Path shape not masking text through Track Matte in After Effects I'm trying to hide some text using a path I'm tracking around someone in order to 'hide' the text behind him. Because the text will be moving independently of the person it'll be hiding behind, I'm using a shape layer as my mask with Track Matte. But, it seems the path shape isn't being filled by AE because it isn't hiding the text. Other shapes in the layer are still behaving as expected and hide the text when they intersect, but at no point is my text masked by the pen shape. Nothing I've found on google has been helpful, as most of the tutorials are on converting shapes to paths, but not the other way around. Is there a way to fill the penned out shape so that the mask actually works? Or did I waste around 2 hours tracking the edge of this guys body only for there to be no way for it to be used as a mask?
Your approach is really creative, but I'm afraid you could have made it much easier on you.

If your text is moving on its own, you can simply pre-compose the text layer. That way, the newly created precomp doesn't move, allowing you to draw a mask around the person if needed. Remember to only draw a mask where the text touches the person, you'll easily create bigger masks than you have to (speaking from experience) which will take up unnecessary time.