Applying Tracking Data to an Axis

To remove jitter, or track the movement of a feature in any Action media, you can apply tracking data to an axis. You can also perform more complex planar tracking of the media using the planar tracker.

Stabilize a Clip

To stabilize a clip from Action Axis:

1. From the Action Axis menu's Tracking tab, select the media to be stabilized from the Use Media field (to stabilize the Back media, select 0).

2. In the Axis menu for the selected media, make sure that the motion path is disabled (Path button).

   Note: Do not move the axis from its default position at the centre of the image window before entering the Stabilizer, or else the tracking data will be overwritten. Use the offset axis to add an offset to the tracker movement instead.

3. Enable Rotation, Scale or both, as needed.

4. In the Tracking Mode box, select Stabilize and click the Enter Tracker button.

   The media is automatically loaded into the Stabilizer and the Stabilizer menu appears.

5. In the Stabilizer menu, enable Context to use the Action scene as the reference.

6. In the Stabilizer, position Tracker1 over the reference point that you want to track.

7. If you enable Rotation or Scale (or both), position Tracker 2 over a point that represents the rotation or change in size of the pattern.

8. Click Analyze to generate the translation data.

   Note: You can fine-tune the tracking data if necessary. See Tracking Difficult Shots and Correcting Errors.

9. Once the analysis is complete, click Return.

   When you exit the Stabilizer, the X and Y Shift values for the reference position are automatically copied into the X and Y translation channels for the selected axis in Action.

   Tip: After stabilizing, you can set a reference frame that has no transformations by enabling the Adjust Offset button (in the Axis tab) at the selected frame.

Track a Clip

To perform one-point or two-point tracking in Action Axis:

1. From the Action Axis menu's Tracking tab, select the media to be stabilized from the Use Media field (to stabilize the Back media, select 0).

2. In the Axis menu for the selected media, make sure that the motion path is disabled (Path button).

3. In the Tracking tab, enable Rotation, Scale or both, as needed. The choice depends on the movement of the object to track and on the camera movement in the clip.

4. In the Tracking Mode box, select Track and click the Enter Tracker button.

   The media is automatically loaded into the Stabilizer and the Stabilizer menu appears.

5. In the Stabilizer menu, enable Context to use the Action scene as the reference.

6. Position the tracker(s) over the pattern(s) that you want to track, and click Analyze to generate the tracking data. For one-point tracking, you use only one tracker to generate position information. For two-point tracking, you use a second tracker to generate rotation and/or scaling information. The Stabilizer obtains this information by comparing the position of Tracker2 to that of Tracker1.

   • Tracker1 follows the horizontal and vertical translation of the reference point. You should position Tracker1 over a point on the pattern that you want to track.

     Note: The position of the axis is synced with the position of Tracker1. Therefore, any existing animation on the Axis is overwritten by the tracking data.

   • Tracker2 tracks the rotation and/or the change in size of the pattern. In the first frame, the rotation is always 0 and the scaling factor is always 100%. In subsequent frames, a rotation and/or scaling factor is added if the relative position of the two trackers changes. You should position Tracker2 over a point that represents the rotation or change in size of the pattern.

   Note: You can fine-tune the tracking data if necessary. See Tracking Difficult Shots and Correcting Errors.

7. Once you are satisfied with the tracking, click Return.

   The Axis menu in Action reappears. The tracking data is applied to the Axis media.

Planar Track a Clip

Planar tracking in Action uses tracking algorithms along with combinations of settings to perform the track. Results can vary depending on the footage, as well as settings applied. See Getting Better Results with the Planar Tracker.

To apply planar tracking to axis media:

1. Select the Axis you want to track.
2. In the Axis menu's Tracking tab, set the Use Media field to assign the back or front/matte media (select 0 if you want to track the Back media).
3. Adjust any Tracking Settings, as needed (such as Rotation and Scale).
4. Set Analysis Constraints. Since the Axis itself does not contain media, the planar tracker needs GMask splines to include or exclude to perform the tracking analysis.
5. Click the Analyze button to perform the planar tracking analysis.
6. To perform additional analysis in a different direction from the first frame of the analysis, toggle the Direction box and click Analyze again.