< Previous | Contents | Next >
Once the tracking data is complete, the Result section lets you determine what and how to composite a video layer on top of the moving surface.
— Output: There are six options for what to do with the resulting tracking data.
— Warp Input 2 Onto 1: Warps the Surface Tracker’s second RGB input to the shape and position of the tracked mesh and composites it onto the clip.
— Warp Input 2 Onto Blank: Warps the Surface Tracker’s second RGB input to the shape and position of the tracked mesh and passes the Alpha channel information, allowing you to perform the actual composite in another node or effect.
— Warp Input 1’s Alpha: Applies the results of the Surface Tracker to the first Key input (the second RGB and Key inputs are ignored). If the first Key input receives an Alpha channel from another node with, say, a drawn shape, or a key, or other Alpha data, it can be warped from the first frame to others.
— Create Mesh Alpha Mask: Produces an Alpha mask, which follows the position and shape of the outline of the mesh. All inputs and alphas are ignored.
— Stabilize-Warp Input 1: Performs an inverse warp to the Reference Frame (again, this should be a frame that ideally is as close to and flat-on to the camera as possible). The result is a stationary image within the boundary with all the lighting changes and details of the surface’s motion shown on it. This now stabilized image can be modified with any of DaVinci Resolve’s existing tools, bypassing any issues caused by this area’s motion in the original video clip. Once modified, you warp the result back onto the original footage by using a copy of the original Surface Tracker node but with the Rewarp Stabilized Clip setting here instead.
— Rewarp Stabilized Clip: Composites the output of the Stabilize-Warp Input 1 selection back onto the original video clip, after it’s been modified. This option is designed to be used in conjunction with a copy of a Surface node using Stabilize-Warp Input 1. It seamlessly
blends whatever additional modifications that were made between the two Surface Trackers back together.
— Overlay / Alpha Source: Allows you to select which frames of the overlay or alpha are used to create the result.
— First Frame: Useful for freezing content from an overlay clip to use a still frame as a static texture. In DaVinci Resolve’s External Matte controls the offset can be chosen, but also you can use the same frame as the texture reference with Reference Frame.
— Reference Frame: Starts at the currently defined reference frame (see below), instead of at frame 0. The reference frame is the frame which the mesh overlay is initially positioned in its “un-warped” state, and the positioning controls are active.
— Each Frame: Treats the overlay or alpha as a clip, warping each frame in turn. This is necessary for animated overlays or re-warping stabilized content. It should be noted that in the Key controls on the Color page, when an External Matte is selected, options appear to control the lifetime of the external clip.
— Expand / Contract: Allows you to add or remove pixels from the edges of the overlay or alpha. It is important to note that the expanded area is not tracked and will not be stabilized to the content.
— Softness: Blurs the edge of the Expand/Contract tool to blend more realistically into the scene.
— Motion Blur: This slider lets you add motion blur to the overlay to preserve the illusion that it was actually captured with the scene.