Mocha 2.0 vs 2.5 Differences? Best tracker out there?

[Walter Soyka]

[Matt Stoltz] “Hey All I was just curious what the major difference is between Mocha AE 2.0 and 2.5. “

From the Imagineer Systems website, here are the new features:

New in mocha AE v2.5
• New! tracking and roto support for Final Cut Pro and Motion
• Updated interface and easier to learn
• Optimized for 64 bit operating systems
• New! Open EXR support
• Free mocha shape plug-ins to import roto data with variable per-point feathering.

[Matt Stoltz] “I know Mocha is a 2.5D planar tracker and Camera Tracker is 3D -But why would you use one over the other?”

Planar trackers (as the name implies) return tracking data for an object defined by a plane. You can use that tracking data for matching perspective of planes (screens, billboards, etc.), tracking masks for roto, camera stabilization, etc.

3D trackers don’t track a single object; they track multiple points throughout the shot and try to figure out the spatial relationship among them. The result is 3D camera data that you can import into a compositor which will match the original camera move. You can then add elements in true 3D space, and they will react to the camera as if they were in the scene (except they will all play in front of the footage, which is in the comp as a 2D layer in the background).

Basically, you can use a planar tracker if you need to track an object that’s planar or planar-ish and you can work in 2D space. Use a 3D tracker if you want to solve for the original camera move and work in 3D space.

[Matt Stoltz] “All Im looking to do is track a scene or video shot-and or a person and attach logos to walls and names to people so they follow the track? Any suggestions?”

I’d start with a planar tracker. Walls are clearly planar, and people are planar-ish; our bodies and faces especially are pretty closely defined by planes.

[Matt Stoltz] “Not even sure what else is out there. What do you all suggest?”

MochaAE for planar tracking — it’s bundled with AE CS4 and CS5. For 3D tracking, you have a few other options besides CameraTracker, like Syntheyes or Boujou.

I’d evaluate them based on workflow. If it’s important to you to stay in AE, CameraTracker is your best candidate. If not, Syntheyes is very capable and reasonably priced.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
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