child.
Cuttable¶
Applying the Cuttable policy means that objects can be cut to fit the sizes of the space they occupy. The Cuttable policy allows you to cut along border limits and apply only the amount of material needed to fill the border.
Fig. 2.1: The sub parcel border extends outside the original root parcel area.
Fig. 2.2: The material is applied with a Cuttable masking policy.
Fig. 2.3: The material is applied only to the section of the sub parcel contained within the root area. The mask has been cut from the area outlined in red.