Footage
This tab contains all settings needed to load and display video sequences (footage). Note that all of these settings (with the exception of Create Background Object) only work when working with the Motion Tracking feature. They have no affect on the final rendering.
Load the video sequence whose camera movement you want to reconstruct into this field. You can load either video files or image sequences. For MacOS, image sequences are recommended because it can happen that frames can be doubled or missing.
After the footage has been loaded it will be shown in the perspective view and can be played using the animation toolbar. Cinema 4D analyzes the video/image sequence and will define the respective Project Settings accordingly (e.g., frame rate and resolution in the Render Settings and Project Settings menus).
The first time the file is played it will be a little jumpy in the beginning because all footage frames must be loaded and cached.
The footage will generally be displayed in the 3D (Perspective) view if you view the scene through the camera assigned to the Motion Tracker object and the 3D mode is disabled.
Load your Lens Profile (a file with a *.ins extension) here that you want to use to un-distort the video sequence to make sure that straight lines appear as such. If you want to adapt and render 3D objects after the camera has been successfully calibrated, please note the Lens Distortion post effect.
If you click on the small arrow to the left of the setting, the lens profile settings, which you should already be familiar with from the Lens Profile tool, defined for the lens profile will be shown.
This setting defines if the video should be displayed at full resolution (100%) or less (resampled / <100%) in the Viewport and used for motion tracking. The smaller the value, the less memory that will be required and the more fluidly and faster you will be able to work in the Viewport. The results can, however, be less precise under certain circumstances.
If very grainy footage is used, smaller values can sometimes lead to better results because the grain will be reduced somewhat by the smaller values. In general, it is recommended that you use the highest value possible that your computer will allow.
The aspect ratio (width/height) will be implemented with the assumption of square pixels. If you use footage with a different aspect ratio, this value can be modified so the footage is displayed without distortion in the Viewport.
The aspect ratio for render output is displayed at the right in parentheses.
Use these values to define which segment of the footage the Motion Tracker should use. This is often only a specific section of a given footage. The footage then does not have to be cut. It is recommended that the Project Start and End values in the Animation Palette be set to match.
The loaded footage, which will at first fill the image format to 100% (i.e., fill the renderable area completely) can be scaled using this setting (e.g., to set Tracks more precisely). However, this and the following settings have no effect on the actual camera reconstruction process.
The value can be adjusted interactively in the Viewport via Alt+RMB.
The loaded footage can be moved in the X and Y direction using these settings. A value of 100% reflects the entire image width or height, respectively. The values can also be adjusted interactively in the Viewport using Alt+MMB. This makes it possible to navigate within an enlarged view of the footage, for example.
Clicking on this button will set the footage to fill the (render)frame, which means that the Footage Scale option will be set to 100% and both Footage Offset values to 0% if render output and footage have the same aspect ratio. Otherwise the footage will be scaled until either its height or width match one of the render sides.
This function can also be executed by pressing Alt+0.
This function is also available as a separate command.
Clicking on this button will scale the footage proportionally so the width matches the Render Safe width exactly. Both Footage Offset values will be set to 0%.
This button will only be made available if the (render)output ratio differs from the footage's image aspect ratio. Otherwise the same functionality as Full Footage will exist.
Clicking on this button will scale the footage proportionally so the height will match the Render Safe exactly. Both Footage Offset values will be set to 0%.
This button will only be made available if the (render)output ratio differs from the footage's image aspect ratio. Otherwise the same functionality as Full Footage will exist.
This slider can be used to adjust the brightness of the loaded footage. The footage can, for example, be darkened to make the Tracks and their paths more visible. For example, after 2D tracking has been completed, the footage can be darkened and the Timeslider can be used to search for faulty Tracks (that move in a direction contrary to the majority) and delete them.
This option lets you hide or display the footage seen through the camera assigned to the Motion Tracker for the selected Motion Tracker object. This option can only be used if 2D Tacks mode is disabled.
Disable this option if, after successfully reconstructing the camera, you want to begin creating objects that should be added to the footage. Only then will these objects be visible.
Assuming, for example, that all elements related to Motion Tracking (footage, tracks and their paths) lie on a plane in the Viewport and all other Cinema 4D objects and displays lie on a different plane. If this option is enabled, the Motion Tracking plane will lie in the foreground over the Cinema 4D plane. If this option is disabled, the Motion Tracking plane will be placed in the background.
This function is also available as a separate command.
This is a very useful function that will save you numerous clicks of the mouse. A material with the same footage as is loaded into the Footage field will be created and projected onto a background object. In short: when the scene is rendered, the complete footage will be added as a background in full resolution. This is particularly useful, for example, when a Project is rendered to which 3D objects were added because the objects’ motion will match that of the background.
Info
Here you will find information extracted from the footage that was loaded:
- Footage: Video/image sequence name
- Dimensions: The footage's actual resolution; the scaled down version if the Resampling value was reduced in parentheses.
- Total Frames: The overall length of the footage in frames (frame range and length in seconds in parentheses). Note that a length in seconds cannot be ascertained for image sequences.
- Memory Used: From left to right: memory currently used / required memory for the entire loaded footage; number of currently cached frames / total number of frames. The amount of memory required depends strongly on the Resample value, the footage's original resolution and of course on the original footage's total length.