Creative Communities of the World Forums

The peer to peer support community for media production professionals.

Activity Forums Apple Motion Tracking a lightsaber using Analyze Motion and Replicator

  • Tracking a lightsaber using Analyze Motion and Replicator

    Posted by Tom Söderlund on July 16, 2016 at 6:11 pm

    I’m trying to create a lightsaber effect in Apple Motion.

    As source material, I have a video a lightsaber with two tracking points taped on. I used Analyze Motion with some manual fixing (BTW1: can I manually add tracking points?):

    My first approach was using the Line tool in Motion, but gave that up since a line is made out of a center point, not two points. From this thread I got inspired to try a point/circle and Replicator instead.

    My current approach is this:
    * Replicator itself has position 0/0.
    * Replicator Start Point is Link:ed to Track 1 in Analyze Motion (BTW2: why do I have two “Result” under Track 1 and Track 2?).
    * Replicator End Point is Link:ed to Track 2 in Analyze Motion.

    Then I get this:

    It’s almost there, but as you can see I have an offset, and it’s not a straight X/Y offset that I easily can fix, looks more circular. Any ideas?

    Leon Zandman replied 9 years, 11 months ago 2 Members · 2 Replies
  • 2 Replies
  • Tom Söderlund

    July 16, 2016 at 6:48 pm

    Update: I did a second attempt with the Line tool:

  • Changed the Anchor Point to start of the line.
  • Changed position to match the base of the lightsaber in the video.
  • Used Match Move with my previous tracking points.
  • Current results:

    Much better starting point, but I’m happy for any feedback you might have on my approach!

  • Leon Zandman

    September 15, 2016 at 7:46 pm

    Did you already check YouTube. There are plenty of videos explaining how to do a cool light saber effect.

  • We use anonymous cookies to give you the best experience we can.
    Our Privacy policy | GDPR Policy