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Snakedogman
Snakedogman
Inspiring
March 14, 2017
Question

Some advice on (shooting for) camera tracking?

  • March 14, 2017
  • 3 replies
  • 4224 views

Hey people, I've got a request from an ad company to work on a video that would involve putting an animated cartoon bird into some real life footage they are going to shoot (of several locations inside a hotel).
It's been years since I've done any camera tracking and have never used the new built in camera tracker in AE. I've been watching some videos and tutorials on it's use and it looks like it gets good results quite easily from footage, even without any markers.

Do I need to tell the ad company to shoot with markers in their scene or is it unnecesary now? I guess if you had a greenscreen with no perspective info you would still be needing markers, but otherwise?

They sent me this as a reference although I don't think they'll be doing long tracking shots like that:

Obvion Commercial Bestaande klanten hebben een streepje voor (2013) - YouTube

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3 replies

Snakedogman
SnakedogmanAuthor
Inspiring
March 20, 2017

Thanks a lot everyone. I will have a meeting with the production agency tomorrow where we will go over some storyboards. I feel more confident now

Snakedogman
SnakedogmanAuthor
Inspiring
March 23, 2017

Ok so they sent me this shot for testing purposes but I'm already having trouble with it. The camera tracker doesn't give me any solved points for the desk surface, which is not surprising since there are almost no discernible details, just a slab of grey. With the brick wall in your example it was a bit easier. I can put something on the back wall and it looks ok, but find it impossible to get something locked to the foreground surface.
Of course I don't know if the actual footage will feature completely detail-less surfaces like this or not but I guess in this case some kind of markers on the desk would be needed right?

kirkeric
kirkeric
Inspiring
March 23, 2017

Hello, just took a quick peek. I'm guessing the two people in the scene are causing errors.

You'll want to mask them out so that the tracker doesn't see them.

If nobody gets to this, I will attempt a track tonight and see if I can help ya.

Eric

kirkeric
kirkeric
Inspiring
March 14, 2017

If that example shot is what they are kind of going for, I'd agree with Szalam, no markers needed, not to mention you'd then have to remove the markers.

There is some decent camera movement in that example, but it is smooth which helps.  The AE tracker works amazingly well though.

The key is having many features to track. Again, in the example video, there's tons to track so I'd say, have good lighting, steady and smooth movement preferred, no track markers.  Then use the AE tracker and I think it will do quite well.

Since I had some time, I did a quick test for you.  I literally, shot this, did the tracking and rendered in less than 15 minutes with pretty darn good results.

Let me know if this helps. The screenshot shows the how the tracker looks with one target and the finished product at the link.

https://youtu.be/wYQL94lCsRA​

PS:  I suppose it goes without saying that I added the little stick figure guys.

Eric

    R
    Community Expert
    Rick GerardCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 14, 2017

    Unless there is absolutely no detail in the shot for the tracker to look for you do not need trackers.

    Most important - shoot with lenses that do not have significant lens distortion. If you must shoot with a wide angle lens then you should shoot some test footage utilizing a grid and known geometry so you can create lens profiles to correct the distortion before you try and use Camera Tracking. AE's camera has no distortion so wide angle lenses can often be problematic.

    If they put anything in the shot that is moving, like people walking through the scene, keep it simple so you can either roto them out or easily remove the trackers.

    Szalam
    Community Expert
    SzalamCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 14, 2017

    It really depends on the scene. In general, yes, you don't need markers if you're not in a flat environment, but it really depends. I can only suggest trying some test shots yourself and you'll start learning the pitfalls pretty quickly.

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