New Ae Plug Lockdown knocks out tough to track warping surfaces.

With all the fantastic tools out there for tracking, VFX faith is high that you can run in and track and get out fast without too much effort. Mocha and Ae trackers perhaps make a lot of us overconfident in some of the shots that we encounter. Just recently we had to track gunshot wounds on an overzealous actor’s twisting bare-chested torso. It was a nightmare, really. That’s why when I watched the first few seconds of the promo vid for a new After Effects plugin, it super-piqued my interest. Lockdown is a revolutionary new tool that lets you track warping surfaces easily.

“Revolutionary” is a term that might get thrown out there way too soon, and indeed, it does seem a bit hyperbolic on half the cases. This time, however, I do think that it is warranted. Lockdown makes short work of tracking wrinkles, warping surfaces and what’s more works with mocha tracked surfaces too. The plugin lets you generate a mesh from tracked points that will bend with the footage.

The plugin comes from Chris Vranos who you might remember as the creator of composite brush, another game-changer for the Ae community.

Lockdown for Ae is 20% Off until Oct 12 – learn more here.