Tracking Heads with GeoTracker for Blender Tutorial

In this tutorial, we will show you how to quickly and easily make someone wear a CG motorcycle helmet in a live-action video using the combination of GeoTracker and FaceBuilder for Blender. You will see the whole pipeline from building a custom head model based on the snapshots taken right in GeoTracker, to using head tracking results for animating an imported 3D model, applying materials and compositing it into the shot. Follow this step-by-step video guide to create cool dynamic visual effects on a video all inside blender!
Timecodes:
0:00 - Intro & Highlights
0:11 - Building a head model
2:14 - Tracking the head
3:13 - Use tracking results for animation and visual effects
4:03 - Add Materials
6:22 - Compositing
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[@xalener]

my grandma had a geo tracker in 98 those things are appreciating last I saw nice plugin too, looks intuitive

[@swalihstudios]

three days ago i learned about geotracker. I am also struggling with tracking geotracker changed everything thank you .

[@AllThingsFilm1]

This is fantastic. Just what I need for a scifi short film I am making.

[@ickletoonies]

This is incredible. I’m definitely downloading this.

[@AlexisRivera3D]

This is crazy. I love it

[@vingilda]

This is amazing! Ran to try) thank you!

[@AndyTanguay]

Wow. stunning addon!

[@AlfieVaughan]

This is awesome guys! I've used your tools a lot in Nuke and very excited to see them in Blender. Keep up the good work!

[@keentools]

Thanks! ❤️

[@lincolnsmithtbp]

this is so magical, I'm so happy to see it for Blender. All of your tools, and promise they hold elevate my VFX work so much. One note is that i'd never use Blender for adding grain. that's just ludicrous! lol. But i understand that if you don't have a compositing software, I suppose it can come in handy.

Woaw, for a future personnal project, I think I'll get the two ;)

[@AgainbaconYT]

THANKS BRO. I CAN FINALLY DO BACON HAIRS NOW, THANKS MAN

[@abhijithsjayan9575]

Much awaited❤

[@eugeniuszjanuszko]

thank You!

[@AudreyGoncalves-]

The world should watch this

[@artviz5477]

best tuto

[@QuantayPeoples]

Neat!

[@FedTalk]

did the mesh animate with it. like the emotions and expression. i think this can be an amazing feature more. and im already grateful with that

[@keentools]

Hi! Please note that GeoTracker doesn't support tracking of emotions and expressions, it can only track head movements. We have a separate add-on for facial tracking called FaceTracker, but it is currently only available for Nuke.

[@LearnMinecraft1]

WTF really mind blowing brooooooooooooo o ooo ooo o o oo o oo oo oo oo oo oo o o oo ooooooo oo oo oo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[@Cyb11893]

Cool

[@ukmonk]

This is fantastic! So glad its been released for Blender! When it becomes a paid sub, will Geotracker and Facebuilder come in one package please?

[@keentools]

Hi, Thanks! Although FaceBuilder and GeoTracker come together in the Blender pack, they will need individual subscriptions. GeoTracker for Blender beta will stay free until its official release. Once stable, it'll need its own subscription but can be used on all supported platforms like Nuke, After Effects, and Blender.

[@ukmonk]

Thank you for replying!! @@keentools

[@elvissilvamedina]

👏👏👏

[@fionacai3786]

Hi! Thanks for the video! Just purchased the program trying to learn how to use it, I was just wondering how to apply this method to a still image?

[@nicholasdiudin]

нужно тестить !!!!!

[@fantastic_xg9056]

br good

[@kieronestrada6402]

Will you be doing a tutorial about Camera Tracking for this Blender add-on? Object tracking looks great but would love to compare your camera tracker to Blender's.

[@keentools]

It's already in production! Stay tuned

[@tomspiers2087]

So you guys are doing a camera tracker!? that would be amazing if we had an alternative to AE's "all or nothing" camera tracker, a Camera tracker with a degree of control in After Effects would be amazing I would buy that in a heartbeat.@@keentools

[@keentools]

In GeoTracker for Blender, you can select tracking mode depending on your needs between Geometry and Camera, so it's possible to track both with the add-on. We meant that the Camera tracking video is in production :)

[@kieronestrada6402]

@@keentools fantastic!! Looking forward!!

[@kickassmovies5952]

some part of Neck is still intersecting with the helmet

[@Nedy_Pictures]

How can we get shadows that the helmet is casting?

[@keentools]

Hi! In short, you'll need to set up a shadow catcher to get them. - First, add a plane that will catch the shadows cast by the helmet. - Ensure you have a light source in your scene that will cast shadows from the helmet onto the shadow catcher. - Then enable "Shadow Catcher" in the Object Properties. - Render your scene. In the Render Properties tab, ensure you're using the Cycles render engine. - Composite this render with your original footage. We'll dive into this process in detail in our upcoming tutorial on Camera Tracking with GeoTracker, so stay tuned!

[@Nedy_Pictures]

@@keentools Thanks for response, but can we use the head model that we created on face builder? as Shadow catcher

[@keentools]

​Certainly, you can. However, we cannot guarantee optimal results in this case, but it's worth trying out.

