Manual Tracking

Calculating tracks manually uses the tools above the Viewer to control the direction and range of frames to track. Tracking backwards can produce a better track than going forwards if the pattern is clearly visible later in the clip.

To help avoid clutter in the Viewer, you can enable or disable the C_Tracker overlay by right-clicking in the Viewer and selecting Overlay, or by pressing Q to toggle between the available states:

• overlay off

• overlay on

• overlay on, no animation path

You can add as many user tracks as required, depending on which transformational components you wish to track. For example, when tracking in areas of distortion or noise, it's a good idea to add a lot of tracking anchors and then average the results to get a better overall track.

Render out a preview stitch from C_CameraSolver or C_GlobalWarp to work on. This step cuts down processing overheads considerably.

Enable the fast-add button

and click in the Viewer to add a user track, or click Add track on the User tracks tab in the Properties panel to create the required number of anchors.

Note: Holding Ctrl/Cmd+Alt and clicking in the Viewer also enables fast-add mode.

The Add track button places anchors in the center of the current Viewer. You’ll also notice an anchor zoom window in the top left of the Viewer. This allows you to accurately position tracks without zooming the entire Viewer.

Set when the zoom window is displayed using the Show Zoom Window dropdown:

• always - the window is always displayed.

• on track move - the window is only displayed when a track anchor is moved.

• when tracking - the window is only displayed during tracking.

• when tracking or track change - the window is displayed during tracking and when a tracking anchor is moved.

• never - the window is never displayed.

Set the zoom widget’s size and magnification using the Zoom Size/Mag. dropdowns. You can select custom and enter values manually for greater flexibility.

A filter is applied to the zoom window on playback by default, but you can enable the filter permanently, or disable it, using the Zoom Window Filter dropdown.

Note: The filter applied is the same as that selected on the Transform tab, and can produce a more visually stable track. It can make track positioning more difficult, however.

Temporarily disable tracks using the checkbox on the left of the User tracks tab or remove tracks by selecting them in the Tracks list and clicking Delete tracks.

In the C_Tracker User tracks tab, select each track you wish to calculate or click select all to use all tracks.

Using the tool bar above the Viewer, click either the frame backward (X) or forward (C) buttons

to move to the previous or next frame. Move through a few frames in this manner to ensure that all enabled track anchors are “sticking” to their patterns.

If a particular track anchor doesn’t stick, experiment with a different position.

Once all track anchors stick, click the track backward (Z) or track forward (V) buttons

to analyze the whole sequence.

10.

To track only a certain frame range, use the range buttons

to enter the required frames.

11.

Click stop

, to cease tracking in either direction.

Tip: When calculating multiple tracks simultaneously, you may find that some tracks stick accurately to the pattern, while others require resetting and re-analysis. When you’re happy with a given track, deselect it in the Tracks list. This protects it from recalculation, and lets you experiment with better placement for the wayward tracks.

When tracking is complete, you can solve the camera and then use the results for stabilizing or match-moving. See Solving Cameras for more information.

If the tracks don't stick to the selected feature or produce poor results, see Troubleshooting Manual Tracks for help with improving the results.