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Motion Tracking help
Hello all –
I’ll soon have to work on a broadcast spot that involves alot of motion tracking (words following objects in a scene and made to look as though they’re actually part of the scene such as words on a man’s suitcase), Having very little experience with motion tracking outside of toying with After Effect’s motion tracker, I was wondering if anyone could suggest any tools/tutorials to help me make this a real professional looking spot –
Thanks for any and all help – -
3 Replies
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All trackers track the 2D location of points in footage. In AE, you can attach a layer to one point and have it follow that point around the screen. This is good if the tracked object stays in a plane, the same distance from camera. AE can also track the corners (if they’re good tracking points) of a plane and attach the corners of an AE layer to those points. This is good for attaching layers to windows, TV sets, billboards … or briefcases.
However … AE cannot track points then solve for the locations of those points in 3D space. Like the Panic Room titles. For that you need a matchmoving or 3D tracking solution such as PFHoe or Syntheyes. Once the matchmover tracks the 2D points, it then figures out the 3D solution and creates a 3D camera and scene, which can be exported to AE or 3D apps. I use syntheyes.
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I don’t know how complexe your tracking job is going to be. If it involves alot of 3D space, then I suggest you go on Amazon and search up Motion Tracking books. I can’t remember the name off the top of my head, but I remember there being a good book that covered the fine art of motion tracking.
If its mostly 2D stuff, then you should be fine with AE’s tracker. Although I do believe Combustion’s Motion tracker is a bit more precise (last time I checked anyhow, and that was a few years ago)
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great info guys – appreciate the help –
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