3d Camera Tracking Stuck on Initializing

[Nicole26208779vvnz]

I have a minute and 25-second clip of drone aerial footage that needs to be edited with logos, a site plan, etc. I find using the 3D Camera Tracking tool the most efficient way to work with the space to place graphics into the project (when it wants to work). I initially bypassed the "forever analyzing" problem by rendering the original clip at 600% of its speed with the optical flow enabled in Premier Pro. Then, I place the rendered video back into After Effects, making it 15 seconds of footage. I did animate the whole thing and needed to create edits on it, but I wouldn't say I liked the video quality it turned into after rendering again and slowing the footage down. So I am doing my best to use the unaltered version of the footage. 

I've been trying to cut the footage at 10-second variables, hoping it will quickly analyze the field. However, I am stuck on "initializing." Sometimes, when it does want to start analyzing frames, it will be attached to frame 1 with no progress. 

I could try motion tracking instead, but after doing that for multiple different logos and pin graphics, I've decided it's just not as fast as a workflow as 3D Camera Tracking is when it wants to work.

I've tried changing the shot type to variable zoom. I've tried changing the solve method to mostly flat scene and have even selected detailed analysis, and none of these options seem to want to help the situation. Before anyone says it is too flat of an area, this is incorrect, as I had been able to successfully analyze rendered points onto the scene from the sped-up version of the video.

Not sure what information you need from me to start working this problem out. Let me know. Thanks!

[Rick Gerard · Accepted solution]

The first problem I see is that you have scaled 4K footage to 50% and are trying to track the camera. That's not going to work well. If you need to scale the footage to fit the comp, pre-compose, move all attributes to the new comp, and trim the comp to the layer length.  Pre-composing a shot and trimming is also a good idea, even if you don't scale the footage. Camera Tracker will have fewer frames to work on and should initialize faster.  The same thing goes for tracking in Mocha or even motion tracking with After Effects' standard motion/corner pin tracker. Pre-compose, moving all attributes and trim is always a good idea. That also allows you to add some color correction to improve contrast and detail temporarily and/or add masks to hide details that may foul up the track. Use the same workflow when you need to use Rotobrush. Clean up the shot before you try and track it.

Many times, with that kind of drone shot, I find it is more efficient to use Mocha AE to corner-pin track the surfaces on the ground that need site plans. I find it easier to line up the boundaries accurately. I'll also use Mocha AE to tie text and logos to geometry in the scene. That will solve the Initializing problem with Camera Tracker. 

[Nicole26208779vvnz]

This was the perfect recommendation. Thank you so much for your help and advice!

[Montassar_Romdhani8912]

seriously, Adobe? It's been 6 years and this issue in After Effects still hasn't been fixed. We pay good money for this software, and yet the same bugs keep coming back with every update. Do you even listen to user feedback? This is getting ridiculous. Please, prioritize fixing long-standing problems, u don t  even addeven CapCut is 6 times better in terms of stability and usability.

flashy new features 

[Montassar_Romdhani8912]

big shame