User Guide

407
ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5.0
User Guide
3 Click OK in the Motion Tracker Options dialog box and, in the Tracker panel, click
Analyze. Watch the tracking to make sure it is accurate. If not, press any key to stop
tracking, adjust the settings, and begin again.
4 To preview tracking, press the spacebar.
5 When you are satisfied with the track, click Apply to copy keyframes to the selected layer.
Stabilizing motion
If you shoot with a handheld or airborne camera, or bump a camera during shooting, you
may need to stabilize footage. The Stabilizer controls track the specified range of bumpy
motion and then adjust the layer’s anchor point or rotation. When played back, the
motion appears smooth because the layer itself moves incrementally to offset the
unwanted motion.
Track a bright, stationary object in the range of footage you are stabilizing, to ensure that
you are stabilizing only unwanted motion. If the size of your motion footage layer is the
same as or smaller than the size of the composition, frame the layer to hide its edges by
precomposing it. Otherwise, the offset motion that the Stabilizer controls create for the
layer will be visible.
Like the Tracker, the Stabilizer tracks position, rotation, or both. If you track position, the
Stabilizer controls generate keyframes for the layer’s anchor point, offsetting the position
of the object you tracked. If you track rotation, the Stabilizer controls generate rotation
keyframes for the layer, offsetting the rotation you tracked.
To stabilize motion:
1 Select the motion footage layer you want to stabilize and open it in a Layer window.
2 In the Layer window menu, choose Tracker/Stabilizer Controls.
3 In the Track and Stabilize section, click the Type menu and choose Stabilize.
4 Next to the Type menu, choose the motion that you want to stabilize.
5 Specify the work area you want to track by moving the current-time marker and using
the In and Out buttons to set In and Out points. Make sure that the first frame you track
is stable. Position and rotation in subsequent frames will be adjusted relative to the first
frame.
UG.book Page 407 Wednesday, February 21, 2001 12:05 PM