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Step 6: Resize the Search region box to accommodate the drift that occurs from frame to frame. The Search region box does not need to always be centered around Feature region
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| Search region box can be any size and does not have to be centered on the Feature region box. |
Step 7: Click on the Options button in the Tracker Controls Palette. This will allow you to tweak the Tracker points so your tracking results in better data.
Click on the Tracker Plug-in Option button.
As mentioned in the first installment, tracking works best when there are strong contrasts between the element being tracked and the surrounding area. In this exercise you are tracking a dark region (the window) against a much brighter one (the limestone) so set Use Channel to Luminance.
Make sure Subpixel Positioning is turned on and click the OK button.
In order for the Feature region box to adapt from frame to frame to further improve the tracking process turn on Enable Feature Adaptiveness.
Click OK.
Step 8: In the Tracker Controls Palette you will see some transport controls that set the tracking analysis in motion.
The improved Tracking in After Effects 6.0 allows you to easily track your footage, forward, backward or one frame at a time forward or backward. I have found that the frame by frame tracking works best when you are trying to fix a complex tracking problem.
Click on the Analyze forward button and let the process begin.
Step 9: Once the analysis is complete, and you are satisfied with the results, click the Apply button to apply to the calculations to the layer. You can now close the Layer window and return to the Composition.
Depending on the way you have After Effects set up the Layer Window and the Comp Window may be in the same frame. You can tell the difference between a Comp and a Layer window by looking at the icon on the Window Tab.
Let’s take a look at the results to see what has happened when you clicked on the Apply button.
Press the A key on your keyboard to open the Anchor Point in the Timeline and you will see a whole lot of keyframes. The Stabilizer has taken the calculations and applied the results to each and every frame in the layer. This ensures that the layer is stabilized, however it makes it very hard to go in and make a tweak to an individual frame.
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| Image stabilization applies the calculations to the Anchor point of the designated layer to remove camera shake. |
If you press the U key to reveal all keyframes for the layer, you will see the Motion Tracker options. Track Point 1 also contains keyframes for Feature Center (think of it as Position data), Confidence (Feature Adaptiveness), and Attach Point (Anchor Point data). After Effects stores these keyframes incase you wish to apply them to additional layers or effect controls later on.
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