< Previous | Contents | Manuals Home | Boris FX | Next >
Pattern Completely Occluded or Off-Screen
Sometimes your tracker may become completely untrackable, for example when it goes completely off-screen, and actor covers it entirely, an explosion whites out the screen, etc.
In this case, you should disable the tracker on the frame where it disappears or becomes useless, via the small green/yellow stoplight under the tracker mini-view. It will no longer be tracked.
Then re-enable the tracker when it is adequately visible. If the tracker has been hidden only for a short time (set by a preference), the tracker will reappear and attempt to re-locate its pattern in the image based on its predicted location. If it reappears, but in the wrong location, key the search rectangle to show SynthEyes where to look.
If the tracker does not immediately reactivate because it has been missing for more than the preferred number of frames, hold down the 'Z' and shift keys and push the left mouse button to drop the tracker into its new position.
This "shift-Z-drop" positions the search rectangle , not the tracker corners, to ensure maximal continuity of the pattern with the original main key frame. The tracker should jump into the best new location without the need for corner position keys.
You can use the basic Z-drop with no shift to re-enable the tracker and place the tracker itself at the location you specify. You can re-key all four corners as necessary.
Hint : you can switch back and forth between shift-Z-drop and Z-drop as you drag, or as we often do, when you recall that shift-Z-drop is actually a better idea.
Hint #2 : If you need to create a planar tracker that is partially off-screen, zoom the display out first. Note that there will be no reference pattern available for the off-screen portion, so once the tracker is all on-screen, you may want to set another key.
©2023 Boris FX, Inc. — UNOFFICIAL — Converted from original PDF.