Mocha AE and Sony Vegas

[John Rofrano]

Did you buy the Motion Tracking for Editors kit that I linked to? If not, you’ll need to edit the tracking data from Mocha before using it in BCC because the parameters need to be passed in a different order.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Otis Lowe]

I bought Mocha Pro because it has more features than Mocha AE. I also plan on purchasing Boris Continuum Complete if I can get this workflow going. I am aware of the motion tracker for editors kit. Do I NEED to get the kit in order to get things working or can I simply utilize the different workflow you referenced?

[John Rofrano]

You don’t NEED the kit, but you will need to edit all of the tracking data files before using them with BCC. I believe there is a video on the BorisFX web site that shows you what to do.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Otis Lowe]

First, I would like to thank you for your help. Second I would like to say the only tutorial I’ve seen on the Sony to Mocha to Boris workflow has been the Iphone motion tracking video and there was no mention of any further editing after saving the data to the BCC text file. In that video, the project is opened, the two video tracks layered correctly, the BCC corner pin option selected in the custom tab in the compositing mode, the text file loaded and every falls into place just as it was in Mocha.

I have tried using the BCC Corner Pin settings to try and move things into place after I import the data back into Vegas, but the tracked data starts out of place and stays out of place. Besides, I would think using BCC to edit data already edited in Mocha would kind of defeat the purpose of using Mocha in the first place. Plus, Mocha has a tighter lock on what needs to be tracked. I will take another look on the Boris FX site again and see if I can find anything.

[John Rofrano]

[Otis Lowe] ” In that video, the project is opened, the two video tracks layered correctly, the BCC corner pin option selected in the custom tab in the compositing mode, the text file loaded and every falls into place just as it was in Mocha.”

Probably because that video was for Motion Tracking for Editors where you don’t have to do anything special.

[Otis Lowe] “Besides, I would think using BCC to edit data already edited in Mocha would kind of defeat the purpose of using Mocha in the first place.”

You don’t edit the data in BCC, you edit the data with a text file editor BEFORE you load it into BCC. What you do in Mocha is export using the Adobe After Effects option. The problem is that After Effects and BCC expect the data in a different order so you need to edit the data file to place the data in the proper order.

What you need to do is edit the data file and change it. You’ll see four sections of data labeled:

“ADBE Corner Pin-0003, ADBE Corner Pin-0004, ADBE Corner Pin-0001, ADBE Corner Pin-0002”

You need to cut and paste the last two to be before the first two so that the sections are in the order:

“ADBE Corner Pin-0001, ADBE Corner Pin-0002, ADBE Corner Pin-0003, ADBE Corner Pin-0004”.

Then save the data file and load it into BCC.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Otis Lowe]

Okay, so I opened up the text file generated in Mocha and this is what it looks like (I skipped from key frame 2 to 694 to keep things to the point);

Adobe After Effects 6.0 Keyframe Data

Units Per Second 23.976
Source Width 1440
Source Height 1080
Source Pixel Aspect Ratio 1.33333
Comp Pixel Aspect Ratio 1.33333

Effects BCC Corner Pin #1 Tracker Center KF
Frame X pixels Y pixels
0 158.089 674.142
1 157.93 674.21
2 157.668 674.137
694 1945.07 16.8751
695 1945.07 16.8751

Effects BCC Corner Pin #1 Tracker Center KF
Frame X pixels Y pixels
0 307.088 685.753
1 306.882 685.726
2 306.437 685.427
694 2543.05 -129.4
695 2543.05 -129.4

Effects BCC Corner Pin #1 Tracker Center KF
Frame X pixels Y pixels
0 179.859 901.702
1 179.764 901.736
2 179.622 901.609
694 2040.59 427.924
695 2040.59 427.924

Effects BCC Corner Pin #1 Tracker Center KF
Frame X pixels Y pixels
0 331.035 945.242
1 330.903 945.177
2 330.596 944.817
694 2648.45 340.316
695 2648.45 340.316

End of Keyframe Data

The first thing I noticed upon opening the file is that it looks nothing like what you described earlier. I also noticed that all the corner pin numbers are 1, not 1-4 as you stated. Am I looking at this wrong?

