+Masking has been greatly improved compared to the original tool. Detailed description is provided here. Note that the Mask window is separated into various sections to make it easier to locate the area of interest.
+
+\subsubsection*{Masks on Track section}%
+\label{ssub:masks_track_section}
+
+The \textit{Track}: textbox displays the different video tracks for your session which will be initially set to the first armed video track or will be left blank if there are no armed tracks. A pulldown to the right of the box brings up the names of all of the video tracks allowing you to change to which track the masking applies. You can also just use the tumbler to easily mouse up/down to get to the desired track. In the pulldown list, any track that has red colored text is disarmed so that you can not change it. A track that contains masks has yellow colored text for easy identification. Only when there are no masks on the track, do you have the default text color. This textbox is display only and you can not type into it.
+
+The \textit{Solo} button in the Masks on Track section of the Mask window is very handy when working with masks on different tracks. It displays only that track so that you only see the track you choose, as well as the tracks behind it to show the mask part. The Solo button is just a convenience to prevent having to mouse over to the patchbay.
+
+\subsubsection*{Masks section}%
+\label{ssub:masks_section}
+
+The \textit{Mask}: textbox will show you the mask numbers of $0-7$ or the 8 ascii character name that you have used to designate each mask number. There is a pulldown on the right side to easily switch to another mask.
+
+The \textit{Delete} button is used to delete the mask number/name that is selected. The symbol to the right with tooltip of \textit{Delete all masks} can be used to delete all of the current video track masks.
+
+The \textit{Select}: row of checkboxes is used to indicate which mask is currently displayed for that video track in the Compositor. Numbers that are colored yellow are active masks for that track. A tumbler to the right allows for quickly changing the mask number displayed.
+
+The \textit{Enable} row of masks makes it so you can enable all or none of the masks, making it possible to look at no masks or at one mask without interference from the other masks. The symbol that looks like an \texttt{eye} can be used to easily check all or none as the tooltip \textit{Show/Hide mask states}.
+
+\subsubsection*{Preset Shapes section}%
+\label{ssub:preset_shape_section}
+
+There are 4 shapes that are automatically available for usage as masks – square, circle, triangle, and oval. In addition, the next 3 symbols in this section are for the purpose of loading, saving, and deleting your own customized shapes. The first symbol, \textit{Load} preset, will bring up a list of your previously saved presets. Clicking on \textit{Save} preset brings up a popup window allowing you to provide a name used to identify the preset you want to save, along with a pulldown to see the names of your other saved presets. Clicking on \textit{Delete} preset also brings up a textbox with a pulldown to choose which one to delete. There is a file, called \texttt{mask\_rc}, in \texttt{\$HOME/.bcast5} that records your custom masks.
+
+When you click \textit{Load} preset, keep in mind that it will write the mask number that you have selected so if you already have a mask at that location, it will write over it – just UNDO to revert to the previous if you made this mistake.
+
+\subsubsection*{Position \& Scale section}%
+\label{ssub:position_scale_section}
+
+\textit{Center} mask button allows for quickly centering a mask on the video track.
+\textit{Normalize} mask button makes it easy to normalize the size of the mask based on the scale of the video.
+The next 3 symbols concern the direction to \textit{drag translate} a mask using the \texttt{Alt+LMB} thus making it easy to preserve the current $X$ or $Y$ value when desirable.
+
+\texttt{xlate/scale x} - drag translate constrained in the $X$ direction
+
+\texttt{xlate/scale y} - drag translate constrained in the $Y$ direction
+
+\texttt{xlate/scale x/y} - drag translate in both directions; this is the default and after using the other 2 options, you should reset to this to avoid future confusion while dragging.
+
+\subsubsection*{Fade \& Feather section}%
+\label{ssub:fade_feather_section}
+
+The \texttt{Fade}: textbox is used to type in a fade value; the tumbler to the right of the textbox allows you to increase or decrease that number; and the slider bar makes it quick to adjust the fade value. The fader goes from $-100$ on the left to $+100$ on the right for negative to positive. Default value is $+100$. The fade slider includes a sticky point at 0 so that it is easy to get to 0 without going too far or not quite far enough -- that way you don’t have to keep jiggling to get there.
+
+In addition there is a \textit{Gang fader} symbol to allow for having all of the masks fade in unison. The symbol is surrounded by a gold colored background when it is in effect. If you have multiple masks with different modes, a decision had to be made on what value to use -- it uses the maximum transparency value of the background to determine the operations results. To understand how this works, here is a summary:
+
+Note1: The area outside the mask is referred to as the background.
+
+Note2: The operational result is based on the maximum transparency value of that background.
+
+\paragraph{Case 1, Positive Fade:} When the fade for all of the masks is positive, affecting the area inside of the mask, all of the
+background colors are at a transparency value of zero. So the largest transparency value is 0,and all masks are drawn with opaque backgrounds, depicted as one would expect.
+
+\paragraph{Case 2, Negative Fade:} When the program computes the background color for any number of masks that includes negative
+mask(s), it uses the largest transparency number as the determining factor for the background. Only 1 of the masks can be largest, and wins for the background transparency result.
+
+\vspace{3ex}\textit{Feather}: works in a similar manner to a \textit{gradient Fade} aligned on the mask boundary but is a logical function instead of a mathematical function so will be faster. The \textit{Gang feather} symbol also works in a similar fashion and is surrounded by a gold colored background when it is in effect.
+
+\subsubsection*{Mask Points section}%
+\label{ssub:masks_points_section}
+
+This section is used to change to a different mask number and manipulate the masks you have created.
+
+The \textit{Point}: textbox provides the ability to change which point number for the current mask that you want to work on. It has a tumbler to allow for quickly switching the point number. The \textit{X:} and \textit{Y:} boxes below reflect the current values and allow for modifying the $X/Y$ coordinates and these too have tumblers. The \textit{Delete} button will allow for deleting the selected point number.
+
+The next 6 symbols in 2 columns represent \textit{Smooth} and \textit{Linear} buttons. Smooth buttons use an algorithm based on the previous point and the next point to create a curved line. The smoothing operation takes three points, A, B, C, and arranges the slope at B to be AC as it moves to the next point for that mask.
+
+\textit{smooth point} $\rightarrow$ smooth a single point.