matchmoving

# 1 20-02-2011 , 12:05 PM

rm3d
Join Date: May 2008

Location: northern ireland

Posts: 184

hey sorry this isnt really a maya question, but its about Autodesk Matchmover which comes with maya so i figure some of you guys may know a thing or too about it, any body know if there are decent forums on matchmover or have any of you had good experience in it?

the more I Think I know about Maya the less I seem to know about it.

check me out www.rm3d.co.uk

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# 2 20-02-2011 , 12:33 PM

The Nurb Herd
Join Date: Oct 2007

Location: London

Posts: 2,381

what do you want to know?

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# 3 20-02-2011 , 12:45 PM

rm3d
Join Date: May 2008

Location: northern ireland

Posts: 184

well basically in the track window i have shift selected a region, and now i cant get rid of that selection, this means i cant track points forward or back and cant play the footage, the only way i can track points is to either shift select all of the footage or manually track every frame, i was wondering how to unselect in the track window. ahhh its very fustrating

the more I Think I know about Maya the less I seem to know about it.

check me out www.rm3d.co.uk

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# 4 20-02-2011 , 01:48 PM

The Nurb Herd
Join Date: Oct 2007

Location: London

Posts: 2,381

i'm not sure i understand. Are you talking about manual or automatic tracking points? so you have them selected and you can't unselect them? I just left clicked and they deselect.

i've only just tried matchmover, but You will find most matchmove programs are the same really.

matchmover:
1. load the sequence
2. check/change your camera settings
3. click 2d tracking> automatic tracking.
3b. uncheck solve camera.
3c. click settings and change the sensitivity and density.
3d. click ok
4. clean up the auto
5. solve camera
6 check focal length
7. export to maya
8. group everything and rotate/scale/translate the group to align the scene.

i think this is pretty much it.

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# 5 20-02-2011 , 02:03 PM

rm3d
Join Date: May 2008

Location: northern ireland

Posts: 184

yea its really hard to explain , so hopefully the attached image will show you, see the way the area in the red circle is selected? i cant unselect it, i can change the size of the selection area, but i cant unselect it, i dont know what its called to search for a solution on google, but its stopping me from tracking user added image

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the more I Think I know about Maya the less I seem to know about it.

check me out www.rm3d.co.uk

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# 6 20-02-2011 , 02:52 PM

The Nurb Herd
Join Date: Oct 2007

Location: London

Posts: 2,381

if you type 0 in the yellow box does that work?

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# 7 20-02-2011 , 02:58 PM

rm3d
Join Date: May 2008

Location: northern ireland

Posts: 184

no it doesnt user added image

the more I Think I know about Maya the less I seem to know about it.

check me out www.rm3d.co.uk

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# 8 20-02-2011 , 03:24 PM

The Nurb Herd
Join Date: Oct 2007

Location: London

Posts: 2,381

ach, i dunno... someone may have used this over at vfxtalk. I've not used it, don't think i ever will now user added image

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# 9 20-02-2011 , 04:31 PM

rm3d
Join Date: May 2008

Location: northern ireland

Posts: 184

haha its a decent software, so far this is the only thing to have stumped me, and its probably an easy fix, ill post the solution if i ever find it, for future reference user added image

the more I Think I know about Maya the less I seem to know about it.

check me out www.rm3d.co.uk

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# 10 21-02-2011 , 11:03 AM

rm3d
Join Date: May 2008

Location: northern ireland

Posts: 184

SOLVED :: Shift right click the yellow area (shift left click to select the area, shift right click to unselect it it :: FACE PALM)

the more I Think I know about Maya the less I seem to know about it.

check me out www.rm3d.co.uk

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# 11 21-02-2011 , 03:40 PM

The Nurb Herd
Join Date: Oct 2007

Location: London

Posts: 2,381

yeah, i saw your post on vfxtalk. simple. user added image

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# 12 23-02-2011 , 04:34 PM

Moderator
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Posts: 1,001

The plate looks like it needs delensing, 3d software is mathematically perfect meaning you dont get lens distortion (all lines are perfectly straight).

This is not the case with real cameras, since light is bending through glass you will get lens distortion which tracking software won't account for. (newer versions can do something to help with this but its not very nice to work with in a pipeline more often than not).

Its probably easier if you do an un-distort in after-effects or nuke to de-lens the plate, you can do something with out the box tools. A pin cussion distortion is usually enough. Just ramp it up untill the lines appear straighter, you might need to adjust the centre of the effect.

Then output the result as a new jpg image sequence and use that to track with.
It will really help if you know your film back information and have a rough idea of what the focal length should be, its not too tricky with hd cameras to make a guess with a bit of googling if your not sure.

Also you should know what aspect ratio the footage was shot at, the footage your using looks a little squashed so if you know what format its shot it check it out. If you track at an incorrect aspect ratio / film back values you will get very odd results in 3D.

Lens distortion often wont stop you getting a solve in shots with little motion or that are nodal but the 3d renders won't feel like they are sitting perfectly as they move through the plate. In longer shots its crucial to get a decently de-lensed plate as they often won't solve at all.

Once you render your 3D work out with the match move remember to use the same values on your pin cussion or other effect used to de-lens your plate but this time invert it so you end up with a correct result. Hopes that makes some sense.

FX supervisor - double negative

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