Wich Tracker

[jonnybefree]

Hi there,
just wondering wich 3d tracking software is best for use.
we're try'n at the moment with boujou and Matchmover. what do you think is best for going deeper?
or maybe syntheyes?

any thoughts?

thanks and best regards

Jonas

[instinct]

I'd say syntheyes all the way. Been a while since i tried any of the other packages (Matchmover, boujou, PFTrack). Back then we did a comparison and Synth won pretty much everything besides "look of the UI" :P

Seriously, the tracker is one of the fastest i've seen (including 2D packages' trackers!), the solver is blazingly fast and solid. Features and tweaking possibilities are endless, support is nice (even tho Russ is pretty much alone heh) and it is bloody cheap.

We're Syntheyes only these days, got a bunch of seats and havent looked back.

Regards,
Thorsten

[dellis]

Another thumbs up for Syntheyes. It auto tracks great and you have a bunch of manual controls when you need them. Great support as well!

[jonnybefree]

thanks for your hints!
we're strugglin with boujou 3 here. Wich isn't too bad but also 5 jears old.
i'll give syntheyes a try.

thanks again and best regards

Jonas

[3DMK]

Another proud NEW syntheyes customer here!

After i did quite a bit of research the Sythneyes software stood out as the best & the best value by far.

Straight away I was auto tracking scenes from very bad & shakey Home DV footage & getting them into max no problems....rock solid....NO crashes.....gotta love that part!

It's easy to use but has heaps of tweaks when you need them.
Asounded at the results from the testing I have done so far.

You can even use syntheyes for creating real world meshes from video footage!

Hope this helps

[joconnell]

Yep - bought a personal copy of syntheyes a while back. It's cheap, it's very fast and the learning materials that Russ has made get you up to speed with manual tracking very quickly. You're doing things the right way and avoiding any of the problems and auto tracker gets. He's also very useful with help / support in terms of debugging shots which you probably wouldn't get with a bigger software company - similar to Chaos group in this way. I'd highly recommend it at any stage.

[andrewjohn81]

I'd like to try it, but it's hard to convince anyone when we get Matchmover for free from Autodesk 2 years in a row. Did any other Max subscribers notice that we got it free again? and there's a 64bit version this time. (I haven't installed it yet, so correct me if it's really just a demo on there and they are being misleading).

[instinct]

SynthEyes is 500$ US a seat. You have to save VERY few hours using it to justify the switch. I'd say your back in the positives after a day or two heh.

Regards,
Thorsten

[3DMK]

I'd like to try it, but it's hard to convince anyone when we get Matchmover for free from Autodesk 2 years in a row..

I've never used matchmover yet so can't really comment on it but to say this about Free Verses Commercial software.

Free software seems cheap at first but you maybe using a free program that is really Crap & costs you Lots more money in time, wages, inability to get productions finished on time, etc.

Free software can often end up costing you a lot more money than purchasing a much better commercial software. [This much I have learnt the hardway!]

Why do you use Vray & not one of the many free Renderers availible? [Same reasons as above I suspect]

Hope this helps

Cheers

[3DMK]

I must also thank you Thorsten for reccomending Syntheyes....Good advice....i took it up!

I could also tell from your posts that you used it & were more than enthusiastic about how well it performed.

This forum is awesome for advice & I must say that it is almost worth more than Vray itself...lol

Cheers
Jamie

[andrewjohn81]

Just to clarify. Matchmover is an Autodesk software and is not free. It's not expensive by any means. I think around $130 usd.
But it use to cost more until Autodesk picked it up.

[instinct]

Matchmover is no longer available seperatly and kinda discontinued. You get it for "free" if you are on subscription.

[andrewjohn81]

ah, well that clears that up. I'm pretty sure it'd be fine for what i'd need it for. We'd talked about mounting a camera to a skateboard to get a nice pan of a showroom floor to put a product in.
With a nice smooth pan I think it would do fine.
Does anyone know how much something like that would cost to be hired out? I might propose that. If it's something that would take me 4 days, but take a pro half a day for a fairly low cost it's worth it.

[flino2004]

Talking about Matchmover, I downloaded yesterday and I tried to intalled many times but i can't get it work....it appears for few seconds and nothing happen
any idea?

Fernando

[cheerioboy]

Another fan of Syntheyes here! I've used a few other tracking programs but this one really shines with how well it tracks and ease of use. I've been able track even the craziest shots, tracking points by hand! But yeah Syntheyes is my go to software for tracking.