I'm stuck at the very beginning. How can I add the track points? I've checked the View Option and it's set to Enable Layer Controls but I can't add any points. When I'm in the layer view mode, the lasso tool appears but still I can't seem to add points.
I'm stuck at the very beginning. How can I add the track points? I've checked the View Option and it's set to Enable Layer Controls but I can't add any points. When I'm in the layer view mode, the lasso tool appears but still I can't seem to add points.
I'm using After Effects CC2019 on Windows10.
Thank you!
Adding points is done with Control Click, or Control Click and drag, so I'm assuming you've tried that and somehow the process is failing? Do you by any chance have Ae 2020 installed as well, and can try to see if there's any difference there? Can you submit a help ticket with either a collected project file, or a screen capture, or any additional information that might help us reproduce this issue? https://aescripts.com/contact/?product_id=1462
I may be missing something obvious, but... In your detailed tutorial you recently posted, you teach how to merge tracks, adjust manually, etc.... However, it seems like you also track partial segments of the shot, from the start forward, AND from the end back, to merge them at the right point... How do you track backwards? Do points track from the playhead? They don't seem to track the work area, but the whole comp length, so I am not sure playhead has anything to do with it.
Perhaps I misunderstand. It really does seem like knowing how to track partial segments of the shot and stitch them together is the key to more complex tracks.
Many thanks. The plug in blows me away the more I use it, and i am just looking to master it.
I may be missing something obvious, but... In your detailed tutorial you recently posted, you teach how to merge tracks, adjust manually, etc.... However, it seems like you also track partial segments of the shot, from the start forward, AND from the end back, to merge them at the right point... How do you track backwards? Do points track from the playhead? They don't seem to track the work area, but the whole comp length, so I am not sure playhead has anything to do with it.
Perhaps I misunderstand. It really does seem like knowing how to track partial segments of the shot and stitch them together is the key to more complex tracks.
Many thanks. The plug in blows me away the more I use it, and i am just looking to master it.
Cheers
Good question actually, that could be made clearer. When you place a point or several points, they're created as squares on a specific frame. You can't place points on multiple frames, so Lockdown just chooses the last frame you placed a point on. (that'll be fixed eventually.) But anyway, this specific frame is where the points track from. They track backwards from this frame to the inpoint of the layer, and forward from this frame to the out point of the layer. So it's the layer in and out points that you should be changing to adjust your ranges. So to answer your question, yes, the work area and playhead have nothing to do with it. Tracking is based on the frame the points are on, and the in and out points of the layer.
I may be missing something obvious, but... In your detailed tutorial you recently posted, you teach how to merge tracks, adjust manually, etc.... However, it seems like you also track partial segments of the shot, from the start forward, AND from the end back, to merge them at the right point... How do you track backwards? Do points track from the playhead? They don't seem to track the work area, but the whole comp length, so I am not sure playhead has anything to do with it.
Perhaps I misunderstand. It really does seem like knowing how to track partial segments of the shot and stitch them together is the key to more complex tracks.
Many thanks. The plug in blows me away the more I use it, and i am just looking to master it.
Cheers
Good question actually, that could be made clearer. When you place a point or several points, they're created as squares on a specific frame. You can't place points on multiple frames, so Lockdown just chooses the last frame you placed a point on. (that'll be fixed eventually.) But anyway, this specific frame is where the points track from. They track backwards from this frame to the inpoint of the layer, and forward from this frame to the out point of the layer. So it's the layer in and out points that you should be changing to adjust your ranges. So to answer your question, yes, the work area and playhead have nothing to do with it. Tracking is based on the frame the points are on, and the in and out points of the layer.
Cheers, Chris Lockdown Creator
Very helpful. Thanks. I would love a FULL tutorial of the wolf shot you did. I have so many questions about revealing the hidden part of the wolf's head from one side to another. I have theories, but find it tough in reality.
Just getting into using lockdown with CC2020 and it works great. I can render an avi file in the render queue fine but I normally use adobe media encoder to create an mp4 file of my work. The project does not carry over to media encoder to render it. What is the best way to create a final video with lockdown? I installed the gv.aom file also but getting lost on what to do. Hope you see this and fantastic product!
