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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Apple color tracking?

Zakaree Sandberg

Zakaree Sandberg

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Im trying to learn secondaries in apple color.. but my tracking never seems to work right..

After it tracks the image, it places my user created shape at the top of the image and not where i made it..

also.. when im processing the tracking.. it will stay on the target for a few seconds.. then it drifts off..

anyone have a solution how to work with apple color tracking?
 
Yes - use DaVinci tracking :) Very simple, just hit T.

Seriously, Apple Color's tracking just drifts.

DaVinci's tracking is better than most compositors (After Effects for sure) - because instead of tracking single points (which drift) - it tracks many points within the power window area and figures out where they are moving / rotating / scaling as a group.

Miles more accurate.

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com
 
Zakaree Sandberg said:
anyone have a solution how to work with apple color tracking?
Click to expand...

Color's tracking is a pain in the butt. There are a few things you can do to make it work better, though:

1) Pick your track points carefully. All the usual advice like high-contrast areas.
2) Pick your tracker *size* carefully. This one takes some experimentation, but I've found that making the track area as small as possible helps a lot.
3) Don't expect miracles. Color's tracker is mediocre at best. It's good enough to keep a shape fairly locked on a face, or a person. It's not going to come anywhere near keeping an eye-correction locked in.

As far as the "shapes not hitting the tracker" thing, that's normal. Just drag it back where you need it to be and it will follow the tracker from there. Color does its tracker control as relative motion, so you don't need to track something that's inside your mask.
 
Gunleik Groven said:
Bruce, that's a bit like telling a guy with a 5D to buy a RED to solve his problems... -:)
Click to expand...

If a RED cost only $1000 (okay, add $350 for a flashed GTX 285 card bought on eBay), I'd be a bad friend if I didn't tell everyone using a 5D to take a look at RED instead.

Perhaps there is no point in spending hours trying to get stuff to track right in Color if you could spend those same hours earning money to put towards a DaVinci license.

Personally I learned Color and did a feature in it - because DaVinci wasn't out yet. Again, if any friend of mine asked me how to track because basically what they're fighting is a technical limitation of Color that can best be solved by looking elsewhere.

It's like having someone say "hey man, I'm learning how to use this Amiga to do some 3D renderings"... what is the best answer?

Anyway, back to topic, sorry...

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com
 
I can only second this. The tracker in Resolve is blowing Color's out of the water.

If you need to move a window in Color, keyframe it manually. Normally you'll keep it soft anyway. If you need serious tracking, go Resolve or get Mocha.
 
Davinci has a great tracking tool but some other features (until now) missing like Hue curve or saturation that color beats. This is a pain... for a color correcting tool. So every tool has his ups and downs.

I think you must go step by step when tracking. Mainly in the tracking tool you have the tracker wich you determine what has to be tracked (small rectangle) and the zone in where it has to track (bigger rectangle) and then you have the offset (small cross) wich indecates the offset between the tracking and the shape or what ever reference (but it doesn't work in this configuration) never the less you still can move the created shape in geometry to accomodate the offset.

You can first track a movement, then create a shape and telle the shape to match the tracker, then you go to your secondary and use your custom shape.

It's hard work but it works...


Patrick
 
Auto Track
In Geometry Room
1- Hit New (in Tracker Tab) to Add Track
2- Position CTI where you want to start & Hit Mark In (Same thing for Mark Out position)
3- Position The Tracker Box on Subject
4- Hit Process
5- Once Tracking Done Hit "Tracking Curve Smoothness" & adjust the smoothness of tracking Curve
Now your are ready to apply.

In Secondary Room
6- Check "Vignette"
7- In Popup menu "Use Tracker" (set the Tracker you just created)
Once you set tracker Vignette will pop away from your subject, This is normal

8- Position your CTI to starting position
9- Now Position The Vignette Back on the subject
DONE.

(Note: Auto Tracking Does no support Off set Tracking, In this case use Manual Tracking)


If you understand file based systems then Color & Resolve are both very simple to use for basic grading.
The big difference between the two products of course was realtime vs. rendering.
If you work with Avid or Adobe Premiere, well then right now Resolve is your best choice because it has an easier workflow. If you work with Final Cut Pro, well then you can go either way.

A tool is just a tool. How good it is depends on your ability to operate it.
 
Look, most of the "get DaVinci" answers are way off base.

DaVinci doesn't cost $1000.

DaVinci software costs $995
You need a fast video card for Resolve to use entirely. A GTX285 flashed will work... but if you want a supported OS X solution with top performance you need a Quadro 4000.

You also need ANOTHER video card for the GUI. Another Nvidia card that fits in ONE slot.

Then you need an i/o card from BlackMagic.

Now you have one PCIe slot left... so do you use it for a Rocket or an external drive controller of some sort?

What if you need BOTH?

Those hardware configuration requirements are sufficiently limiting that a lot of people need their Resolve machine to be a dedicated system

Resolve is awesome, but it doesn't really help Zakaree.
 
im just learning secondaries.. but i figured out the eye dropper thing.. and it holds the color to what i select.. so i dont need to track..

but i do see when power windows are needed and need to be tracked.. luckily i dont think ill need them tooooo often... but we will see
 
Zakaree Sandberg said:
Im trying to learn secondaries in apple color.. but my tracking never seems to work right..

After it tracks the image, it places my user created shape at the top of the image and not where i made it..

also.. when im processing the tracking.. it will stay on the target for a few seconds.. then it drifts off..

anyone have a solution how to work with apple color tracking?
Click to expand...

Zakaree,

The question is really how to use tracking.

Ben Brainerd gave you the most useful advice so far, follow it.

To Ben's advice I would add that you can do manual tracking in Color. Its very easy and fairly quick.

You just set a manual track and click on what you want tracked frame by frame. Color automatically advances to the next frame when you click.

Finally you can tracking on multiple segments of the shot. So, you can track the shot until Color drifts. Then, you can do another track from that point until it drifts again and so on. Or you can adjust autotrack points manually.

Using a combination of these tools and some forethought you can track pretty much anything.

Resolve really does have a better tracker... but Color isn't bad really. Its tracker was the absolute state of the art just a five or six years ago.

Since Color has the worst tracker in common use, I advise you to learn it and learn to track most anything with it. That knowledge and experience will stand you in good stead when the really awesome super automatic tracker you use (in Resolve or Mocha or whatever) flakes out.
 
Kwan's answer is on the money... however I agree that it's often best to manually track things. Most of the time if I am "tracking" a custom geometry shape, what I am actually doing it something closer to rotoscoping. Complex shapes that change shape due to scale or parallax, or objects occluding another object, etc... this is best done manually, and I have had lots of luck doing pretty aggressive roto within Color to isolate areas.

Even the best planar trackers usually require manual adjustments.
 
Zakaree Sandberg said:
im just learning secondaries.. but i figured out the eye dropper thing.. and it holds the color to what i select.. so i dont need to track..
Click to expand...

That was going to be my next piece of advice. If you find yourself in such desperate need of tracking you're probably better off spending your time pulling a key and working with that. You may still need a window/mask to constrain the key, but if the mask isn't your primary tool you can get away with a much looser track/keyframe.
 
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