[@juanchurrete]

And how do I save the footage? When I try to render the animation it only shows the head created and the 3d model parented to it, but not the video footage.

[@keentools]

Use combination of Movie Clip, Render Layers, Alpha Over and Composite nodes connected as shown starting from 6:30. Search for compositing in Blender tutorials for more detailed info. We mostly focus on tracking issues in this vid.

[@DawgHouseVideo]

I love your tools

[@soardxyz3356]

hey this looks really cool. I wanted to give it a try but when i click track or refine i get an error saying "Precalc has problems. Check it" any ideas what this could be?

[@keentools]

Hey! Please make sure that the analysis range for the start and end frames contains images in the footage. You can check this by scrolling through the footage in pin mode from the start frame right up to the end frame. It's possible that the frame range for analysis is more extensive, either at the beginning or the end. If everything looks okay, then you should re-analyse. In short, this error means that there are no calculated frames from the analysis file in the selected tracking range, suggesting some frames might be missing.

[@realkut6954]

hello, there are not enough tutorials on blender. Can we track several different targets in the same video? example tracker the hand then the eyes?

[@keentools]

Hi! We're in the process of creating new tutorials for Blender, so stay tuned! Yes, it's possible to track different targets in the same footage. To do this, please create a second GeoTracker in the scene, load the same footage, and select a different geometry for tracking. However, when it comes to hand tracking, please note that GeoTracker doesn't support deformable geometry tracking.

[@realkut6954]

@@keentools thank you for such a quick response. Can't wait for the new tutorial in more detail on the features

[@SomzGamerz64]

Is it possible to do this with hairs on the sculpted head??

[@nicholasdiudin]

делаю тесты 2 день! уже разобрался что до как ! Вопрос ? Вы будите делать humanBuilder ??

[@keentools]

Hi! We're considering it, but we haven't made any definitive plans yet

[@HerraHazar]

This is cool but having a very hard time getting a stable track, even when refining a lot. Id there a way to "smooth" the result , very kind of jittery ?

[@keentools]

Yes, you can go to the Smoothing tab and try different values for Translation and Rotation. Note that jittering may also be caused by 3D model being too rough.

[@MotuDaaduBhai]

How to track expressions in blender using your keentools? I don't have the money to buy Nuke to use Facetracker and that plugin is not available for Blender. Any workaround?

[@keentools]

Hey there! Unfortunately, Geotracker for Blender doesn't handle facial expression tracking. But, good news! We're actively working on FaceTracker for Blender, and we're hoping to release it in the future.

[@ihassan1001]

Hi there. I followed this tutorial but the helmet i tried to add ends up not rendering nor show up in the viewport...i followed shading and composition part as well.. I'm not sure what's missing

[@keentools]

Check helmet status in the Scene Collection. Make sure that 'hide in viewport' and 'disable in render' icons next to the helmet object are active. If the problem persists, you can record a video showing the problem and send it to [e-mail] we'll take a look

[@MoonLight-yd7bx]

How to render ojects with the video ? When i press F12 or CTRL F12 there are only the object on the scene, not the background video :/

[@keentools]

Hey! Can you please share a screencast of the issue to [e-mail]? It's hard to tell what might go wrong just from your message.

[@Lizeeerd_D]

Hi! please explain how the neck disappears, how does he understand that there is a neck and a jacket, so the back of the helmet should not be visible !? but you can see that the person is blinking! I've already broken my head and even panicked because I don't understand

[@TheAnyaGrig]

as for the neck you can turn it on and off, the back of the helmet is not visible because it is masked out using holdout material

[@asafilms]

it would be fair if the addon for the blender would be free but with a deduction of interest from the transaction if the artist successfully completed the order with this addon

[@nehemiahsomers4141]

what

[@BlueBerryFTW]

After setting up the FB head, pinning the head to each individual reference frame, and trying to track in geotracker, i get an error message "pre calc has problems, check it" How can i proceed?

[@keentools]

Hi! Please make sure that the analysis range for the start and end frames contains images in the footage. You can check this by scrolling through the footage in pin mode from the start frame right up to the end frame. It's possible that the frame range for analysis is more extensive, either at the beginning or the end. If everything looks okay, then you should re-analyse. In short, this error means that there are no calculated frames from the analysis file in the selected tracking range, suggesting some frames might be missing.

[@AdrianLignos3D]

Thank you

[@ouroborostechnologies696]

How do you actually align it? The Blender controls are so so bad

[@keentools]

Hi! It depends on whether you use a mouse or a touch bar. You can contact us at [e-mail], and we'll help you figure that out!

[@caturindrasukmana7673]

Hi, when I hit "Track forward" it doesn't works and there is "Precalc has problems. Check it". May I know why this happen? Thanks in advance

[@keentools]

Hi! Please make sure that the analysis range for the start and end frames contains images in the footage. You can check this by scrolling through the footage in pin mode from the start frame right up to the end frame. It's possible that the frame range for analysis is more extensive, either at the beginning or the end. If everything looks okay, then you should re-analyse. In short, this error means that there are no calculated frames from the analysis file in the selected tracking range, suggesting some frames might be missing.

