Note: Occasionally a client may opt to remove a piece, or they may go out of business, merge with another company, etc. In those cases, I do my best to put my latest version here. This tutorial text to go along with a tutorial video was for School of Motion. I’ve embedded the tutorial video below as it might have been originally.
Motion tracking is one of the most used tools in an After Effects artists’ arsenal, but it can come with plenty of headaches if not tackled properly. In this quick tutorial, visual effects artist and motion designer Mark Christiansen lays out a tip he thinks will blow your mind – and we think he’s right!
In the video, Mark uses Mocha AE and a simple stop sign video to show you the most efficient way to track, remove and replace elements.
Mocha Tracking In After Effects Tutorial
Check out Mark’s Mocha tracking tutorial below and be sure to download the project file and follow along.
Mocha Tracking in After Effects Tutorial Project Files
Download Mark’s project files so you can follow along with the tutorial.
<project files link>
Mocha Tracking in After Effects Tutorial Explained
Simply removing the word “stop” from the stop sign may look easy on the surface, but if you approach it wrong, you’ll be “fighting the software the entire time”, as Mark points out.
To do it the easy way, you’ll be using Mocha AE, which comes free with After Effects. Mocha can track a large area of an image, even picking up on perspective change, so you’ll use it to track the sign.
Even the relatively light version of Mocha for AE is very powerful. Check out VFX For Motion if you want to really get into Mocha’s depths.
Once Mocha is tracking the sign properly, go back to After Effects. You’ll find corner pin data for the sign, and now you can add the logo and apply the same corner pin to that.
Now your logo is stuck to your sign, but its dimensions are altered. One of the main challenges in using Mocha for this procedure is dealing with this, as well as removing the word “stop”. Creating a clean patch of the sign is one way, but that’s going to be a pain. Mark has a better way.
The Secret
This is the big, fancy secret Mark talks about which will save a ton of time. Instead of trying to create a patch of the sign, we’ll take a different approach.
First, find a frame where the sign is big and clear and add a marker.
Go to mocha and set the surface to full-size on that frame.
Head back to After Effects, create a still of the frame, pre-compose it, and apply the mocha corner pin data. Once you have your pre-comp, set the freeze-frame to guide layer.
Now that your new layer is tracking perfectly with the shot, anything you do to it will translate on the footage. For example, if you reverse the hue (not our ultimate goal but good for demo purposes), that will show up.
Now it’s just a matter of removing “stop” with some clever clone stamping in Photoshop, inserting the logo, and finishing up with some detail work in order to really sell it.
Deep Dive Into VFX
Now you’ve acquired one of Mark’s favorite Mocha tricks. This technique will save you a lot of time, and we hope you use it often! If you want to dive deeper into compositing techniques like tracking, match moving, roto and more, all with the help of experienced industry pros and fun real-world challenges, check out School of Motion’s VFX for Motion course.