On a semi-related note, you’re stating that the issue lies in the fact that I have Mocha Pro/Boris Continuum Complete 7 and not the motion tracking bundle made specifially for Vegas? If that’s the case, would I need to purchase the whole bundle or can I get away with just buying either Mocha AE v2.6.1 or Boris Continuum Motion Tracker Unit (both of which are in the more expensive programs I already have)?

[John Rofrano]

[Otis Lowe] “The first thing I noticed upon opening the file is that it looks nothing like what you described earlier. I also noticed that all the corner pin numbers are 1, not 1-4 as you stated. Am I looking at this wrong?”

I assume that you’re using the wrong export. Here is what I get from Mocha for AE:

Adobe After Effects 6.0 Keyframe Data

Units Per Second 29.97
Source Width 720
Source Height 480
Source Pixel Aspect Ratio 0.888889
Comp Pixel Aspect Ratio 0.888889

Effects ADBE Corner Pin #1 ADBE Corner Pin-0003
Frame X pixels Y pixels
1 74 234
2 76.4497 234.34
3 78.7968 234.52
4 81.4859 234.668
5 84.0531 234.759
6 86.4036 234.74
7 88.9042 234.718
8 91.4258 234.52

Effects ADBE Corner Pin #1 ADBE Corner Pin-0004
Frame X pixels Y pixels
1 238 234
2 238.955 233.867
3 242.97 234.007
4 246.8 234.151
5 251.014 234.3
6 254.811 234.298
7 258.44 234.125
8 261.438 233.886

Effects ADBE Corner Pin #1 ADBE Corner Pin-0001
Frame X pixels Y pixels
1 74 169
2 76.6336 168.56
3 78.796 168.352
4 81.1303 168.18
5 83.6967 167.943
6 86.346 167.562
7 88.7736 167.076
8 91.4551 166.483

Effects ADBE Corner Pin #1 ADBE Corner Pin-0002
Frame X pixels Y pixels
1 238 169
2 238.862 169.166
3 242.422 168.766
4 246.613 168.326
5 250.689 167.867
6 254.855 167.29
7 257.655 166.806
8 260.738 166.246

End of Keyframe Data


This needs to be edited to be in this order for BCC:

Adobe After Effects 6.0 Keyframe Data

Units Per Second 29.97
Source Width 720
Source Height 480
Source Pixel Aspect Ratio 0.888889
Comp Pixel Aspect Ratio 0.888889

Effects ADBE Corner Pin #1 ADBE Corner Pin-0001
Frame X pixels Y pixels
1 74 169
2 76.6336 168.56
3 78.796 168.352
4 81.1303 168.18
5 83.6967 167.943
6 86.346 167.562
7 88.7736 167.076
8 91.4551 166.483

Effects ADBE Corner Pin #1 ADBE Corner Pin-0002
Frame X pixels Y pixels
1 238 169
2 238.862 169.166
3 242.422 168.766
4 246.613 168.326
5 250.689 167.867
6 254.855 167.29
7 257.655 166.806
8 260.738 166.246

Effects ADBE Corner Pin #1 ADBE Corner Pin-0003
Frame X pixels Y pixels
1 74 234
2 76.4497 234.34
3 78.7968 234.52
4 81.4859 234.668
5 84.0531 234.759
6 86.4036 234.74
7 88.9042 234.718
8 91.4258 234.52

Effects ADBE Corner Pin #1 ADBE Corner Pin-0004
Frame X pixels Y pixels
1 238 234
2 238.955 233.867
3 242.97 234.007
4 246.8 234.151
5 251.014 234.3
6 254.811 234.298
7 258.44 234.125
8 261.438 233.886

End of Keyframe Data


I’m not sure what export option you need to use with Mocha Pro but your data makes references to BCC Corner Pin so I assume there must be another option to get it in the correct format.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Otis Lowe]

I am saving the tracking data in Boris FX BCC Corner Pin format as recommended in the Mocha tutorial. I have attached a screen capture. There are other format options, but I do not use After Effects.

[Ross Shain]

Just a quick note that you can find mocha support page here:
https://www.imagineersystems.com/contact_form

Ross Shain
Imagineer Systems
http://www.imagineersystems.com