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A Tutorial on how to import Camera Data from a Motion Control Rig (such as the Milo). First, let me explain, how to EXPORT a camera path of this kind. Open up Maya. Create a "Camera and Aim at", because we used Target tracking, which means we had an X,Y,Z coordinate of the Camera and the Target (the Aim at). Let's export this "Path" (it's just one position). Chose "File" -> "Export Selection" Options Box. The File Type we're going to use is "move". A move File is just a list of Keyframes without any attributes or objects. There's always one entry for every Frame. Now, we need to choose the attributes we want to export. Under Attributes, you need to list, which attributes to export and the EXACT order. For our Path, we need: camera1.tx camera1.ty camera1.tz camera1_aim.tx camera1_aim.ty camera1_aim.tz You can select those attributes in the channel box and press "From Channel Box". Press Export Selection and save the file. Open it in an editor to see how it looks. You should have 5 rows with a lot of 0 and one with -5 (because our camera was on position 0) Now you need to adjust your data from the MoControl system to match these rows. This is a little bit of a tricky part.. but with some knowledge of MS EXCEL or an editor that lets you select rows, you can match it. (The file doesn't have to look that clean in the end.. if you have more or less spaces between the numbers, maya will just ignore it) Befor you import, you need to make sure, that you have set your preferences in Maya correctly (check the Up Axis and the Working Units). Import the .mov file (File -> Import). You will notice, that there's no way to select how maya should interpret the numbers in your .mov file. It actually takes just the settings from the Export Selection Options box, which we set correctly above. Now, if you import the footage, it should match.. theoretically. The Problems that arised in my case (and might solve some of yours) - The x coordinate was flipped, so I had to change all falues in the .mov file - The MoControl Rig was probably not calibrated correctly, that's why long scenes didn't match throughout. - The Focal Length of the Lens didn't match. I had to adjust it manually. (actually by testing in a 3D tracking software), this was probably due to cropping in Telecine - Macro shoots aren't stable on an "ordinary" MoControl system. - The Roll Value can be entered into the Rotate Axis of the camera1, it should be possible to import one row of numbers into that value too, althoug the value might be flipped aswell. You could go ahead now and import this camera path into After Effects aswell. Just Bake the simulation of the camera1 (Edit -> Keys -> Bake Simulation) (so that the camera1_aim isn't needed anymore). Save the file as a *.ma (Maya ASCII) and open it in After Effects. |
