Motion tracking dot removal at DVinfo.net

Stewart McDonald · February 20th, 2004, 09:50 AM

I have done some testing with motion tracking. The footage has come out great, but I would like to remove the coloured dots I have that are still visible in the scene. Anyone know the best way? I can't film the shot again with no dots as it was hand held.

Thanks

Robert Knecht Schmidt · February 20th, 2004, 02:24 PM

Stewart,

Both Adobe After Effects and discreet combustion have tools to do this kind of paint work.

The basic procedure is to assign a clone brush to follow 2D trackers tacked on to your marker points. The shape and size of the clone brush, number of strokes, etc. will require tweaking to achieve the best result. No matter what, you will have a sophisticated job on your hands that might require frame-by-frame attention. Expect to spend a day or more painting out those little guys!

If you use combustion, these tutorials will get you started. (Of particular help to your case will be the second half of Lesson 4, "Using Paint," in which a power cable is painted out of a skyscape, and the first half of Lesson 5, which describes using trackers.)

Good luck! We'd love to see how it goes if you ever get a chance to post before-and-afters.

Stewart McDonald · February 21st, 2004, 04:51 AM

Thanks I'll look into it.

Rob Lohman · February 23rd, 2004, 05:18 PM

I've read somewhere that someone used a secondary color
corrector to change the color of the dots after the footage was
tracked to the same color as the screen and thus being picked
up by the matte removal software. I can imagine this will
probably only work on dots that have a color not found in the
rest of the scene (flourecent pink etc.). Or you might make a crude
"travelling" matte first to cover only the dot area and put that
through a secondary corrector if the color also is in some other
parts of the scene

Robert Knecht Schmidt · February 23rd, 2004, 09:28 PM

If the dots are on a key screen, then there's no need for painting them out. A garbage matte will get rid of them.

Rob Lohman · February 24th, 2004, 05:19 AM

Can you elaborate a bit on that Robert?

February 20th, 2004, 09:50 AM	#1
Stewart McDonald Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: UK Posts: 130	Motion tracking dot removal I have done some testing with motion tracking. The footage has come out great, but I would like to remove the coloured dots I have that are still visible in the scene. Anyone know the best way? I can't film the shot again with no dots as it was hand held. Thanks

February 20th, 2004, 02:24 PM	#2
Robert Knecht Schmidt Wrangler Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Cleveland, Ohio Posts: 1,933	Stewart, Both Adobe After Effects and discreet combustion have tools to do this kind of paint work. The basic procedure is to assign a clone brush to follow 2D trackers tacked on to your marker points. The shape and size of the clone brush, number of strokes, etc. will require tweaking to achieve the best result. No matter what, you will have a sophisticated job on your hands that might require frame-by-frame attention. Expect to spend a day or more painting out those little guys! If you use combustion, these tutorials will get you started. (Of particular help to your case will be the second half of Lesson 4, "Using Paint," in which a power cable is painted out of a skyscape, and the first half of Lesson 5, which describes using trackers.) Good luck! We'd love to see how it goes if you ever get a chance to post before-and-afters. __________________ All the best, Robert K S Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| The best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

February 23rd, 2004, 05:18 PM	#4
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	I've read somewhere that someone used a secondary color corrector to change the color of the dots after the footage was tracked to the same color as the screen and thus being picked up by the matte removal software. I can imagine this will probably only work on dots that have a color not found in the rest of the scene (flourecent pink etc.). Or you might make a crude "travelling" matte first to cover only the dot area and put that through a secondary corrector if the color also is in some other parts of the scene __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

February 23rd, 2004, 09:28 PM	#5
Robert Knecht Schmidt Wrangler Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Cleveland, Ohio Posts: 1,933	If the dots are on a key screen, then there's no need for painting them out. A garbage matte will get rid of them. __________________ All the best, Robert K S Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| The best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

February 24th, 2004, 05:19 AM	#6
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	Can you elaborate a bit on that Robert? __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

February 21st, 2004, 04:51 AM	#3
Stewart McDonald Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: UK Posts: 130	Thanks I'll look into it.