How to use 3D camera tracker to place a building plan on a drone shot of the land?

[cyBartek]

Hi,

I know the basics of the camera tracker and have done a few animations with it. I've learned 3D camera tracking from some YouTube tutorials, and so far it was sufficient to add some tags in the scene.

Now I have a project for which I have to layer the building plan on a drone shot of a lot on which the building will be built and this raised a few questions for which I'm unable to find answers on YouTube or other places. 

1. Should I know the camera angle of the shot footage and adjust the created 3D camera accordingly on AE in order to layer this building plan properly?
2. Can anyone share some tips and tricks on how to approach such workflow?

Cheers,

Bartosz

[Rick Gerard]

If the lot is flat, make sure that you grab a bunch of points on the same surface, adjust the Target's position, then set an origin and ground plane before you do anything else. You can then use the same Target to add a solid and a camera. Change the Track Solid to a guide layer, add the Grid Effect, and verify that everything is tracking correctly.

Now you can use Shift + Parent to snap any other 3D layer to the same position as the reference ground plane and easily adjust the X and Y position and even the rotation to line up the drawing to the lot.

You can use Element 3D or C4D to add 3D models to the scene if you do the following: Add a new 3D null to the comp on the same frame you used to set the Origin and ground plane, parent all 3D layers, and the camera to the 3D null, and then reset the position of the null to 0, 0, 0. After that, any new 3D layer you add to the comp will be visible in the camera and easier to adjust and position.

I should have started by suggesting that you use Detailed Analysis when you track. Find it under the Advanced options. If the perspective of the first reference solid you add looks right, there is no need to set the angle of view for the camera. Sometimes setting the angle of view will foul things up. It all depends on the shot.

I you could share a sample video of your typical project, I might be able to give you some better suggestions.

Again, Mocha AE and Corner Pin tracking workflow depends on the shot. If you have a shot that won't track, you can use Mocha AE to track the lot and then use Corner Pin tracking to place the Building Plan on the lot. I use both techniques all the time when I'm creating composites on shots with moving cameras.

[cyBartek]

Thank you for all the useful tips. 
If the 3D camera generated by AE will have a different angle of view, wouldn't that cause some funky movements of the placed plan during pan movement in the shot (some skew movement and distortion in perspective)? 
I'm adding a footage example I'm working on and an image showing how the building should be placed. 

[Szalam]

If you know the kind of lens on the drone, you can set it in the camera tracker to help things along, but your client may not care about things that much. A simple track may be all you need.

If you're concerned about distortion (and I don't blame you; drones have rather wide lenses), you can get as into the weeds as you want to with it. If I were doing this, I'd use Lens Distortion Matcher from Red Giant. You can use it to undistort the footage prior to the camera track (giving you a more accurate track) and then you can use it to easily redistort your new assets so they sit better in the shot. It's my secret weapon for this sort of thing.