Russ Andersson demonstrates how to do 2D and 3D insertions in shots such as replacing a screen on a digital tablet or phone using Syntheyes which is normally a 3D tracker, however with a bit of elbow grease can be fitted to track inherently 2D type of objects.
Russ writes: “Frequently folks need to do 2D and 3D inserts on hand-held objects such as an iPad or phone. Typically they wind up needing technical support. Tracking a FLAT object poses a problem—since it is inherently an ALL 2D object, SynthEyes can’t pull 3D data out of it like it would normally. Solving such shots isn’t hard, and this tutorial shows how to do it, based on measured coordinates. The same technique applies if you are tracking a shot where the only visible thing is a flat floor, for example.
The tracking is 100% supervised, as is typical for object tracking, and you’ll see why! You’ll see me doing it using a full gamut of keyboard accelerators — but you may have to pay attention or check the manual to see what they are. There are some useful tips in there. If you get bored, you can jump ahead to 15:23 in the tutorial, where I get on with the solving.
A zip file with the source imagery and two sni files is posted in the Sample Files section of the web site. If you make a cool experiment with it, let us know!
BTW, see that “unlock” move on the mypad 42? It’s available for licensing today! Drop me a line and I’ll put you in touch with my lawyer. 😉
PS- If you need to track a shot with a real iPad etc, if at all possible add tracking dots to it before shooting. If you have to work just from the corners of the display, it’s likely to be a tough slog.”
