Navigating the World of Planar Tracking: An In-Depth Look at Mocha for After Effects

Planar tracking is one of the useful tracking techniques in After Effects that’s effective at following flat surfaces within a video. Using this technique, you can add a digital billboard to a moving bus or place animated text on a screen.

However, if you're new to planar tracking in After Effects, it's easy to make mistakes that can affect the precision of your tracking results. To avoid these pitfalls, a key tool that many video editors and motion artists often rely on is Mocha AE.

Mocha is an award-winning plug-in included with After Effects that is highly regarded for its advanced tracking and masking capabilities. This plugin simplifies the process by providing precise tracking data, even in difficult scenarios, so you can achieve professional-quality results with less effort. Let’s get into more detail about how Mocha AE works in planar tracking.

Part 1 What is Mocha AE?

As we have briefly mentioned, Mocha AE is designed for planar motion tracking, which is ideal for tasks like adding signs to moving vehicles, buildings, or screens. It’s renowned for its ability to tackle complex visual effects challenges.

Unlike traditional tracking methods that focus on individual track points, Mocha AE tracks "pixel patterns" across entire surfaces. That’s why this approach allows you to handle difficult conditions such as objects moving off-screen, being partially obscured, or footage that’s out of focus. By analyzing multiple points on a plane, Mocha AE calculates and interpolates movement across the surface.

Some of Mocha's main features are:

• Planar Tracking: Mocha’s Planar Tracker tracks objects based on the movement of flat surfaces like walls or screens. This method provides more detailed and consistent tracking of translation, rotation, and scaling, even when objects move beyond the frame.
• Masking and Rotoscoping: Mocha offers several spline tools that facilitate the quick creation of roto shapes with minimal keyframing. The X-splines and Bezier splines can be connected to tracking layers, streamlining the rotoscoping process and saving time on masking and tracking.
• User-Friendly Interface: Mocha AE features a streamlined interface with an intuitive layout, ensuring a smooth workflow for roto, tracking, and data export to After Effects.
• Seamless Export to After Effects: When exporting data to After Effects, Mocha’s tracking and spline data integrate smoothly, converting to After Effects’ native formats for easy use.

Compared to other tracking tools, many Adobe users in Adobe Community often recommend tracking with Mocha due to its advanced mathematical algorithms that evaluate the plausibility of tracking results, reducing the likelihood of illogical tracks.

Mocha also offers finer control over tracking regions. It lets users exclude specific objects and make other precise adjustments. This makes Mocha particularly effective for tracking shots that are nearly impossible to track with traditional motion tracking methods.

Part 2 Using Mocha's Planar Tracking in After Effects: A Step-by-Step Guide

Now you must’ve wondered how to access and use Mocha in After Effects. If you have After Effects CC, whether through a standalone license or Adobe Creative Cloud, the Mocha AE plugin is included for free. It offers Mocha’s renowned tracking capabilities as well as X-Spline and Bezier tools.

For additional features, you can also purchase Mocha Pro through BorisFX, starting at $37/month. But usually, using Mocha AE is enough for basic planar tracking within After Effects (no need to integrate with other Adobe products like Premiere Pro).

If you are interested, see a detailed comparison between Mocha AE and Mocha Pro here. Please refrain from using cracked versions of Mocha Pro for After Effects, as they often come with malware risks.

How to Use Mocha’s Planar Tracking in After Effects

Step 1: Access Mocha on After Effects.

For this tutorial, we will be following Platform Training video on YouTube. After importing your video to After Effects, access Mocha AE through Animation > Track in Mocha AE or Track in Boris FX Mocha.

Then, click on the Mocha logo and it will direct you to a new workspace where you can start setting up your tracking project.

Step 2: Create and Adjust a Tracking Layer

In Mocha AE, start by creating a new tracking layer. Use the X-Spline or Bezier tool to draw a shape around the area of the video you want to track. Make sure to cover the entire area of interest, including any distinctive features that will help with tracking accuracy. Adjust the shape to fit around the object or feature you're tracking.

Next, click the "Show Surface" button in the Essential panel and adjust the corners to align with the plane you wish to track.

Step 3: Start Your Tracking

Click the "Track Forward" button and wait for Mocha AE to complete the tracking process. After tracking, check the tracking results by selecting "Show Grid" and playing the clip. Make sure the grid aligns perfectly with the plane.

Step 4: Save the Project and Return to After Effects

Once you’re satisfied with the tracking, save your work by going to File > Save Project. Close the Mocha AE window to return to the After Effects interface.

Step 5: Create Track Data

In the After Effects interface, click the "Create Track Data" button and select the video layer in the Layer Controls.

Step 6: Add and Position the Object

Next, add the object you want to follow the tracking path. For this example, Plaform Training demonstrates it by placing a logo. Drag the object from the Project Window onto the Layer Player and position it above the video layer.

Step 7: Adjust the Anchor Point

To ensure proper positioning, adjust the object's anchor point to match the Anchor Point of the video layer. Press A on your keyboard to reveal the anchor point settings.

After that, in the Mocha AE effects control panel, select Corner Pin as the export option for the video layer. Also, choose the logo layer in the Layer Export To options. Click the Export button to apply the changes. For a full tutorial, you can watch it here.

