{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.matte","code":"thing-q16662817","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q16662817/","name":"matte","alternateNames":[],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.1.0-research.1","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Activities and processes","entryKind":"thing","plane":"ACT","domain":["ACT.ACT"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"In filmmaking and image compositing, a matte is a mask that controls which regions of an image are retained, suppressed, or combined with another image.","purpose":"Enable an agent to recognise a compositing matte, assess whether it controls the intended image regions correctly, and decide how it may be applied or refined.","scope":{"in":["The regions a matte admits, suppresses, or partially admits","The relationship between the matte, its source, and the imagery it controls","Channel interpretation, polarity, and intermediate values","Spatial registration and temporal correspondence","Matte-specific defects, refinement decisions, and acceptance evidence"],"out":["Matte as a low-gloss surface finish","Matte as a metallurgical material","Matte painting as an artwork or production discipline","Complete compositing projects and their artistic direction","General-purpose segmentation models, tracking systems, and keying software"],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["An instance must have an identified role in admitting or suppressing image contribution; a grayscale image alone does not establish that role.","A segmentation label map becomes a matte only when its labels are interpreted as compositing control values.","An alpha channel can carry a matte, but a matte need not be stored in an alpha channel.","A matte painting supplies depicted scenery; a compositing matte controls the contribution of imagery, even when both participate in one effect.","A low-gloss finish describes reflected appearance rather than spatial control over a composite."],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"meaning-and-compositing-role","name":"Meaning and compositing role","description":"Establish which sense of matte is intended and what image contribution it controls.","layers":[{"id":"registry-sense","name":"Registry sense","description":"Anchor the provisional interpretation to evidence about this entry.","findings":[{"id":"compositing-sense-confirmation","name":"Compositing sense confirmation","description":"Treat the compositing interpretation as provisional until the registry's originating record or equivalent evidence identifies the intended meaning.","questions":[{"text":"Does the originating record identify matte as an image-making concept, a surface property, or a material?","id":"compositing-sense-confirmation-q01","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which registry source supports the selected interpretation of vr.tr.matte?","id":"compositing-sense-confirmation-q02","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"controlled-contribution","name":"Controlled contribution","description":"Describe the matte through the regions and imagery it governs.","findings":[{"id":"admission-intent","name":"Admission intent","description":"Record which image contribution should survive, which should disappear, and where partial contribution is intended.","questions":[{"text":"Which element does this matte reveal or suppress?","id":"admission-intent-q01","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which regions must remain fully admitted, fully excluded, or intermediate?","id":"admission-intent-q02","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"control-values-and-interpretation","name":"Control values and interpretation","description":"Make the conversion from matte representation to compositing control explicit.","layers":[{"id":"channel-selection","name":"Channel selection","description":"Identify the signal that drives the controlled imagery.","findings":[{"id":"alpha-or-luminance-driver","name":"Alpha or luminance driver","description":"Digital track mattes can derive transparency from alpha or luminance; the selected driver must be recorded. [Adobe track matte documentation](https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/desktop/work-with-transparency-and-compositing/work-with-track-mattes-and-traveling-mattes/track-mattes-and-traveling-mattes.html).","questions":[{"text":"Which channel or derived signal supplies this matte's control values?","id":"alpha-or-luminance-driver-q01","kind":"definition"},{"text":"If luminance drives the matte, which conversion and image-processing settings determine that luminance?","id":"alpha-or-luminance-driver-q02","kind":"measurement"}]}]},{"id":"value-semantics","name":"Value semantics","description":"Specify polarity, endpoints, and the meaning of intermediate values.","findings":[{"id":"interpretable-control-range","name":"Interpretable control range","description":"Require an explicit mapping from stored values to contribution, including whether intermediate values represent intended softness, partial coverage, transparency, or another documented effect.","questions":[{"text":"Which stored values mean complete admission and complete suppression?","id":"interpretable-control-range-q01","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"What do intermediate values mean for this matte, and should they be preserved during refinement?","id":"interpretable-control-range-q02","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"derivation-and-correspondence","name":"Derivation and correspondence","description":"Connect the matte to its originating imagery and establish where and when it applies.","layers":[{"id":"matte-derivation","name":"Matte derivation","description":"Record how the controlled region was established.","findings":[{"id":"source-and-generation-method","name":"Source and generation method","description":"Identify source imagery and whether the matte was drawn, keyed, rendered, inferred, or produced through another documented process.","questions":[{"text":"Which source frames or scene elements were used to produce this