Pitfalls of Sports Stadiums

Shots from sports stadiums are often subjects of motion graphics projects and frequently result in problems for new users because they are usually tripod shots. This three-part tutorial shows what happens to the unwary, and then shows two different ways to address the shot successfully.

Part One shows what happens when attempting a 3-D solve of a nodal tripod shot. 6:14/15 MB. You can download the mp4 by right-clicking this link: StadiumPart1.mp4.

Part Two shows how to handle the shot using single-frame alignment lines. 5:22/11.5 MB. You can download the mp4 by right-clicking this link: StadiumPart2.mp4.

Part Three shows how to use Seed Points to create a 3-D solve of the shot. 6:29/12 MB. You can download the mp4 by right-clicking this link: StadiumPart3.mp4.

Notes:

  1. For the single-frame alignment method of Part Two, there should be at least two lines that are "On" different axes, ie one on X and one on Y; one on X, one on Z; or one on Y, one on Z. Do not attempt to create lines that are on X, Y, and Z. You can have additional lines that are parallel to the axes, but not on them.

  2. For the seed points mode used in Part Three, there should be at least 4 trackers with specific coordinates on each frame, though more are recommended for accuracy. Any far trackers (ie from an automatic track) or trackers that are not locked to specific coordinates do not help, and may hinder: the coordinates of the known points do not allow distances to other points to be determined.

  3. As described in Part One, you should be alert for small zooms in such shots. If present, you should select Zooming on the Lens Panel.

  4. Note that in production use, the created automatic or supervised tracks would be scrutinized carefully for problems before releasing the tracked scenes. These tutorials concentrate on the other aspects of these shots.

  5. All tutorials and images (c)2009 Andersson Technologies LLC, not for re-distribution or usage other than with SynthEyes.
  6. Everything is done and shown real-time on an 8-core (16-thread) 2009 Mac Pro running 64-bit Windows Vista. The process is the same in OSX.