Chapter19.Tracking Reflections

Chapter 19. Tracking Reflections

Reflections are often used in advertising to communicate things subtlyand sometimes not so subtly. For example, some liquor advertisers have included subliminal images in the ice in shots of their product. I was inspired by such usage when I was trying to find a way to enhance some footage of the dashboard in a Saleen S7 car. By adding content in virtual reflections in the dashboard gauges, I was able to make the dashboard footage show off additional angles of the car and a woman. In this case, the effect isn't intended to be subliminal; instead, the reflections are meant to excite the viewer's curiosity.

This chapter's project shows you how to use the Motion Trackers in After Effects to track the motion in video footage, and how to deal with motion that runs offscreen. In addition to tracking the position of a region, you'll track Scale (new in version 6.5) by tracking the distance between two regions.