Syntheyes dirrect into AE?

[Steve Roberts]

Syntheyes has had an AE export module for a while, but I haven’t used it yet, generally exporting to Lightwave. If you write the guys at Ssontech, they can let you know if there are any issues with it.

Steve

[Reanimator1]

You can export into AE from Synth Eyes. All you need to do is Export into after effects via .ma and then import that file into AE as a composition and you can bypass maya altogether.

It will bring in two compositions. The one that you need to use is the “Square” comp and you’re good to go.

Hope that helps.

Sean

[Andrew Shanks]

Yes, syntheyes will export to After Effects. It uses a special version of the maya exporter (simplified) to do this (in syntheyes it is labeled After Effects export via .ma). I also had a hand in writing the 2D after effects exporter for syntheyes, which again can be handy in certain circumatances (as its very quick at tracking multiple 2D points and you can export either individual tracker movements or select multiple ones (which syntheyes will average, …this can be handy for stabilization). If you have a look in the syntheyes help file under exporting to your animation package, it has further suggestions for corner pinning work.
Hope that helps.

Andrew

🙂

[Nicholas Toth]

I’ve had problems importing camera data to ae from syntheye — i’ve been meanin to post but i haven’t had the time. It seems that when I import through .ma my camera’s zoom is keyframed…and everything kind of goes to hell. I’m tracking scenes from the wizard of oz. I get the square comp and everything — but I can’t get it to sit right.

Nicholas Toth
Freelance Animator
nicholastoth.com

[Andrew Shanks]

Zooms are always a bit of a problem for matchmovers (as the way they work is based on parallax, …i.e. a camera or object moving in a scene in relation to something else in the scene (giving foreground/background separation), …with a simple zoom (locked off camera), you don’t get that, thus the software can’t do a true 3D solve, …it can to a rough guess at what a zoom lense is doing if you tell the software its a zoom lense and that its on a tripod and maybe give it some measurements of known objects in the scene, …but in my experience 2.5D works as often as it doesn’t work 50:50), Syntheyes handles 2.5D better than many (boujou freaks usually if trying zooms), but it still has issues. What are the problems you’re getting? Are you having slipping? If so maybe check your co-ordinate system is setup right (i.e. your floor plane is where the floor should be). Theres a good general workflow tutorial here on Cow that goes through the syntheyes process (with some good tips).

cheers,

andrew

[Nicholas Toth]

the problem is that my zoom is off the wall…slightly keyframed. But the problem is because it is so ZOOMED, any movement of the camera drastically moves what is in the field of view. What is the best way to ae? Through the ma or to the clipboard, and if we go to the clipboard we just paste it to a camera correct? or is there anyway to copy the 2d motion data and set it to an object?

Nicholas Toth
Freelance Animator
nicholastoth.com

[Andrew Shanks]

If the 3d solve isn’t working (and it sounds like a bit of a tough solve if the only reference plane is a wall), you could try using the 2D export to clipboard (selecting tracking points that are as near as possible to where you wish to insert your new element, …if you choose a few points in syntheyes it will average their movement to a single 2D position track). In AE, create a new null, paste the position data to it. You can then parent whatever layers you like to the null and they’ll follow that pasted movement (you could apply the data straight to whichever layer you’re wanting to track to the scene, but thats always a bit more cumbersome, in that you then have to use the anchor point on the layer to move the element round, …when the element is parented you can just drag it to change it, and if you have multiple elements they can all reference the same position data, yet have the ability to have their own positions easily tweaked and animated in relation to that parent movement. The 2D track technique will only work if the camera is truly a tripod shot, if its handheld you’re likely to get a small amount of 3d movement of the camera which will make your 2D tracked planes look wrong. I suggest you post your query on the syntheyes forum (from the parent companies site) as Russ (the guy who wrote the software, really helpful guy) or one of the other pro matchmovers there might be able to give you a better technique to use.
Goodluck!

andrew