There’s one feature missing from Final Cut Pro
that I really wish it had,
and that’s motion tracking.
Luckily, you can download and install
a plugin that does just that.
The FCPX Auto Tracker from Pixel Film Studios.
Hey guys, whats up.
This is Serge,
and welcome back to my channel.
Today, we’ll be taking a look at
FCPX Auto-Tracker 2.0 plugin
from Pixel Film Studios.
Full disclosure,
this video is sponsored by Pixel Film Studios,
but I have been using this plugin for some time now,
and believe me, it’s’ awesome.
Let’s take a look.
After you download and install
the FCPX Auto-Tracker plugin,
you have a couple options of how you apply it.
You can either apply it directly to your clip
from the effects browser,
or you can apply it as an adjustment layer
from the titles browser.
Furthermore, you have the option of tracking a drop zone,
where you can add an icon,
an image or even a video
and track it to the action in your clip,
tracking text,
or both a drop zone and text combined together.
So, let’s take a look at tracking text first,
and use an adjustment layer from the titles browser.
Select the Text layer from the titles browser,
and with your playhead at the start of your timeline,
press Q to connect it above your clip.
Ripple trim it to the same length as your clip,
or however long you want the text displayed for.
Next, make sure your playhead
is at the start of the track layer,
and with the title clip selected,
head up to the inspector,
and click the little T to select the titles inspector.
First thing we need to do is track our clip.
Click the track editor button
to open it up in its own separate window.
Now, in order to get a good track,
you need to select an area with high contrast.
If you have a dark subject against a dark background,
you probably won’t get a very good track.
The FCPX Auto-Tracker 2.0 l
ets you track your subjects position,
rotation and scale.
Tracking position is the easiest,
so if that all you need, selecting Position Only
will give you the best result.
If you want to track rotation and scale,
you have to make sure the subject you’re tracking is sharp,
and clearly visible.
For this first example, since our subject is far away,
and a little bit blurry,
let’s select Position Only.
Next, in the viewer,
position and adjust the red box over your subject.
Bring the track quality slider all the way up,
and hit the track forward button.
Setting the track quality slider to 100 percent
will give you the best result,
but will also take the longest.
Bringing this down,
will speed up your track,
but in some cases may not be as accurate.
After your track is finished,
click the Export Data button,
to export all your created keyframes
and add them to your adjustment layer.
In the inspector,
since we only tracked the position,
de-select the Rotation Data,
and set the Scale Data to Off.
Turn on your Text,
scroll down until you see a text box,
and enter your text.
There’s two ways to adjust the position and size of your text.
You can either use the on-screen controls in the viewer,
or you can adjust it in the inspector.
For my example, I’ll first adjust the scale,
and adjust the position
by adjusting the X and Y position values.
If you want to further customize your text,
you can do so in the Text inspector.
I’ll change the font,
and add an outline for mine,
just to make it stand out a little.
After the clip renders out,
this is what we have.
Our text is perfectly tracked to our subject.
For our next example,
instead of text,
we’ll add an image,
and apply the track directly to our clip.
Also, instead of tracking a subject,
we’ll track the background.
From the effects browser,
grab the Drop Zone effect,
and drag and drop it over your clip.
With the playhead at the start of your clip,
click the track editor button,
and select a small,
high contrast area of your background.
For this example,
lets use one of the numbers above the door.
Set the track quality to 100 percent,
and for tracking type,
select Position, Scale and Rotation.
Click the track forward button.
Once the track is finished,
export your data to apply it to your clip.
Next, in the inspector,
check the Drop Zone Checkbox,
and select an image or video
you want to track to your background.
Adjust the scale, position and rotation,
either using the on screen controls,
or in the inspector.
We’ll let our clip render out,
and this is our finished result.
The FCPX Auto - Tracker plugin from Pixel Film Studios,
in my mind, is a must have plugin for Final Cut Pro.
It’s a tool every editor should have in their toolbox,
and, as long as you take the time
to make sure you use proper settings,
and choose the right part of your clip to track,
it does an amazing job.
If you’re interested in this plugin,
when checking out,
use the coupon code Sergepixel
for 30 percent off your purchase,
limited to the first 500 users.
Once again,
a huge thank you to Pixel Film Studios
for sponsoring this video,
and supporting smaller creators like me.
Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next week.