[Roland R. kahlenberg]

I’m not sure what you’re trying to achieve visually BUT if you set the top-most layer’s Blending Mode to Stencil Alpha, you will be able to cut into the alpha matte construct of the lower two layers.

Of course there could be more than two layers below the Stencil Alpha Layer AND of course you can have multiple layers with the Stencil Alpha Blending Effect. Incidentally, the latter is another option for your specific case of three layers with two layers acting as mattes.

HTH
RoRK

Intensive mocha & AE Training in Singapore and Other Dangerous Locations

Imagineer Systems (mocha) Certified Instructor
& Adobe After Effects CS6 ACE

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

I don’t see a zip file. If you can, upload the footage soon, I’ll give it a go. However, please go through the steps I laid out in my previous post before doing anything else. It’s pointless telling me that you’ve done something a hundred times if you do not do what I’ve asked you to do – just give it a try.

At each step, think carefully what you are doing and why you are doing it – this introspective analysis will help you to solve other tricky tracking shots in the future.

The occasion of parallax is not required for successful 2D (2.5D) motion tracking. Its only relevance is in defining co-planar regions which may be used for Offset Tracking. Offset Tracking is a tracking strategy where you pick a co-planar area for tracking when the main tracking area is occluded by a foreground object for a sufficiently long duration.

When the foreground occlusion is minimal, in terms of duration, combining Manual Tracking with auto tracking is oftentimes a better solution (but this depends on the experience and skill of the user).

HTH
RoRK

Intensive mocha & AE Training in Singapore and Other Dangerous Locations

Imagineer Systems (mocha) Certified Instructor
& Adobe After Effects CS6 ACE

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

I suggest that you start from scratch then do the following –

1) track the foreground object (man) with a loose tracking spline. Keyframe the tracking spline as often as needed to ensure that the foreground object is always enclosed within the tracking spline.

2) create a new tracking spline for the background. you have lots of co-planar areas to track. therefore, use multiple tracking splines when tracking the background – you should use the Add X-spline (or B-spline) tool to add a second or subsequent tracking spline onto the same layer. Ensure that your tracking splines here are sufficiently close to the area you want to track – this is to ensure that you do not force/ask mocha to track superfluous movement in the background.

3) track the background layer once the tracking splines are in place. it is always a good idea to begin your track at the frame which gives mocha the most pixel information. When tracking the background, ensure that the foreground layer sits at the very top of the Layer Controls Panel – and ensure that it’s Process switch (cog icon) is off, to disable tracking it again.

You shouldn’t require Manual Tracking unless your foreground object fully covers the background tracking area. Even then you will only require a few frames of Manual Tracking when auto tracking is impossible to achieve.

What you should try to do at the end of your tracking procedures is to use mocha’s Adjust Track module/tab/feature to tweak your results – if required.

HTH
RoRK

Intensive mocha & AE Training in Singapore and Other Dangerous Locations

Imagineer Systems (mocha) Certified Instructor
& Adobe After Effects CS6 ACE

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

It’s best that you post screen caps of the following –

1) Layer Controls Panel

2) Tracking spline (for us to appreciate how you’ve drawn tracking spline)

3) Planar Surface to depict the Corner Pin (points) that you intend to export via the Tracking Spline (in 2, above)

4)A frame where the foreground object/person begins to intrude into the Tracking Spline (in 2, above)

5) THE frame where the foreground object/person intrudes THE MOST into the Tracking Spline (in 2, above)

Of course post the entire clip, as an additional, if you can.

Cheers
RoRK

Intensive mocha & AE Training in Singapore and Other Dangerous Locations

Imagineer Systems (mocha) Certified Instructor
& Adobe After Effects CS6 ACE

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

Have you had a look at this – https://motionboutique.com/connect-layers-1388?

HTH
RoRK

Intensive mocha & AE Training in Singapore and Other Dangerous Locations

Imagineer Systems (mocha) Certified Instructor
& Adobe After Effects CS6 ACE

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

[Todd Kopriva] “How would you feel about us changing the default to Optical and creating a new preference where you can set the default?”

Optical as the default is good as that’s what I use most often. Having a preference to change the default is a good idea.

Cheers
RoRK

Intensive mocha & AE Training in Singapore and Other Dangerous Locations

Imagineer Systems (mocha) Certified Instructor
& Adobe After Effects CS6 ACE

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

Every panel has a menu at its top right corner. It’s very obvious if you look at the top right of each panel.

To select viewing of Keyframe Indices, this option is available in the Timeline Panel’s flyout menu (also called wing menu and dropdown menu).

HTH
RoRK

Intensive mocha & AE Training in Singapore and Other Dangerous Locations

Imagineer Systems (mocha) Certified Instructor
& Adobe After Effects CS6 ACE

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

Most, if not all, panels in AE have a menu at the top right. Mousedown on the menu icon to access features/properties for the specific panel.

HTH
RoRK

Intensive mocha & AE Training in Singapore and Other Dangerous Locations

Imagineer Systems (mocha) Certified Instructor
& Adobe After Effects CS6 ACE

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

You can’t change colors but you can index keyframes numerically – the Timeline’s flyout menu allows you to set keyframe view to Index (or indices).

HTH
RoRK

Intensive mocha & AE Training in Singapore and Other Dangerous Locations

Imagineer Systems (mocha) Certified Instructor
& Adobe After Effects CS6 ACE

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

One workflow for masking an Element 3D Layer is to nest the layer and then perform masking on the nested comp. A better workflow is to use a solid (with a/the mask) as a track matte for the Element 3D layer.

HTH
RoRK

Intensive mocha & AE Training in Singapore and Other Dangerous Locations

Imagineer Systems (mocha) Certified Instructor
& Adobe After Effects CS6 ACE