matte?","id":"source-and-generation-method-q01","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which generation method and subsequent manual corrections established the current boundary?","id":"source-and-generation-method-q02","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"spatiotemporal-registration","name":"Spatiotemporal registration","description":"Establish correspondence between matte samples and the controlled image.","findings":[{"id":"image-and-frame-alignment","name":"Image and frame alignment","description":"Record the coordinate mapping and time mapping needed to apply the matte to the intended source revision.","questions":[{"text":"Do crop, resolution, pixel aspect ratio, and transforms align the matte with the controlled imagery?","id":"image-and-frame-alignment-q01","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"Which frame offset, timebase, or retiming maps the matte sequence to the shot?","id":"image-and-frame-alignment-q02","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"Which source changes require realignment or regeneration?","id":"image-and-frame-alignment-q03","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"boundary-and-motion-quality","name":"Boundary and motion quality","description":"Evaluate the matte where fine detail, partial contribution, and motion complicate the intended separation.","layers":[{"id":"edge-and-interior-fidelity","name":"Edge and interior fidelity","description":"Inspect retained detail, unwanted holes, leakage, and transition treatment.","findings":[{"id":"region-specific-defects","name":"Region-specific defects","description":"Assess solid interiors separately from hair, fine structures, blurred contours, and intentionally translucent regions.","questions":[{"text":"Where does the matte remove required detail or retain unwanted background?","id":"region-specific-defects-q01","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"Which intermediate regions are intentional, and which are leakage or accidental holes?","id":"region-specific-defects-q02","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"Would edge expansion, contraction, or feathering repair the defect without damaging required detail?","id":"region-specific-defects-q03","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"temporal-fidelity","name":"Temporal fidelity","description":"Inspect changes across frames against actual subject movement and visibility.","findings":[{"id":"motion-and-occlusion-consistency","name":"Motion and occlusion consistency","description":"Judge boundary changes against the source sequence rather than assuming that smoother motion is always more accurate.","questions":[{"text":"Where do matte edges chatter, lag, or jump without corresponding source-image changes?","id":"motion-and-occlusion-consistency-q01","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"Does the matte follow appearances, disappearances, and occlusions at the correct frames?","id":"motion-and-occlusion-consistency-q02","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"Which frames need local correction rather than smoothing across the whole sequence?","id":"motion-and-occlusion-consistency-q03","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"application-and-acceptance","name":"Application and acceptance","description":"Specify how the matte participates in a composite and what evidence makes it usable.","layers":[{"id":"composite-binding","name":"Composite binding","description":"Document how the matte interacts with the target element and other transparency controls.","findings":[{"id":"transparency-interaction","name":"Transparency interaction","description":"Record the compositing operation, treatment of existing transparency, and any other mattes that alter the result.","questions":[{"text":"Does the operation replace, multiply, or otherwise combine the matte with existing transparency?","id":"transparency-interaction-q01","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which other mattes or masks affect the same region, and in what order?","id":"transparency-interaction-q02","kind":"relation"},{"text":"Could an observed fringe originate in the foreground color or alpha interpretation rather than the matte boundary?","id":"transparency-interaction-q03","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"use-specific-review","name":"Use-specific review","description":"Connect approval to an actual composite, output scale, and reviewed frame interval.","findings":[{"id":"demonstrated-fitness","name":"Demonstrated fitness","description":"Require review evidence that distinguishes an available matte from one accepted for a specified use.","questions":[{"text":"Which diagnostic backgrounds and target-composite previews were inspected at the intended output resolution?","id":"demonstrated-fitness-q01","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which remaining defects are acceptable for this use, and who established that judgment?","id":"demonstrated-fitness-q02","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"Should the matte be applied, refined, regenerated, or withheld from the final composite?","id":"demonstrated-fitness-q03","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"evidence-and-external-alignment","name":"Evidence and external alignment","description":"What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.","layers":[{"id":"reported-evidence","name":"Reported evidence","description":"Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.","findings":[{"id":"evidence-confidence-notes","name":"Check these first","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these check these first hold for the sense of matte this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-confidence-notes-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-kinds","name":"Kinds and varieties","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of matte this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-kinds-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-real-world-use","name":"Real-world use","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of matte