Just getting into using lockdown with CC2020 and it works great. I can render an avi file in the render queue fine but I normally use adobe media encoder to create an mp4 file of my work. The project does not carry over to media encoder to render it. What is the best way to create a final video with lockdown? I installed the gv.aom file also but getting lost on what to do. Hope you see this and fantastic product!
Thanks,
Chris
gv.aom should be handled automatically once installed. It's used in the Connected Vectors Full Setup as seen here: So once it's installed, you don't have to think about it. In regards to Media Encoder, I was not aware there was an issue, so I haven't tested. But you can render a full quality Quicktime with the Animation codec, then drop that resulting render into Media Encoder. If there's a bug for Media Encoder, we'll look into it first thing tomorrow morning.
hi can u make a tutorial more in depth in which using masks to mask objects that move in-front of my tracking objects (say I wanna track the hole t-shirt to change a pattern I there is a hand moving in front of that ).. that would be of great help!!!
hi can u make a tutorial more in depth in which using masks to mask objects that move in-front of my tracking objects (say I wanna track the hole t-shirt to change a pattern I there is a hand moving in front of that ).. that would be of great help!!!
We will have new features that make this much easier hopefully in just a month or two. Sorry that there will be a delay on that. I'll see what I can do about a fast tutorial for that situation.
hi can u make a tutorial more in depth in which using masks to mask objects that move in-front of my tracking objects (say I wanna track the hole t-shirt to change a pattern I there is a hand moving in front of that ).. that would be of great help!!!
We will have new features that make this much easier hopefully in just a month or two. Sorry that there will be a delay on that. I'll see what I can do about a fast tutorial for that situation.
hi. Awesome Product. I just ran into a problem. I did the connected layers setup, then I set the points and after I press "Track Points" it's starting the process of tracking but when it's done they are no points anymore and also Auto Triangulate Mesh doesn't work. Thanks Stefan
hi. Awesome Product. I just ran into a problem. I did the connected layers setup, then I set the points and after I press "Track Points" it's starting the process of tracking but when it's done they are no points anymore and also Auto Triangulate Mesh doesn't work. Thanks Stefan
Please double check this video for any possible errors with your setup. Something as simple as the composition background color will prevent the Vectors from working.
Please submit a help ticket if you have more issues, it's usually pretty quick to solve. Also, please give more detail on what you mean with Auto Triangulate not working.
Question: I have seen you undo the lockdown the process in a few tutorials, but wondering if there is some way to easily undo 'Apply Mesh on this Frame'? If not, this might be a useful feeature in future. I mean, and 'undo lockdown' would be great... go back and tweak easily, but undoing the apply mesh seems fairly simple, and would love a way to do it, without hitting Command Z...
Question: I have seen you undo the lockdown the process in a few tutorials, but wondering if there is some way to easily undo 'Apply Mesh on this Frame'? If not, this might be a useful feeature in future. I mean, and 'undo lockdown' would be great... go back and tweak easily, but undoing the apply mesh seems fairly simple, and would love a way to do it, without hitting Command Z...
If you press "Apply Mesh on this frame" again, it undoes it. We're working on undoing the Lockdown, although it might be a while until we get there.
I see you removed the 500 points for the externalized points. How would I use 2 mocha tracks in this case? I was hoping to have 8 points manually created with corner pins but it seems I am limited to the four now?
I see you removed the 500 points for the externalized points. How would I use 2 mocha tracks in this case? I was hoping to have 8 points manually created with corner pins but it seems I am limited to the four now?
This is a temporary annoyance, sorry about that. The "Externalized points" happened to cause a ton of interactive slowdown, which is why we removed them. Please import via Mocha, then select all points, then internalize. That will free up the 4 externalized points for another Mocha import. I admit this is a little sloppy at the moment. In a future build, any mocha imported points will be internalized automatically so you don't even have to think about it. We are also working on a new workflow where you can export/import points (To alembic) to compensate for the new lack of externalized points. Sorry to take away a feature, we try our best to never do it, but it seemed to be the lesser evil in this case.
i want to track different points in my composition and create a mask from the tracking
Yes. The way to do it would be to Lockdown the composition, then inside the stabilized composition, turn the video layers into a guide layer, so you can see it, but it does not render. Then put an animated mask inside. That animated mask tracks to the stabilized footage, and in the main comp, will follow. I'd recommend watching this whole tutorial, but I've linked you to the section where you can see the roto specifically. Unfortunately this tutorial was made with Lockdown 1.3, not the vastly superior, and now available Lockdown 1.4, but the general principles still apply.
