Match Move controls

The Match Move behavior analyzes the movement of a source object, then applies that movement data to a destination object (a video clip, group, camera, shape, particle emitter, or other object in Motion).

For information on using the Match Move behavior, see Match move an object.

To use Match Move (and access its parameter controls), your project must contain a foreground (destination) object and a background (source) object. After you apply a Match Move behavior to a destination object, the Behaviors Inspector displays the following adjustable controls:

• Source: A source well to set the source object supplying tracking data to the destination object. The source object can be another tracking behavior, an animated object, or a footage object. When you apply a Match Move behavior to a destination object, the nearest animated object, recorded track, or footage object beneath the behavior in the Layers list appears in this well. If a source object isn’t automatically assigned, drag one from the Layers list into this well. To clear the Source well, drag its thumbnail away from the well and release the mouse button.

  

  When you drag any nonfootage object (such as a shape or mask) into the Source well, the trackers are no longer available in the Match Move behavior as there is no clip to analyze. Whatever animation is present in the shape or mask (via keyframes or behaviors) is applied.

  Note: When you apply the Match Move behavior to a mask, the masked object is selected as the source.

• Action pop-up menu: A pop-up menu (with a gear icon) to manually assign tracking data (from other tracking behaviors in your project).

• Movement: Two controls used for the motion-tracking analysis:

  • Analyze: A button to activate a motion-tracking analysis. When you click Analyze, a status window appears and displays the tracking progress. To stop the analysis, click the Stop button in the status window or press Esc.

    The start frame of the track analysis is based on the current playhead position, rather than the beginning of the behavior bar in the Timeline.

  • Reverse: A checkbox that, when selected, reverses the analysis direction, going from the playhead position to the first frame of the clip (or the first frame of the tracking behavior).

    Note: You must move the playhead to the frame where you want the reverse analysis to begin.

• Type: A pop-up menu to set the type of motion tracking used in the analysis. There are two options:

  • Transformation: Enables one-point (position) tracking or two-point (position, scale, rotation) tracking, transforming the destination object (the object to which the Match Move behavior is applied).

  • Four Corners: Enables four-point tracking, corner-pinning the destination object (the object to which the Match Move behavior is applied). When Type is set to Four Corners, the Direction and Adjust parameters are no longer available.

    Important: When you apply the Match Move behavior to a 3D group or a mask, the Four Corners option is not available. To corner-pin a 3D group, select the Flatten checkbox in the Group Inspector.

• Direction: A pop-up menu to specify the dimension in which the recorded movement is applied to the destination object: Horizontal and Vertical (X and Y), Horizontal (only X), or Vertical (only Y).

• Transform: A pop-up menu to set how the destination object (the object to which the Match Move behavior is applied) moves. There are two options:

  • Attach to Source: Anchors the foreground object to the recorded track or animation source. Use Attach to Source when the source object is scaling or rotating, and you want the destination object to “stick” to a spot on the source object. You can preserve preexisting animation in the destination object by using the Adjust buttons (Position, Scale, and Rotation), available when the Type pop-up menu (described above) is set to Transformation.

    Note: Although the destination object is “attached” to the movement of the source object, the position of the destination object can be changed (offset from the source object).

    In the following example, the Match Move behavior is applied to the red pill shape and uses the animated white arrow as the source object. The white arrow has an applied Spin behavior that causes it to spin in a clockwise direction. Additionally, the arrow’s anchor point is positioned at the bottom of the arrow (at the opposite end from the tip).

    

    When the Transform pop-up menu is set Attach to Source, and you select the Position and Rotation buttons in the Adjust parameter row, the red shape is anchored to one spot on the arrow (the tip, in this example) and matches the clockwise movement of the arrow.

    

  • Mimic Source: Allows the destination object to “mimic” the recorded track or animation source. You can preserve preexisting animation in the destination object by using the Adjust buttons (Position, Scale, and Rotation), available when the Type pop-up menu (described above) is set to Transformation.

    Note: Although the destination object is “attached” to the movement of the source object, the position of the destination object can be changed (offset from the source object). Additionally, the destination object can be scaled and rotated.

    In the following images, the Transform pop-up menu is set to Mimic Source, and Position and Rotation are selected in the Adjust parameter row. The red shape is not locked to one spot on the white arrow. Instead, the red shape mirrors the arrow’s animation.

    

    When Transform is set to Mimic Source, you can transform tracked footage in the Properties Inspector. For example, you can change the scale, position, or rotation of a corner-pinned clip. Also, when you corner-pin a clip and set the Type pop-up menu to Four Corners, Mimic Source lets you adjust the trackers without affecting the foreground image.

• Adjust: Three buttons to set the type of transformation applied to the destination object.

  • Position: A button that, when enabled, applies the position of the source (background) object to the destination (foreground) object, and activates the Anchor (position) tracker (described below).

  • Scale: A button that, when enabled, applies the scale of the source (background) object the destination (foreground) object. The source track must include scale data for this parameter to have any effect. When Scale is enabled, the Rotation-Scale tracker (described below) is activated.

  • Rotation: A button that, when enabled, applies the rotation of the source (background) object to the destination (foreground) object. The source track must include rotation data for this parameter to have any effect. When Rotation is enabled, the Rotation-Scale tracker (described below) is activated.

