How can I manually adjust the Planar Surface in Mocha?

Question

When tracking on Mocha, the Spline usually looks fine, as it’s flexible and I can manually adjust it, which will create keyframes and is very practical. However, when I enable the Planar Surface (blue rectangle), it always seems to drift away from the Spline. Is there a way to manually adjust it?

thepixelsmith · Answer

The Planar surface follows the Layer (splines), So if you are tracking something the Planar Surface just follows that tracked object.

*NOTE: To access the tools I mention I usually use the Classic workspace in MochaAE

Changing the Tracking Type from either Large Motion/Small Motion to Manual reverses this behavior and allows the Planar Surface to control the Layer’s Position. But this is by definition manual tracking, you’re doing the tracking job yourself.

An alternative is to Adjust the Track after the tracking job is finished. Click on the Adjust Track tab after a tracking job is completed and you will be able to set reference points for the Planar surface to prevent drift.

NOTE: If this is a one-time problem it could be that your source video doesn’t have enough contrast for it to track you could try changing the tracking channel from Luminance to Color.
If it happens all the time it could be a problem with you video card. You could try disable tracking with the Graphics Card in Settings.

I added some links to tutorials I usually give my students. The last one is on correcting drift.

Intro to Planar Tracking

https://borisfx.com/videos/what-is-planar-tracking-an-intro-to-mocha-by-steve-wright/

Intro to Mocha AE CC - Adobe After Effects tutorial

https://youtu.be/GoUpnqgCrUg

Tutorial: Tracking - Dealing with Foreground Obstructions - Part 1a

https://youtu.be/eh-a75l6vlA

Tutorial: Tracking - Dealing with Foreground Obstructions - Part 1b

https://youtu.be/UnmrSRq8mK4

Mocha AE Creative Cloud Rotoscoping Demo with Mary Poplin at SIGGRAPH 2013

https://youtu.be/hbNj3ULAlvE

Correct Tracking Drift: Mocha Adjust Track Module