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Facial tracking points, mesh warp, DigiEffects Freeform…can they talk to each other?
Hello,
From searching around, questions along these lines have been asked before, but I couldn’t find a suitable answer…
I would like to track some points on someone’s face, then apply that tracking data via a mesh warp or maybe DE Freeform to another layer. Obviously the AE track points would only be 2D, but the data should be good enough for my purposes (person facing camera without much 3D head movement).
Unfortunately neither Mesh Warp nor Freeform provide keyframable/expression-linkable points; it’s just an all-or-nothing kinda whole mesh keyframe. Is there any way to delve under the hood and get access to these points, which are presumably stored internally somewhere deep inside AE?
Thanks in advance (although I suspect the answer to this is “no – use a 3D tracker and 3D software”!).
– Paul
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3 Replies
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Paul you can do this with FreeForm Pro. We expose the control points (up to a 5 x 5 array)for use with expressions or to attach tracking data.
We did this for a client recently here in Montreal. Unfortunately I cannot show that clip. We used this technique to automate rotoscoping. we shot someone’s mouth and eyes with trackers. We tracked the footage then attached each tracking point’s data to the appropriate control point etc. worked a charm 🙂 Email me for a demo at chris@mettle.com
Cheers,
Chris
mettle.com -
Hi Chris,
I took a look at FreeForm Pro on mettle.com – it looks like a great plug-in but for this project I’m just “making do” with some more simple tracking for now.
Many thanks,
Paul
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All good Paul. Glad you can figure it. Thanks for checking out our stuff 🙂
Cheers,
Chris
mettle.com
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