this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-real-world-use-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-measurements","name":"Typical measurements","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of matte this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-measurements-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards","name":"Failure modes and hazards","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of matte this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-neighbours","name":"Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of matte this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-neighbours-q01","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Create and apply mattes in compositing work on footage the agent is authorized to edit.","Explain matte techniques and their history in filmmaking."],"mustNot":["Composite real people into scenes to create deceptive images or video without consent.","Remove or alter evidence in footage that will be used as a record of real events.","Present composited images as unedited documentary footage."],"requiresHuman":["Editing footage used in news, legal or official records."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Compositing can fabricate events and damage reputations or deceive the public.","Visual effects artists deserve credit for their work."],"affectedParties":["People shown in footage","Audiences","Visual effects artists"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody owns the technique; the rights holder answers for each production.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q1439691","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.matte","Wikidata: Q16662817 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16662817)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":["Compositing role: reveal region; suppress region; holdout; coarse exclusion; other documented role","Controlled imagery: Reference to the affected layer, element, exposure, or compositing operation","Control representation: alpha-derived; luminance-derived; raster control field; vector-defined region; physical or optical representation","Polarity: higher values admit more; higher values suppress more; explicitly mapped convention","Control value range: Declared native range and mapping to dimensionless compositing weights","Spatial correspondence: Reference frame, dimensions, pixel aspect ratio, and transform to controlled imagery","Temporal applicability: Frame interval or time interval with timebase and offset","Edge transition: Transition width in pixels at a stated resolution, with a declared measurement method","Validation state: unreviewed; defects identified; accepted for specified use; invalidated by source change"]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["A displayed matte commonly shows a subject silhouette or selected region as a monochrome mask rather than a full-colour scene.","Intermediate grey values commonly indicate partial coverage or transparency around soft edges, hair or motion blur.","A travelling matte changes its boundary across frames to follow the selected image region."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["Bind a matte to specified imagery using an explicit channel and polarity.","Inspect admitted, suppressed, and intermediate regions against the intended subject.","Align or retime a matte to its source imagery and check the resulting correspondence.","Refine edge transitions or combine exclusion and detail mattes while preserving their intended roles.","Preview the controlled imagery against diagnostic backgrounds and in the target composite.","Approve, reject, or invalidate a matte for a stated shot, frame interval, and output resolution."]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Incorrect matte boundaries can remove intended content or introduce visible halos and edge contamination.","Mismatched transparency conventions can produce unintended opacity or dark and bright fringes.","Treating a compositing matte as reliable privacy protection can expose sensitive image content when coverage is incomplete."]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["ISO/IEC 15948, issued jointly by the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission, defines the PNG image format and its alpha-channel representation when matte information is stored in that format."]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Mattes are used in photography, filmmaking and digital compositing to control which portions of an image contribute to a combined result.","They support subject isolation, background replacement and selective effects through fixed masks, animated masks or transparency information."]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q16662817: matte","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16662817","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Matte (filmmaking)","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matte_%28filmmaking%29","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Does the originating registry record confirm the compositing sense of matte, and how should that sense be reconciled with ACT / ACT.ACT?","Does an existing Vercy world model already own this concept, requiring a link instead of a separate publication?","Should physical and optical filmmaking mattes share this model with digital mattes, and which additional characteristics would those practices require?","Where should Vercy place the boundary between a matte, a mask, an alpha channel, and a segmentation used for compositing?","Which production-specific tests and tolerances should establish acceptance for fine detail, motion blur, translucency, and temporal stability?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q16662817/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q16662817/spec.json"],"providers":["Codex"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-12T11:11:56Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-07T10:10:26+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane ACT: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}