Hola amigos, tengo el mismo problema en after effects 2020, de igual forma utilizo mucho exportar con Media Encore, tengo instalado lockdown 1.4 en after effects 2020 y al exportar el proyecto a Media Encore no se concluye. probé en after effects 2019 y lockdown 1.4 y aquí si pasa el proyecto a Media Encore. Supongo que Lockdown 1.4 no tiene completamente compatibilidad con after effects 2020 para exportar a Adobe Media Encore. Ojalá tengamos alguna pronta respuesta y la solución.
Acabo de usar el bloqueo con CC2020 y funciona muy bien. Puedo renderizar bien un archivo avi en la cola de renderizado, pero normalmente uso adobe media encoder para crear un archivo mp4 de mi trabajo. El proyecto no se transfiere al codificador de medios para representarlo. ¿Cuál es la mejor manera de crear un video final con bloqueo? También instalé el archivo gv.aom pero me perdí en qué hacer. ¡Espero que veas este fantástico producto!
Hola amigos, tengo el mismo problema en after effects 2020, de igual forma utilizo mucho exportar con Media Encore, tengo instalado lockdown 1.4 en after effects 2020 y al exportar el proyecto a Media Encore no se concluye. probé en after effects 2019 y lockdown 1.4 y aquí si pasa el proyecto a Media Encore. Supongo que Lockdown 1.4 no tiene completamente compatibilidad con after effects 2020 para exportar a Adobe Media Encore. Ojalá tengamos alguna pronta respuesta y la solución.
Acabo de usar el bloqueo con CC2020 y funciona muy bien. Puedo renderizar bien un archivo avi en la cola de renderizado, pero normalmente uso adobe media encoder para crear un archivo mp4 de mi trabajo. El proyecto no se transfiere al codificador de medios para representarlo. ¿Cuál es la mejor manera de crear un video final con bloqueo? También instalé el archivo gv.aom pero me perdí en qué hacer. ¡Espero que veas este fantástico producto!
Gracias,
Chris
We'll look into Media Encoder soon. Right now we're focused on getting out a new build that's much faster.
Arreglaremos Media Encoder pronto. En este momento estamos enfocados en hacer una nueva construcción que sea mucho más rápida.
Great plugin, Lockdown. I really enjoy using it! A short question; when I buy the plugin will I get
future updates of Lockdown for free?
Kind regards,
Stefan
As of now, we haven't made any plans to make paid upgrades for Lockdown or Composite Brush. Eventually we will have to just like any other Plugin, but it's definitely not going to be a yearly paid upgrade like some other software out there. We haven't thought about this yet, but when we do eventually, we'll consult with aescripts to try to be as ethical and reasonable as possible, and follow longer upgrade timelines, similar to other popular plugins.
Just updated to 1.4, have loved using lockdown in past projects! But I am currently runnign into an issue on a super long face track. I get the motion vectors done easy. but when I track the poins it goes about 200 or so frames fine then roughly every 5 frames I get the pop telling me that I need to keep the lockdown effect selected. Which wouldnt be too much of a bother except I have another 3000 frames to go. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Just updated to 1.4, have loved using lockdown in past projects! But I am currently runnign into an issue on a super long face track. I get the motion vectors done easy. but when I track the poins it goes about 200 or so frames fine then roughly every 5 frames I get the pop telling me that I need to keep the lockdown effect selected. Which wouldnt be too much of a bother except I have another 3000 frames to go. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Adam
That's super annoying, sorry to hear. Is your UI set to on? If any of the UI controls or visibility are off, that's the only thing I can think of that might throw this error. Check out this video, its for a different plugin but shows how to toggle the UI. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-vCqsEexeE&feature=emb_title
Please set it to on, and leave Lockdown selected while tracking. Please let me know if there are further issues (preferably through a help ticket). Worst case scenario we can just disable this check entirely in the next release build. It's supposed to be a helpful reminder, not get in your way.
Hey Chris, I've seen we can get Lockdown for free now. Where can I get it? thanks
at aescripts.com/lockdown, in the first paragraph near the top of the page there's a form link. Just fill it out, and we'll send a temp license to you. You just download the trial file, and it'll work without a watermark once licensed.
hi Chris, i've filled the form on aescripts to get the free temporary license of Lockdown, but instead i get the composite brush licence...
You will be mailed both a Lockdown and Composite Brush license in two separate emails. Sometimes the emails get stacked on top of each other and they look the same, just check the message history, the Lockdown license should be there too.
Loving Lockdown, it's freaking amazing! Thank you for giving us a chance to play with it for free while we're under this more unpleasant lockdown.
Question re: mesh depth -
Is there a way to tell the mesh I want more distortion depth? i.e. - say I'm wrapping a texture to a face, but the lighting is fairly even. What if I want more modeling on the face, for example, around the nose because the nose is closer? How would I tell the mesh to add more depth (distortion) to that area?
Loving Lockdown, it's freaking amazing! Thank you for giving us a chance to play with it for free while we're under this more unpleasant lockdown.
Question re: mesh depth -
Is there a way to tell the mesh I want more distortion depth? i.e. - say I'm wrapping a texture to a face, but the lighting is fairly even. What if I want more modeling on the face, for example, around the nose because the nose is closer? How would I tell the mesh to add more depth (distortion) to that area?
Thanks!
--David
At this time, Lockdown is strictly 2D, and there is no concept of depth. But we know users want it, and it's somewhere on our to do list. The best I can say is you could draw a few more points to track on closer areas so they're better defined. In terms of overlapping correctly, sometimes it helps to break up the mesh into several layers (baking all tracks first of course so they're seamless) and actually layering them in 2D space. We're not quite there with a true 3D and depth workflow, but we take your comments very seriously and will work towards that in the not-too-distant future.
I was working with Lockdown to track a face that is moving from front view(so looking into the camera) to looking to the side(profile of the face) and then
looking back from side to front view. I had some difficulties with tracking this kind of shots because parts, like the side of the face, are revealing or hiding. All the trackingpoints on the side of the face are disoriented when the face moves front side view to front view.
Do you have some technique or strategy to tackle this problem?
I was working with Lockdown to track a face that is moving from front view(so looking into the camera) to looking to the side(profile of the face) and then
looking back from side to front view. I had some difficulties with tracking this kind of shots because parts, like the side of the face, are revealing or hiding. All the trackingpoints on the side of the face are disoriented when the face moves front side view to front view.
Do you have some technique or strategy to tackle this problem?
Yes, the "merge points" function was basically made to make this easier. I'd recommend learning this technique with just a single point at first.
At the start of your shot before the head turn, place a single point on the corner of the eye, then track it. Now go to the end of your shot, find the exact same spot, place a point, and track it from the end.
You will have two points tracking the eye from different sides of the face reveal.
To merge them, go to the last frame where the first track looks good, and select it. The frame you select it on is very important, the software remembers this. Then go to the first frame where the ending track looks good, and shift select it. Play through your footage, you should see both points turning red in the "merge area". Press "merge points". Now these two points are blended together, using all the keyframes from before the turn for the first track, blending the first into the second across the merge time, and using all the keyframes from the second track afterward.
We are also making a tool that will allow you to drag keyframes around, and re-track from the adjusted position, that will make this even easier, because "merge points" is sort of clunky with a lot of points. Use this solution for now, just know that a better version is coming soon.
Another question - What's the workflow when you need the mesh to bleed beyond the comp size? For example, if I want to apply a mesh to a shot that's cropped in tight at 100%?
I can't find a way to move tracking points or extension points outside the comp boundary. This causes artifacts because the mesh doesn't bleed over the shot at the crop point.
Another question - What's the workflow when you need the mesh to bleed beyond the comp size? For example, if I want to apply a mesh to a shot that's cropped in tight at 100%?
I can't find a way to move tracking points or extension points outside the comp boundary. This causes artifacts because the mesh doesn't bleed over the shot at the crop point.
Any solution? Thanks!
best,
--David
At this time, the best solution is probably to expand the comp a little when tracking, so you have that extra canvas to work with. You can see how here:
In the future we will build a feature to expand a comp and offset your points so everything just works. But at the moment we don't have a good automated solution for this.
does this work with RenderGarden so EXR renders utilize all available CPU cores well?
Thanks,
Jiri
As far as I understand, Generate Vectors is pretty well paralellized, and will use multiple CPUs at render time. I don't think there are any render tricks that will make it render faster, although it's worth checking into.
i'm trying the try version of Lockdown before to buy it but i'm finding some problems with the tracking points.
Let me explain you my issue.
For an upcoming work i will receive a lot of footage of a person that is speaking in front of the camera.
All these footages will be shooted with a smart phone and so the quality don't be the best.
In any case in these footages the subject will be shooted with a t-shirt were i will insert some graphics animated elements.
Before to start i've made a test with my smart phone and i've made a short clip of my with a t-shirt and a few little movement of this t-shirt.
The clip is 5 seconds long.
I follow every step of the process but when i start to see the result i see that all the points plotted start going in random order and all mix together.
In short, they do not follow the points selected on the shirt and so it is impossible for me to create a suitable structure to insert the graphics.
Where am I wrong?
Maybe the quality of the video is too low?
My clip was shot with a Huawei P30 and its footage is not that bad.
is it possible to make the tracking points can change preferred color? sometimes its hard to see if you're checking if you have a good track
At this moment, it is not possible. However you can put a hue/saturation effect above Lockdown in the effects chain, and change the color of the video. The vector tracker will not be effected by the effects before Lockdown, because the Vectors contain that information. That's actually the trick I used in my jellyfish tutorial- the Jellyfish was blue, so I just tinted it red after the vectors were rendered, so the blue points were easier to see.
I am also having an issue where After Effects instantly crashes when I try to adjust a tracking point. I'm running Lockdown 1.4.2 and After Effects 17.1.0
I am also having an issue where After Effects instantly crashes when I try to adjust a tracking point. I'm running Lockdown 1.4.2 and After Effects 17.1.0
I'm having an issue where the program crashes when I try moving a point in the triangulate mesh
Sorry for the delay in responding, somehow this slipped through. Can you please submit a help ticket with system information? Anything related to graphics cards would be extremely helpful. There's also a log test I could have you run.
hi chris i just wanted to say that i love lock down i was wondering if its possible to use a motion vector pass from a 3d package . lets say i have a 3d scene or character rendered and a motion vector pass of the same scene or character , can i use that pass ? or will i have to let the plugin generate the vector sequence ?
hi chris i just wanted to say that i love lock down i was wondering if its possible to use a motion vector pass from a 3d package . lets say i have a 3d scene or character rendered and a motion vector pass of the same scene or character , can i use that pass ? or will i have to let the plugin generate the vector sequence ?
It might be possible with some very precise tweaking to make CG motion vectors work with Lockdown, but the scale factor of the vectors is different in every package, so getting that to match might be tricky. If you're able to render CG passes, I'd probably recommend just using a UV pass (sometimes called an ST map) which gives exact coordinates of the CG object's texture map. Not to discourage you from using Lockdown, but that seems like the most direct and simple approach for the task you're trying to accomplish.
I'm trying to use Lockdown with a relatively long (~3:00) but simple shot. I'm using motion vectors for tracking but am running into a problem. The tracking starts off fast, but after a couple hundred frames slows down to 5 frames with every increment. Then this dialog starts constantly popping up:
I'm trying to use Lockdown with a relatively long (~3:00) but simple shot. I'm using motion vectors for tracking but am running into a problem. The tracking starts off fast, but after a couple hundred frames slows down to 5 frames with every increment. Then this dialog starts constantly popping up:
Do you by any chance have Ae 2020 installed as well, and can try to see if there's any difference there? Can you submit a help ticket with either a collected project file, or a screen capture, or any additional information that might help us reproduce this issue? https://aescripts.com/contact/?product_id=1462
Cheers,
Chris
Lockdown Creator
I may be missing something obvious, but...
In your detailed tutorial you recently posted, you teach how to merge tracks, adjust manually, etc.... However, it seems like you also track partial segments of the shot, from the start forward, AND from the end back, to merge them at the right point... How do you track backwards? Do points track from the playhead? They don't seem to track the work area, but the whole comp length, so I am not sure playhead has anything to do with it.
Perhaps I misunderstand. It really does seem like knowing how to track partial segments of the shot and stitch them together is the key to more complex tracks.
Many thanks. The plug in blows me away the more I use it, and i am just looking to master it.
Cheers
Chris
Lockdown Creator
I would love a FULL tutorial of the wolf shot you did. I have so many questions about revealing the hidden part of the wolf's head from one side to another. I have theories, but find it tough in reality.
Awesome stuff, as always.
So once it's installed, you don't have to think about it.
In regards to Media Encoder, I was not aware there was an issue, so I haven't tested. But you can render a full quality Quicktime with the Animation codec, then drop that resulting render into Media Encoder. If there's a bug for Media Encoder, we'll look into it first thing tomorrow morning.
Chris
Lockdown Creator
Chris
Lockdown Creator
Thanks
Stefan
Please submit a help ticket if you have more issues, it's usually pretty quick to solve. Also, please give more detail on what you mean with Auto Triangulate not working.
Chris
Lockdown Creator
Question: I have seen you undo the lockdown the process in a few tutorials, but wondering if there is some way to easily undo 'Apply Mesh on this Frame'? If not, this might be a useful feeature in future. I mean, and 'undo lockdown' would be great... go back and tweak easily, but undoing the apply mesh seems fairly simple, and would love a way to do it, without hitting Command Z...
Chris
Lockdown Creator
Please import via Mocha, then select all points, then internalize. That will free up the 4 externalized points for another Mocha import. I admit this is a little sloppy at the moment. In a future build, any mocha imported points will be internalized automatically so you don't even have to think about it. We are also working on a new workflow where you can export/import points (To alembic) to compensate for the new lack of externalized points. Sorry to take away a feature, we try our best to never do it, but it seemed to be the lesser evil in this case.
Chris
Lockdown Creator
Unfortunately this tutorial was made with Lockdown 1.3, not the vastly superior, and now available Lockdown 1.4, but the general principles still apply.
Cheers,
Chris
Lockdown Creator
Arreglaremos Media Encoder pronto. En este momento estamos enfocados en hacer una nueva construcción que sea mucho más rápida.
Chris
Lockdown Creator
Cheers,
Chris
Lockdown Creator
Please set it to on, and leave Lockdown selected while tracking. Please let me know if there are further issues (preferably through a help ticket). Worst case scenario we can just disable this check entirely in the next release build. It's supposed to be a helpful reminder, not get in your way.
Chris
Lockdown Creator
Cheers,
Chris
Lockdown Creator
Chris
Lockdown Creator
Chris
Lockdown Creator
At the start of your shot before the head turn, place a single point on the corner of the eye, then track it. Now go to the end of your shot, find the exact same spot, place a point, and track it from the end.
You will have two points tracking the eye from different sides of the face reveal.
To merge them, go to the last frame where the first track looks good, and select it. The frame you select it on is very important, the software remembers this. Then go to the first frame where the ending track looks good, and shift select it. Play through your footage, you should see both points turning red in the "merge area". Press "merge points". Now these two points are blended together, using all the keyframes from before the turn for the first track, blending the first into the second across the merge time, and using all the keyframes from the second track afterward.
We are also making a tool that will allow you to drag keyframes around, and re-track from the adjusted position, that will make this even easier, because "merge points" is sort of clunky with a lot of points. Use this solution for now, just know that a better version is coming soon.
Cheers,
Chris
Lockdown Creator
In the future we will build a feature to expand a comp and offset your points so everything just works. But at the moment we don't have a good automated solution for this.
Chris
Lockdown Creator
Chris
Lockdown Creator
Chris
Lockdown Creator
Chris
Lockdown Creator
We are going to fix this in the next major version we release so you don't need to use this video's solution.
Chris
Lockdown Creator
Sorry for the delay in responding, somehow this slipped through. Can you please submit a help ticket with system information? Anything related to graphics cards would be extremely helpful. There's also a log test I could have you run.
Chris
Lockdown Creator
i just wanted to say that i love lock down
i was wondering if its possible to use a motion vector pass from a 3d package .
lets say i have a 3d scene or character rendered and a motion vector pass of the same scene or character , can i use that pass ? or will i have to let the plugin generate the vector sequence ?
Chris
Lockdown Creator
Chris
Lockdown Creator