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Problems with ground plane and After Effects 3D Tracker in C4D
Howdy y’all, first of all. Thanks in advance for any help.
I am having an issue with Cinema 4D Lite and After Effects’ 3D Camera Tracker that I haven’t been able to resolve. In C4D the ground plane for my imported 3D Camera Track abruptly shifts multiple times throughout the duration of the shot.
The shot: The shot only lasts about 7.5 seconds, and is a Steadicam shot going down a tight hallway inside a large ship. There are no abrupt or jerky movements in the shot, but it has some “sway” in it and does not remain level with the horizon.
What I am trying to do: I want to place 3D objects on the walls in the hallway to make them look like part of the scene.
What I have tried: In AE I ran the 3D Camera Track, selected the “ground plain and origin”, created a camera, created solids that stick on the walls of the hallway in the places where I want to put objects, I’ve also created a few lights. Then I export this composition to C4D to begin adding 3D objects in the places designated by the solids. After placing the 3D objects where I want them I save my C4D project and import it back into AE. I make sure to select the 3D Trackers Camera as the camera in C4D. This is where I noticed that the in the C4D project in AE the ground plane first off is not correct at the beginning of the shot, being about 30° off from level, then it randomly shifts roughly 60° back and forth about three times during the shot. This makes the AE track useless, because the objects never fit into the right places on the wall.
My inquiries: How can I stabilize the ground plane throughout the shot? Is it possible to tell if this issue generating in AE or C4D?
Software: After Effects CC 2015 and Cinema 4D Lite R16
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2 Replies
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Could it be a framerate mismatch?
If everything looks good in C4D, then a work-around would be to export those 3D elements as an image sequence with alpha channel. Then bring that into after effects, rather than importing the C4D project file.
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Hi there, i noticed the same issue. Not sure if they are identical, but in order to get the view correctly aligned, I had to twirl down cineware on the maxon layer in AE, go to project settings, and switch the camera view to “centered comp camera” I’m not sure why comp camera didn’t work, it may be referencing the C4d native camera view which is angled from the get go. Centered Comp Camera may center the C4d view inside AE, and because the motion tracker camera is where out base idea of “centered” comes from, centering comp camera (in theory) aligns the C4d comp camera view to align with the AE motion track cam data, mirroring out AE camera.
I am not sure this is what’s happening, of course, C4d is such a rough ride in terms of connecting the insane amount of options taking place. But I do know it aligned the floor plane properly as I scrub around the shot. Hope that helps.
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