PFTrack 5.0

Video tracking software.
With its unique feature set and ease of use PFTrack 3.0 takes tracking to the next level. Version 3.0 can now track many separate moving objects within a sequence, as well as solving camera motion issues - users simply export data from tracking groups, whether it's camera data, object movement or motion-capture sessions. With the addition of the unique geometry tracking, V3.0 now allows 3D geometry to be imported into PFTrack and then matched to sequences, making this an ideal tool for head and facial replacement, meaning artists can now be confident that animated CG, when rendered and composited, will exactly match the live action. Complex Geometry can be imported and used to solve cameras in addition to the use of automatic or user placed features. This is perfect for problematic shots or for fast head or face replacement. The new camera solver in version 3.0 is now much faster enabling the software to deal with the most complex of shots.

New fully editable F Curves within PFTrack make cleaning up tracking data extremely easy and accurate. You can quickly view and edit each individual property of the camera within a graph editor in the timeline; curves can be represented by both linear and Bezier splines and simply smoothed or edited using the tools provided. Once edited, the new camera solver quickly produces a new camera without the need to totally re solve every parameter in the sequence.

The, new, fully integrated image based modeling capabilities allow users to quickly build up 3D environments by using the background image as a guide. Previously this has only been available as a stand alone system, so the improved image based modeling tools in V3.0 provide an integrated environment which delivers a much more flexible solution. The application is the perfect tool for animation guidance and pre-visualisation, considering that textured models can be exported to all major 3D applications.

Integrated Z depth extraction tools assign depth data, on a per pixel basis, to sequences for exporting as a grey map. This data can be viewed within PFTrack, in 3D, using the new orthographic view options which can then be broken down into any number of layers.

PFTrack is available for Mac OS X including Tiger and full G5 optimisation, Linux, Windows and IRIX. New licenses cost £3000, $5500, €4500 upgrades from ealier versions £600, $1100, €900. Educational licenses are available for full time students and teachers for £100, $200, €150.

Main features of PFTrack:

Geometry Tracking

Import .obj models from 3D Applications to use as tracking guides

Per Vertex weight painting to imporve tracking of complex shots

Fast head and face replacement using imported geometry

Track set models into footage for set extensions

View geometry as wire frame, transparent and flat shaded modes

Full geometry manipulation tools

Key frame tracking for greater accuracy

Vertex to Pixel pinning

Stereoscopic Tracking

Support for dual camera solve of Left and Right Eye

Automatic calculation of Occular distance and convergence point

Rendering of Anaglyph preview movie complete with tracking markers

Camera Solver

Major Speed Improvments

Motion Capture Solver

Extented Camera Motion Types

Reference Frame support

Solve multiple camera motions in one pass

Independant Motion Group Solving

Partial Solve Saving

Delete camera path over a range of frames

Object Tracking

Track individual rigid moving objects

Export object data independantly of camera motion

Focal length estimation

Intuative 3D estimation tool

Calculate accurate focal lengths with no camera data

Editable F-Curves

Edit any camera parameter within PFTrack and resolve quickly

Editable visual display of Camera and Tracking errors

Integrated Z depth extraction

Extract per pixel depth from moving images

View pixel depth as 3D image

User defined depth layer generation

Export of Z depth data as grey map or mesh

Integrated image based modeling tools

Auto-Mesh modelling tool

Vertex based primitive modelling

Full texture extraction and mapping

Export of geometry to all major 3D systems

Optical Flow Analysis

Optical flow calculation algorithm

Proxy resolution flow field support

Brush-based flow editing tools

Matte and feature-based flow control

Export to floating-point and RGB images

Option to ignore specific user/auto-features from the camera solve

Multiple undo for features and mattes

Cross Platform 64-bit application environment

Support for Cooke lens I-Data

Review movie

New support for Autodesk FBX and Apple Motion

Semi automatic lens distortion correction

Comprehensive image manipulation tools

Ability to snap user loadable test objects to features

Object manipulators to help position test objects

Edit range of frames

Improved Survey Data management

Improved matte editing functionality

Matte-feature attachment

Improved image manipulation algorithms

Support for graphics tablets

Improved calibration algorithm, giving more accurate calibrations of difficult shots

Motion capture for matchmoving non-rigid objects

Survey data points to assist calibration of measured scenes

Feature grouping to manage exported data points

Planar and linear feature constraints in bundle adjustment

Improved feature tracking engine

Improved free-motion camera calibration engine

Per-camera and per-feature statistics (numerical and graph), to help clean up calibration data.

Improved batch manager progress reports

On-screen cache indicator, and improved frame caching algorithm

Improved Shake support, with corner-pin script export

Per-user-feature footage brightness/contrast/etc.. manipulations

Image de-noise functions for improved tracking of noisy footage

Accelerated footage import and playback

Reduced memory usage when auto-tracking long shots

Improved Batch Processing

Render an Open GL preview to disk

Full Mac OS X 10.5 support


Requirements of PFTrack:

Mac OS X 10.3.8 or later including 'Tiger' OS X 10.4

750 MHz PowerPC G4, G5 Recommended

Hard Disk Space - Installation requires 100mb

Suitable space to store footage to be tracked

Memory 512MB

Graphics Card

Must support OpenGL and for SGI platforms a TRAM option is highly recommended.

Working with Large Images

For working with HD and film, it is recommended that a multi-processor system with at least 1GB of RAM should be used.

A fast disk subsystem for loading large image sequences

Spreading processing across clusters via batch processing will result in enormous productivity enhancements

Mouse

A three-button mouse is required for maximum functionality of the software.


Limitations of PFTrack:

Once installed your license will run for 3 days. This provides you with enough time to evaluate the full functionality of the software.