[@caturindrasukmana7673]

@@keentools Ahha it works!! Thanks mate!!

[@BlueBerryFTW]

Can this be done on vertical footage?

[@keentools]

Hi, yes sure!

[@AdrianLignos3D]

How can i bring in vertical footage so that it comes in upright? It comes in horizontal to match the camera size even after changing the camera to 1080 X 1920

[@keentools]

Typically, video orientation is auto-corrected using metadata. However, Blender doesn't handle this natively, and we utilize its tools to read the video. To tackle this, we added a 'Split video to frames' command. This allows you to split the video to sequence and then rotate it to any angle divisible by 90 degrees, which can then be used with GeoTracker. Check out these screenshots for details: www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/tn5lizb36vqc1hihy4q1g/h?rlkey=0yci7bu03xpaojwsl3kzvxamb&dl=0.

[@Inferencer]

why when I render it only shows the hat model im using and the face in the video but not the rest of the video such as body or background?

[@darioquizhpi7221]

Because you need to compose that render on top of the original video

[@Inferencer]

@@darioquizhpi7221 ahh fixed it watched it all again step by step dunno what i missed

[@keentools]

Hey, if you're facing any issues, feel free to reach out at [e-mail]. Just include a screencast of the problem, along with your Blender project and sources. We'll do our best to help you out!

[@SairawkerhX]

Ok Then, where did we find and use the head 3D Model ..

[@keentools]

In this particular example, we built the 3D head with FaceBuilder - our other add-on for Blender from the snapshots.

[@stana1980]

Thanks for the tutorial. Correct me if I'm wrong what is the use of tracking and adding the 3d head model when you can directly track and add the helmet is there any benefits. Thanks Jesus loves you

[@TheAnyaGrig]

You can’t track any object with GT without its model, you always need to load some model in the geometry input to track the object in the footage

[@keentools]

Hi! We track with a 3D head model first to accurately capture the head's movements. This allows us to sync the helmet perfectly with the head's motion. GeoTracker calculates the movement of an object by trying to match it with the same object on the video. So, it's very important that the model you use for tracking closely replicates the shape of the object on the video.

[@stana1980]

@@keentools thanks for the prompt reply

[@Jake-bu5rf]

Maya?

[@keentools]

Maybe someday

[@huynhvantrong1999]

i can't track, it's " Precalc has proplems. Check it. Can u help me?

[@keentools]

Hey! Please make sure that the analysis range for the start and end frames contains images in the footage. You can check this by scrolling through the footage in pin mode from the start frame right up to the end frame. It's possible that the frame range for analysis is more extensive, either at the beginning or the end. If everything looks okay, then you should re-analyse. In short, this error means that there are no calculated frames from the analysis file in the selected tracking range, suggesting some frames might be missing.

[@huynhvantrong1999]

@@keentools thank you so much

[@wildartworks]

A me il programma non funziona. Come errore scrive sempre: precalc has problem. check it. Ma non so perché.

[@keentools]

Hey! Please make sure that the analysis range for the start and end frames contains images in the footage. You can check this by scrolling through the footage in pin mode from the start frame right up to the end frame. It's possible that the frame range for analysis is more extensive, either at the beginning or the end. If everything looks okay, then you should re-analyse. In short, this error means that there are no calculated frames from the analysis file in the selected tracking range, suggesting some frames might be missing.

[@wildartworks]

Ok thanks i try@@keentools

[@nikhilnaik3184]

How to get rid of jliter plz reply

[@keentools]

Try experimenting with 'Smoothing' settings. Keep in mind that they only take effect during tracking and refining. To see changes, you'll need to re-launch the tracking or refining process. A setting of 0 indicates no smoothing, whereas a setting of 1 makes the adjusted parameters nearly static.

[@nikhilnaik3184]

@@keentools do i need tracking points because i am tracking fingers it is having rotations and x y transition what i can fo for it

[@nicholasdiudin]

(Control-Z) нажмешь раза 4 вылетает

[@keentools]

If you experience further crashes, please email us at [e-mail] with your OS and Blender version. We'll do our best to locate the issue.

[@bulgakovaartist]

What about head with hair though? All tutorials I see are about bald dudes, what if I wanna track someone with long hair?

[@keentools]

Hair is no problem. The parts hidden behind it can be masked out and not affect tracking. You can choose between Surface, Compositing and Sequence masks. We have a special video guide on masking here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a2GknYicZtOmfLMsi=ecVNhJq5HCQHWAuH

[@bulgakovaartist]

@@keentools thank you! Gonna check it out asap

[@nicholasdiudin]

провожу тесты скажу так не очень цепляется трек!!! проще в ручную отследить прям в блендере !!

[@keentools]

Hey, could you send this tricky shot and a screencast of the issue to [e-mail]? We're here to assist!

[@screenkiduniya3717]

Are you sure its free?

[@keentools]

Hey! It was free in beta, but now it's a paid tool with a 15-day free trial.