PRG Mbox Studio Manual v3.6.1 - Manual (Page 54)

48 MBOX ® STUDIO USER MANUAL
The Stencil
To explain the Drawmodes other than "Light" requires an explanation of the "Stencil" and what it means to cut it,
draw onto it and draw through it. The Stencil is an imaginary layer that can be cut, as if cutting holes in a piece of
paper. The Stencil can then be used as a tool to tell other layers how their textures are applied: either onto the areas
where the stencil is whole or the areas where the Stencil has holes in it.
There are two important things to note:
1) When using a layer to cut the Stencil, the holes that it makes in the Stencil will only affect higher numbered layers.
For example, if Layer 3 is used to cut the stencil, that cut will not affect Layer 1 or 2 no matter what Drawmode
they are set to.
2) For useful results, the layer used to cut the Stencil must have some transparency. In this case, use a 3D object or
gobo or apply a texture effect to the texture on that layer to give it transparency in some areas. If using an
unaltered rectangular image or movie clip to cut the Stencil, it will only create a rectangular hole in the Stencil.
The following example shows a blue rectangle that represents the Stencil and a red gobo that will cut the Stencil:
The following example first shows the two together and then shows the holes being cut into the Stencil by the gobo:
Finally, the following example shows the Stencil on its own showing the holes cut into it: