Anyone use PFTrack before?

[oneinfiniteloop]

I'm using PFTrack to track and solve a shot, and also create a depth map. I started it around 2pm today, and the track and solve took aroun 3-4 hours, and the depth map is taking around 2 hours. Anyone ever experience processing times like these?

I'm using a Mac Dual G5 with 1.5gb of RAM. I'm thinking I'll need a small render farm to get even more complex shots done in a reasonable time!

[Greggl]

Something is definatltly wrong. If you're seeing solves that long, you've got issues
with what its filtering out as bad or questionable data.

What rez? Got a clip of the shot?

[oneinfiniteloop]

I can't post a clip because of non-disclosure reasons. It's DV 24p. It's a really dark shot with most of it in the shadows...don't know if that's part of the problem.

[Matt Grunau]

Oneinf, if it's just for track data, couldn't you lighten it up and really pump up the contrast just for the software?

[Greggl]

Adjusting the gamma works, as does replacing noisy channels. Piping
overall lumanance into the blue or green channel can also help.

[oneinfiniteloop]

Yeah, I've tried that a few different ways, haven't got passable results. Everytime I try to bring up my levels the image gets washed out or falls apart. I had to slam my gamma just to figure out where certain features where on the person I was trying to comp. It finally finished the depth map last night, which is what I really needed to comp in the shot decently.

Maybe I went around the problem wrong, so here is what I'm trying to do. I have to be vague because of non-disclosure reasons so bare with me. I'm trying to comp an effect on a persons moving body part. The body part moves back and forth and the shot is a two-button medium shot with a rack focus, and dark shadows. The part of the body I'm trying to comp to is completely black and cannot be seen throughout the whole shot. A part of the body below it is always in the light so I usually try to track to that.

When I get the effect in place and then track it in, I don't feel a natural z-axis type movement from it. So, I thought a depth map would help sell the shot with body part moving back and forth along the z-axis. Only way I know is to generate one from a 3d track program. ANy other hints to help create a depth map? I guess I could create one from scratch, but the shot is 250 frames in length and that's a lot of roto work.

[Greggl]

Roto and animate the effect to the plate.

[oneinfiniteloop]

Yeah, I was trying to avoid that, tracking does a good job along the x and the y, maybe I'll try to animate along the z to match the depth where need be.

Thanks for the response. I'm going to have to get Tim Dobberts book on the Art of Matchmoving, this stuff is crazy. Plus, optical flow looks like something I would really like to get into.

[Matt Grunau]

if your video is gettting wrecked using levels to bring out contrast, use Duplicates with the Keying>Extract filter to isolate highs and lows. Then apply multiple instances of each with differing blurs set to multiply (for the dark icolations) and screen to bring back detail.


That could work.

ANYTHING has got to be better than roto.

[oneinfiniteloop]

Originally Posted by Rapier_100a

ANYTHING has got to be better than roto.

Agreed! After many hours I finally got a depth map, so I'm going to see how that works tonight. 2D tracking gets the shot in there pretty well, it's just that "kiss of love" I was after.