The element you are tracking should always be within this region, but it can be resized to accommodate large movements of your element. Search Region: The Search Region is the area that After Effects will search to locate the tracked feature. This should surround a distinct visual element, and it should be clearly identifiable in the duration of the track, even if there are changes in light, background, and angle. This is what I’ll be tracking.įeature Region: The Feature Region defines the element in the layer to be tracked. Collectively, these three are called a “tracker.” In this shot, I placed the tracker in the corner of one of the white pills. Each track point contains a Feature Region, a Search Region, and an Attach Point.
Choose “Transform.”Īreas to be tracked are specified by setting the track points in the Layer Panel. There are also several Track Types within the point tracker. Since this is a one-point tracker, we are only checking Position. As you can see, you can track Position, Rotation, and Scale. You can track different areas in a single clip and the Current Track tells you which tracker is currently active.
The Motion Source is your selected layer. Select “Track Motion” in the Tracker Panel. Select the layer, right-click, and choose “Track Motion.” This opens the Tracker Panel as well as the Layer Panel. I have three layers set up: the first is the footage that I’ll be tracking, the second is a Call-Outs AE template by adamshead, and the last is a null object, which will serve as the target for my track.