• Tracker Preview: A preview providing a magnified view of the tracking reference area for a selected tracker. The preview updates as you adjust the position of the tracker in the Canvas. You can drag in the preview area to adjust the position of the tracker. When you do so, the image moves in the preview area moves around the red crosshair representing the tracker, and the tracker moves in the Canvas. You can also Option-drag left or right in the preview area to decrease or increase the size reference pattern to be analyzed in the Canvas. (You can also adjust the Track Size slider, described below, to achieve the same result.)

• Offset Track: A checkbox that, when selected, lets you set a new tracker position when the original reference pattern becomes temporarily obstructed by an obstacle, or goes off the screen. Motion uses the tracker position to continue the same tracking path begun by the original reference pattern. For more information on offset tracking, see Track obscured or off-frame points.

• Auto-Zoom: A pop-up menu to choose a magnification level when positioning the tracker in the Canvas. You can zoom in on the Canvas when searching for an ideal tracking reference pattern. There are four choices: None, 2x, 4x, and 8x.

• Auto-Zoom Mode: A pop-up menu to set the display of the auto-zoomed tracker in the Canvas. There are three choices:

  • Normal: Displays a normal pattern.

  • Contrast: Displays the tracker pattern with contrast detection.

  • Edge: Displays the tracker pattern with edge detection.

    The Auto-Zoom Mode applies to trackers in the Canvas and does not appear in the Tracker Preview in the Behaviors Inspector.

    Note: When Auto-Zoom is set to None, the Auto-Zoom Mode setting has no effect.

• Look Ahead Frames: A slider and value slider to specify the number of future frames to be analyzed by the tracker. In other words, you can direct the tracker to look in a specific location for its reference point, which helps the tracker follow fast-moving objects. For more information about the Look Ahead Frames control, see Advanced strategies to improve tracking results.

• Anchor/Rotation-Scale: Checkboxes (available when the Type pop-up menu is set to Transformation) to enable or disable the Anchor and Rotation-Scale trackers. The Anchor tracker records position data. The Anchor tracker and Rotation-Scale tracker in combination record position, rotation, and scale data (by comparing the relative coordinate change between the two trackers).

  Note: When the Source well (described above) contains tracking data from another behavior (such as Analyze Motion), these checkboxes become pop-up menus used to assign which trackers (from the source tracking data) will provide anchor (position) data to the destination object, and which will provide rotation-scale data. And because trackers are no longer needed in the Match Move behavior, onscreen trackers are removed from the Canvas.

  Click the disclosure triangle next to the Anchor checkbox and Rotation-Scale checkbox to reveal additional subparameters:

  • Position: Value sliders displaying the X and Y positions of the tracker.

  • Track Size: A slider to set (in pixels) the pattern search size for the tracker. As you adjust the tracker size, the Tracker Preview is updated to show the new pattern search size. However, there’s no visual change in the Canvas tracker. (In a traditional tracker, Track Size would be the pattern searched within the inner tracker box and the outer tracker box.)

    Alternatively, you can adjust the Track Size parameter by Option-dragging left or right in the Tracker Preview area.

  • Search Size: A slider to set search area size for the tracker. In Motion, you do not specify the size of a search area when setting up trackers in the Canvas. If your clip contains a lot of rapid movement, for example, you may have better results increasing the Search Size. For example, if Search Size is set to 150%, the tracker searches 50% further beyond the Track Size setting.

  • Fail Tolerance: A slider to set the amount of tolerance for error, or confidence value, of the tracker. In other words, Fail Tolerance defines a threshold score at which the tracker determines it can match a reference feature. When the analysis yields a score above the Fail Tolerance value, the tracker accepts the match. When the score is below the value, the tracker rejects the match.

  • Fail Behavior: A pop-up menu to specify what happens if the track confidence value falls below the Fail Tolerance amount. There are six menu options:

    • Smart Retry: The tracker attempts to find the reference pattern in a larger search area. If the pattern still cannot be found, the tracker switches to the Predict option (described below). Smart Retry is the default Fail Behavior setting.

    • Stop: The analysis stops when the tracker loses the reference pattern.

    • Predict: The tracker predicts a new search area without creating keyframes until it finds a match for the reference pattern. This option is excellent for tracked elements that pass behind foreground elements.

    • Predict and Key: If a failure is detected, the tracker predicts the location of the next track point (keyframe) based on a vector of the last two keyframes, and continues tracking in the new area.

    • Don’t Predict: The tracker remains in its position and searches for subsequent matches as the clip’s frames progress. While searching for a match, the tracker does not create keyframes.

    • Use Existing Keyframes: The tracker uses keyframes you have manually created as a guide. After manually adding keyframes, return to the start frame and start the tracking analysis. If the tracker has difficulty locating the reference pattern, the manually created tracking keyframes are referenced to guide the tracker.

  • Color: A color control to set a new color for the onscreen tracker. The default tracker color is red. When a tracker is selected, its center point is yellow and the border of its magnified inset is the color set in the color well. To adjust individual color channels, including the tracker’s opacity, click the disclosure triangle. For more information about color controls, see Basic color controls.

• Top Left, Top Right, Bottom Right, Bottom Left (control groups): Controls (available when the Type pop-up menu is set to Four Corners and the Source well contains the footage being analyzed by the Match Move behavior) to adjust the Position, Track Size, Search Size, Fail Tolerance, Fail Behavior, and Color for each of the four-corner trackers individually.

• Top Left, Top Right, Bottom Right, Bottom Left (pop-up menus): Pop-up menus (available when the Type pop-up menu is set to Four Corners and the Source well contains tracking data from another behavior, such as Analyze Motion) to assign trackers from the source behavior to each of the four corners.