Hey everyone, welcome to the first episode of our CamTrackAR masterclass! By the end of this series,
you are going to have all the knowledge you need to take full advantage of our free
virtual production studio app for iOS, CamTrackAR.
In this first episode we’re going to be covering what CamTrackAR is,
why it’s so cool and why you should be using it, and how to do just that.
We’ll go over the controls and film a shot against green screen. In the later episodes
I’ll show you what to do after filming has been completed- how to take the data from
the app and plug it into the software of your choice to get that perfect final composite.
So first off, let’s talk about what CamTrackAR is and what it does. When it comes to creating
visual effects, motion tracking is a cornerstone of that process. This is the act of replicating
the camera’s motion so that your effects appear stuck on correctly to your footage. If you don’t
motion track and you haven’t shot on a tripod, the effects won’t look integrated into the scene.
Prior to CamTrackAR, the process of motion tracking was done
after filming was completed. It’s also a manual step in the workflow,
the computer is the one that figures it out, but you have to kickstart that process and make
corrections and adjust settings if it doesn’t do it correctly. This can make motion tracking
difficult and time-consuming, because things like motion blur or lack of detail in your shot
can sometimes completely invalidate a good track, and you have to do it frame-by-frame.
So what does CamTrackAR do differently? Well, it records the tracking data as you record the
footage. This means that when it comes time to composite, you can skip that entire step
of motion tracking the shot. CamTrackAR also has numerous features to previsualize the VFX
before you start shooting, which we’ll cover in this video. This makes it easier to communicate
your ideas to your colleagues and get a better idea of the final result earlier in the process.
This is super innovative stuff, and we’re giving you this power for free and on your mobile device,
which most everyone has access to nowadays. So, how do you get in on this new and exciting tech?
You can install CamTrackAR on your iOS device just like any other app, from the official App Store.
Feel free to read more about it in the description, or check out what
devices it’s compatible with in the Information section.
Let’s hit FREE to download the app. It’s now ready to go.
As mentioned at the beginning, you can download CamTrackAR for free, and this includes free export
to HitFilm and Blender and 1 point anchor in the app, which I’ll demo in a minute.
The paid version of CamTrackAR gets you access to several professional, high-end features,
most of which were added in the recent update. This includes export to more formats:
After Effects, Autodesk FBX export, and full export of the raw data to Plain Text, like
JSON (.json) and CSV (.csv). You get multiple positioning points while using the app,
live Chroma Key capabilities, as well as the ability to import 3D models in real
time with 3D USDZ and Image import. You also get access to all future updates for the app itself.
You can get access to CamTrackAR through either a subscription for $4.99 a month,
or a one-time purchase of $29.99. We wanted to make this powerful
tech accessible to all kinds of filmmakers.
Now with that all cleared up, let’s take a look at CamTrackAR in action.
No matter what the end result of using CamTrackAR ends up being, the first step is to always scan
the scene, just by walking around and pointing the camera at different things. This helps ARKit
get familiar with your location, and build a reference for how the environment is laid out.
The Tracking icon in the top left here gives you some more information about how that’s going.
You can reset the Tracking data and start again by tapping the icon.
Once our scene has been scanned,
we can set the floor plane by pointing our device at it and hitting this button.
We’re now ready to record, but there are a few things you should know how to do beforehand.
Starting in the top left of the interface here. You can tap this number 60,
which is the recording frame rate, to change it to 30 if that better fits
your edit. You’re limited to recording in HD at the moment, but this is a limitation of
ARKit. We’re working with Apple to open up more options on available devices.
In the center here we have our timecode, which will start counting when we record.
This question mark icon will open up the manual in your browser-
handy if you need to quickly check what an icon means or need more instructions.
Moving on to this set of icons in the bottom right- these give you
more control over how the camera functions before you record.
The first one here is for White Balance- you can toggle on and off the Auto function
and scroll the wheel to set a custom Kelvin temperature. We then have 2 controls for Exposure-
a wheel to brighten or darken your scene, and a button to activate or disable Auto Exposure.
Toggling this back and forth will undo any changes you’ve made to the wheel. And finally
an Auto Focus icon, to stop the camera from refocusing if you change distance to your subject.
You can set the focus by enabling it, allowing the camera to focus, then disabling the auto function.
When using the Chroma Keying function CamTrackAR it’s recommended that you
turn off these Auto settings, as any changes while filming can affect the quality of the key.
Which brings us to the icons on the bottom left.
We first have the Set Floor Plane button we used earlier. Then we have an icon to add anchors into
our 3D scene. You get 1 anchor if you’re using the free version of CamTrackAR, and more than
one if you’ve either subscribed or bought the full version. To remove a point you’ve placed,
point your green grid target at it and then hit the trash can icon that appears on the right.
If you’re using a green screen, CamTrackAR allows you to key it out in realtime with
this next button here. Open up the settings and activate the Chroma Key function. CamTrackAR will
look at the scene and key out the most present color. Here you have several sliders to adjust
the strength of the key. You can see what it’s doing by referring to the color chart onscreen.
This next icon lets you import content into the 3D space. You can import a USDZ
3D model or an image from your Files or Albums. I’ll go ahead and do that now.
The item will now appear on the target in the 3D world
and will move around with the target as though stuck to it.
You can now press the to place the object in the world at that position and orientation.
Swipe your finger horizontally across the screen to rotate the object. Pinch the screen to scale
it up or down in size. Use 2 fingers and swipe vertically on the screen to raise or lower the
object. If you want to put the item back on the floor after adjusting the altitude, just
double-tap the screen to reset its position on the floor.
Press the green plus to place the object.
If you find the view is getting cluttered, use the icons in the top right. The first controls
the view of the 3D world. The middle controls the visibility of helper overlays, like the gridlines.
And the last turns on and off the camera feed.
Depending on what you want the end VFX shot to be, it might be helpful to place an anchor point.
This will come through in the data later, so for example in this first
shot here I’d place an anchor where I want my 3D model to be.
Now we’re ready to record. Remember that the only
things that get recorded are the raw camera feed and the tracking data.
Any Chroma Key or models you’ve placed into your scene won’t be recorded into the shot.
When you’re finished recording, a popup will notify you that the files have been saved on
your device. They can be found the Files app. What I like to do is compress the folder first,
and send it to myself using email or Slack, but you can do what works best for you.
You can also just send the individual files you need, if you want to save space.
Now that we've got the files onto our computer we can begin the compositing process, and that's
what we're going to cover in the next episodes in this masterclass. We'll take a look at HitFilm,
After Effects, Blender, as well as Unreal Engine. If you have any questions about what we covered
today feel free to leave a comment below. Don't forget to subscribe and ring the bell so that
you're notified of when the next episodes go live. I'll see you all in the next video.