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MillimeterThe Pixel Farm Ships PFTrack 3.5
Sep 5, 2006 4:34 PM
The Pixel Farm, a company focused on innovation in the field of high-end digital post-production, is pleased to announce the release of PFTrack 3.5. Already one of the most advanced camera tracking and motion analysis products available, this latest version reaches new heights of operability, with many additional features including; a more sophisticated camera solver, segmented shot solving, improved geometry tracking and extensive UI and workflow improvements.
Ludo Michaud, Snr technical director, Janimation, says, “We are extremely pleased with the stability and the results of PF Track. This tool has improved our tracking workflow tenfold since we've been using it. And we have not refused any tracking job since we've got it. Great tools boys, keep on rocking!”
PFTrack, launched in 2003, quickly established itself as the match mover software of choice for high-end visual effects productions when its ground breaking features brought revolutionary new tools to the desk top, including many firsts: integrated optical flow, geometry tracking, and per-pixel Z-depth extraction. Since its inception, a rapidly growing number of renowned visual effects companies, both in the UK and US, use Pixel Farm products and PFTrack in particular, including Sony Imageworks, Riot, Stan Winston Studios, Entity FX, Cinesite, CORE Digital, MPC, and Animal Logic.
Richard Spöhrer, MD, The Pixel Farm, explains, “With PFTrack V3.5 we have once again taken tracking technology to new levels. Overall improvements have been made to many of the core tools within PFTrack, both under the hood and from a workflow point of view. With this latest release, we are introducing yet another first in a tracking application - segmented tracking. Alongside support for the next generation of OS X machines, we also have the first tracking application with the capability of full 64-bit implementation. ”
The new camera solver in version 3.5 can now produce better results, with greater speed and on a wider range of shots. With the capability to run up to 400 percent faster than the current version, PFTrack 3.5 is also far more robust when dealing with very difficult shots, providing excellent results with no user intervention in situations that would simply not track in similar packages. Users are also able to define distinct camera motions for specific sections of a shot so allowing the optimum tracking to be applied to each segment resulting in the best possible ‘solve’.
Spöhrer continues, “With 3.5, a shot can be broken down into 3 segments with the first and the last solved as free motion and the middle segment solved as a nodal pan. The software then ‘joins’ these tracks together to provide a single compound for export. This means that PFTrack now provides the user with a level of control that has never been seen before in tracking software.”
Key New Features
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