Video: Making an LED Tracker
All credit for this method goes to www.vfxhack.com. You can find the original article by clicking here.
Last week I was sent to VFX supervise a night shoot in Germany (details of which will have to wait for a future post), so I thought it would be useful to have some LED trackers in my toolkit. All the components can be bought online from www.maplin.co.uk or by visiting one of their stores. Here’s a list of parts you’ll need:
(You can choose which color LEDs to use)
| Large LED Tracker | ||
| Description | Maplin Code | Price |
| Red 5mm LED (Pack of 10 x random) | N14GL | £2.79 |
| Green 5mm LED (Pack of 10 x random) | N20GL | £2.79 |
| 3V Lithium Coin Cell Battery CR1620 | GU11M | £2.59 |
| 13mm Heatshrink Tubing (per meter) | YR18U | £2.59 |
| Small LED Tracker | ||
| Description | Maplin Code | Price |
| Red 3mm LED (Pack of 10 x random) | N21GL | £1.79 |
| Green 3mm LED (Pack of 10 x random) | N22GL | £1.79 |
| 3V Lithium Coin Cell Battery CR1220 | ZB77J | £2.59 |
| 10mm Heatshrink Tubing (per meter) | YR17T | £2.39 |
Of course, when I got to the shoot, I didn’t need them (why does that always happen!). Anyway, here’s the video:
I shot this on my Canon 5D Mk II with the 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM lens. I wanted to try out a bit of video and thought it would be a good test. I’m really pleased with the quality, but getting focus is a major pain in the backside.
Also, is it me or does the video look like it’s sped up slightly? I guess it might be to do with the 5D shooting at 30fps – maybe there’s some sort of frame dropping down conversion by Vimeo that’s making it look like that. I’ll look into it, but add a comment if you happen to know anything.
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
Great making of video ! Thanks !
You’re welcome!
Great idea !
Hey Chris! Nice to see you lurking here. I’ve just had a look on your site at the Take One Painting stuff that you guys have been doing – cool stuff. Much bigger and better than the one we did! Nice work.
Yep, the LED tracker’s a great idea but it’s not mine, got it from http://www.vfxhack.com
hey, great idea… thanks!!
I’m new to trackers – whats the best way to remove these from the footage, after doing a 3d track?
re: vimeo – it converts 30fps source to 24fps which can look pretty odd sometimes.
check out zacuto zfinder 2 for help with focusing!
cheers
> I’m new to trackers – whats the best way to remove
> these from the footage, after doing a 3d track?
Nearly all 2D compositing packages have some sort of paint/clone feature. The step you’d follow would be to track the markers, and then use that track to attach a paint stroke to. Just think of it as using the Copy/Stamp brush in Photoshop, but moving it along an animated path.
> check out zacuto zfinder 2 for help with focusing!
Thanks, yes absolutely! I stumbled across that the other day. Here’s a link if anyone else hasn’t seen it yet:
http://www.store.zacuto.com/Z-Finder.html
There’s a video review there too. Looks like a pretty essential piece of kit. One to add for the Christmas list.
Have you used it Jouni?
so 2d track the led in after effects, and then attach clone brush to it. I guess the stamp/clone will update the stamp source every frame. Thanks Andy will look into this!
I’ve tried the z-finder and it’s great, really helps with focusing and it provides a point of contact with the body which reduces shakiness when shooting handheld. the price has put me off from buying so far but yes on the Christmas list as well
Leave your response!
Subscribe
Subscribe to the RSS Feed Join me on Twitter
Flickr Feed
Categories
Archives
TD Blogs
Photography
Science Blogs
VFX
Twitter Feed
Tags
Recent Comments
Most Commented
Most Viewed