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FourPointTrack v1.0
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5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 6.0, 6.1 or later
Linux, Mac, Windows
01 Aug 2010
296
A python script that creates a CornerPin node with added parameters to behave more like a tracker. You copy the tracks into the "User" tab and leave the "To" and "From" x, y fields alone. The User tab also allows you to set a reference frame and has a checkbox with which you can invert the transform from Stabilize to Matchmove. I designed the node out of frustration at the lack of skew/perspective options in the Tracker node and the time it was taking me to try and replicate the functionality of a four-point Stabilize node from Shake with a CornerPin. The CornerPin thus offers 2 major benefits over using a regular CornerPin for this purpose:
1) Allows you to set a reference frame for the Matchmove whilst only having to copy/link four tracks into the node, as opposed to writing out expressions for each of the other 8 From/To x/y fields.
2) Allows you to invert the move from Stabilize to Matchmove with a single checkbox, allowing you to check your track easily before employing it as a Matchmove.
N.B. I have included in the script the paragraph whereby i added it to my toolbar, even though I can't seem to include the icons it refers to. You will probably want to edit this if you wish to add the plugin to your toolbar. Apologies for this. I am very new to scripting and I couldn't figure out the best way to make it easy to install (or even whether it counts as a python script or a plugin). Everyone I have sent it to seems to be thrilled with it, so I thought it would be best to upload it here even though I couldn't figure out the best way to distribute it through a site such as this. Once I have figured it out, I will reupload it as v.1.1.
Comments
can u please tell me the process.
1) Right-click on any tab.
2) Choose Script Editor
3) Copy the text from the script into the lower half of the script editor
4) HIt command-enter on a mac to input the script (ctrl-enter on windows/linux?)
But you want the script to run from start-up so you want it in the menu.py file in your .nuke folder.
This is because:
-Gizmos can't be cloned and cloning tracker nodes is incredibly useful
-You can't put tracker controls into a gizmo from what I can tell, although I may be wrong
One of the original benefits of this tool was its ability to invert the CornerPin but Nuke's CornerPin now has an invert button. Nevertheless, this is still much more useful than a regular CornerPin node for four-point tracking. Perhaps here is a better explanation of its benefits:
-The usual way to do a 4-point track in nuke is to use the Tracker node and then copy the tracks into the "to" fields of a CornerPin node. The object you are tracking in would then be matchmoved from its original four corners to wherever the four tracks are on any given frame. This is all well and good if you are tracking a rectangular object onto a plane whose four corners are trackable but generally you look for the best four points on the plane and you want to line up the object your tracking in with a separate CornerPin/Trans form node above the animated one. This node allows you to control the track and the non-animated line-up separately without having to write a ton of expressions.
-The other advantage is that you can set the reference frame at which the from and the to fields are the same. This means you can stabilize/match move the object to any reference frame you want really easily, making it easier to combine different tracker nodes and change your approach at any point in your workflow.
I suspect eventually Nuke will put skew and perspective buttons in the Tracker node and this will become redundant. The planar tracker has already made me use this half as much as I used to.
There are still a few problems with it. It doesn't connect to the selected node when you create one and it always appears at the same coordinates regardless of where you are in the node tree. I hope to fix these once I better understand python.
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