Tips for Mocha’s Planar Tracking in After Effects

To make the object blend seamlessly with the video, you can add a Hard Light effect by changing the mode to Hard Light and adjusting the opacity as needed. This adjustment will help the object integrate naturally with the background.

And if you encounter some issues with tracking results, make sure that your video meets these criteria:

• High contrast
• Sharp focus
• No motion blur

Part 3 Troubleshooting and Best Practices

Having a problem with Mocha planar tracking is a common experience for many users, but don't worry—most issues can be resolved with a few adjustments. We’ve gathered some of the troubleshooting tips and best practices from Adobe Community, Reddit, and other sites to help you make the most of Mocha’s planar tracking in After Effects.

1. Why is my mocha tracking not working properly?

If your Mocha AE planar tracking isn’t working properly, start by ensuring you have the latest version of Mocha with all updates installed, as outdated software can lead to tracking issues. If that’s not the case, open Mocha and clear previous cache files by going to File > Clear Cache.

Alternatively, you can deactivate GPU Processing to avoid potential conflicts by accessing Mocha’s Preferences > GPU. Or, clear the cache in After Effects by navigating to Edit > Purge > All Memory & Disk Cache. This step will remove any outdated or corrupt cache data that might be affecting performance.

2. Why does my tracked object look distorted or shaky?

Distortion or shakiness in tracked objects can often be attributed to inaccurate tracking data. Review your tracking points and make sure you’ve correctly placed them on distinct and consistent features of the footage. In cases of shaky footage, you might need to stabilize the footage first before tracking it.

3. What should I do if Mocha crashes or freezes?

Mocha crashing or freezing can be frustrating. Start by ensuring your system meets the minimum requirements for running Mocha and After Effects. Outdated drivers, especially graphics drivers, can also cause crashes, so make sure they’re up-to-date.

If Mocha continues to crash, try resetting preferences. You can also check for conflicts with other plugins or software by disabling them temporarily. If these solutions are still not working, reinstalling Mocha and After Effects may resolve the issues.

4. Where’s the Best Resource to Learn Mocha After Effects?

The best resource to find the Mocha AE tutorial and learn how to use it in After Effects is Mocha Essentials. For more tracking tips, you can also find them on YouTube or ask away your issues on the Adobe community page.

Part 4 Wondershare Filmora: An Accesible Option for Beginners

If you're looking for a more user-friendly option than After Effects for planar tracking, Wondershare Filmora is a recommended option. Filmora is well-regarded among video editors for its easy-to-use interface combined with a range of powerful features commonly found in more advanced tools.

Similar to After Effects, Filmora's Planar Tracking is designed to track flat surfaces or planes within the video frame. This feature is particularly useful for applying effects or graphics to elements that move along a consistent plane, such as a billboard or a flat surface within your scene.

What sets Filmora apart is its use of AI for planar tracking, which delivers accurate results with minimal effort. You only need to select the area you want to track, and the tool will automatically analyze and handle the tracking process. Filmora also offers an automatic tracking mode for straightforward tasks and a more advanced tracking mode that allows for further adjustments.

In addition to the Planar Tracking, Filmora also features Motion Tracking. This feature lets you follow the movement of objects in your video and attach graphics to moving elements.

How to Use Planar Tracking in Filmora

Step 1: Activate Planar Tracking

After importing your video into the timeline, select the video clip. Then, navigate to Video > AI Tools > Planar Tracking in the property panel to enable the planar tracking function.

Once activated, choose either Auto or Advanced mode to add a tracking box. For most videos, you can directly use the Auto mode to complete the tracking with one click. For videos with much shaking, it is recommended to use Advanced mode to track and fine-tune the results.

Step 2: Add and adjust the tracker points.

Position the points of the tracking box to align with the corners of the plane you wish to track.

Step 3: Track the motion of the planar

If you choose Auto Mode, you can click "Click to start tracking." But if you choose Advanced Mode, you can perform forward, backward, forward frame, or backward frame analysis.

Additionally, you can adjust the analysis accuracy—the higher the accuracy, the more precise the tracking, though it may reduce the analysis speed.

Step 4: Refine the tracking results

In Advanced Mode, you can pause the analysis at any time to adjust the results. You can also manually fine-tune any points where the tracking may be inaccurate.

Step 5: Select and bind the object

Choose the clip that uses the planar tracking function and select the binding object in the properties panel. The binding object can be a clip, a mosaic on the timeline, or even media selected from your computer. Once selected, the replacement should be complete.

Comparing Filmora and After Effects Planar Tracking

Conclusion

Video editors and motion artists usually use the Mocha plugin to assist them with planar tracking in After Effects. Mocha excels in tracking flat surfaces and handling complex scenarios with ease. Its ability to track pixel patterns across entire surfaces can help you with the process of integrating graphics and effects into moving footage.

While it might seem challenging at first, we hope our guide can help you grasp the basics and build your confidence in using Mocha AE. And if you find After Effects overwhelming, there’s also Filmora which offers a more accessible approach to planar tracking.

Both tools provide great solutions for planar tracking, so you can choose the one that best aligns with your needs and skill level to create impressive video effects.