Movie Clip Editor - Header

The Header contains various menus, navigation elements, settings and tools for the viewport.

The header is divided into two areas. Left menus. Right settings.

The Movie Clip Editor is three editors in one. And the Clip editor in mask mode looks also different. So we need to explain the content for all three editor types plus the sub mode mask.

Header right click menus

The general right click menu functionality is explained in chapter 6 Editors introduction.

Editortype Menu

Bforartists is made of several editor types. Headers can display a menu where you can switch to other editor types.

This menu is hidden by default. It is meant to edit the layouts, and should not be necessary for regular work. You can reveal it in the header right click menu.

Header Tools and Options

Movie Clip Editor - Header

The Movie Clip Editor has two modes, and is three editors in one. So we have to explain the single header tools and options at a one by one base.

Tracking mode - Clip submode

Movie Clip property

Available in Tracking in Clip mode and Mask mode.

This property contains the list of loaded movie clips. When no movie clip is loaded or active, then it displays the Open Buttons. When a movie clip is loaded and active, then it displays the name of the currently active movie clip.

From left to right ...

Remove

Removes the movie clip. Note that it will not be removed when it has a fake user assigned. Then the clip becomes simply inactive. You can still use it from the list again.

Pivot Point

Adjust the pivot point for transform operations. The names should be self explaining.

Solve Error

Read only. The solve error for the current tracking.

Toggle Lock Selection

With lock to selection disabled the viewport stands still and the markers moves. With lock to selection enabled the view is centered at the current selected marker, and the video moves around.

Available in Tracking in Clip mode and Mask mode.

Clip Display

Display options for the tracking footage.

Tracking mode - Graph submode

Tools to refine and modify the markers.

Refine Markers Backwards

Refine selected markers position by running the tracker from tracks reference to current frame.

Gizmos

Viewport Gizmos

Navigate

Show the navigate viewport gizmos.

Tracking mode - Dope Sheet submode

Tools to refine and modify the markers.

Refine Markers Backwards

Refine selected markers position by running the tracker from tracks reference to current frame.

Dope Sheet Sort Field

The method to sort the channels in dope sheet view.

Invert Dope Sheet Sort

Invert the dope sheet sorting.

Options panel

Show Seconds

Option. Display the timeline numbering in seconds instead of frames.

Sync Visible Range

Option. Synchronize the visible timeline range with other time based editors.

Gizmos

Viewport Gizmos

Navigate

Show the navigate viewport gizmos.

Mask mode

Movie Clip property

Available in Tracking in Clip mode and Mask mode.

This property contains the list of loaded movie clips. When no movie clip is loaded or active, then it displays the Open Buttons. When a movie clip is loaded and active, then it displays the name of the currently active movie clip.

From left to right ...

Remove

Removes the movie clip. Note that it will not be removed when it has a fake user assigned. Then the clip becomes simply inactive. You can still use it from the list again.

Mask Property

These are display options for mask overlays.

Mask Display

Spline

Display spline overlays.

Overlay Mode

Show combined color channels or alpha channel. When using combined, the Blending Factor slider can be changed.

Pivot Point

Adjust the pivot point for transform operations. The names should be self explaining.

Proportional Editing

Enables proportional editing.

Proportional Editing is a way of transforming selected elements (such as vertices, or in this case the handlers for the mask spline curves) while having that transformation affect other nearby elements with a falloff. For example, moving a single vertex will move unselected vertices within a given range. And the falloff means that selected vertices that are closer to the selected vertex will move more than those farther from it.

Settings

Choose between different falloff methods for the proportional editing. The settings are hidden when you have proportional editing off.

Toggle Lock Selection

Toggle Lock Selection of the current clip editor

Clip Display

Display options for the tracking footage.

Gizmos

Viewport Gizmos

Navigate

Show the navigate viewport gizmos.

Show Overlays

Viewport Overlays

Guides

Mask Display

Spline

Edge Display type

How to display the spline.

Overlay

Quick Menu

Quick Menu

The quick menu, or in long Quick Favorites menu, is a menu that can be customized to your needs. Here you can add operators for quick access.

It is located in the header. But it can be called by hotkey Q directly under the mouse. This hotkey works in other editors too.

When the menu is empty, then you will see the message "No Menu Items found". This means that you first have to add some tools to the menu. It is a user configurable menu.

Note that added operators in this menu does not have icons. Just text.

Adding an operator to the Quick menu

Open the panel or the menu where your operator is that you want to add.

Let's add the open command from the File menu. Open the File menu, right click at open, and choose Add to Quick Favorites.

Do the same with Save As. We should now have two new menu items in the Quick menu, which you can use now.

As a rule of thumb, when the right click menu has an Add to Quick Favorites, then you can add it to the quick menu.

Note that you can also add operators from the tool shelf at the left. And also operators from other editor types. Some other editors have their own quick menu though. The Image Editor for example. These operators gets added in the quick menu of the image editor then. And does not show in the quick menu in the header of the 3D view.

Adding a menu to the Quick menu

It is also possible to add a menu to the Quick menu. For example the whole Add menu. The way is the same. Right click at it, and choose Add to Quick Favorites.

Order

You might notice that the add menu adds at the top of the menu, and not at the bottom as you would expect. First comes menus, then comes operators. And they get added in the order in which you add them.

Besides that, operators and menus gets added in the order that you add them. They cannot be sorted afterwards. So be careful how you add them. You can of course always remove operators and menus, and re-add them at the end of the list.

Removing an operator from the Quick menu

The Quick Favorites menu (Q) holds the tools and menus you add to it yourself. See Quick Favorites in the Interface chapter.

Context and mode dependent content

The quick favorites. menu exists in nearly all editors. But it is just in the 3D view available in the header. So that you know this functionality exists. In the other editors you call it with hotkey Q.

The content of the quick favorites. menu changes, dependent over which editor you are, and in what mode you are. When you add for example an operator from the image editor, then this operator just shows in the quick menu when you call the menu from the image editor. Same goes for the modes. Edit mode tools will just show in edit mode. And so on.

View Menu

Movie Clip Editor Modes

The Movie Clip Editor is three editors in one. And the Clip editor in mask mode looks also different. So we need to explain the content for all three editor types plus the Mask mode.

View Menu in Tracking mode in Clip sub mode

The View menu contains all View related tools.

Toolbar

Shows or hides the toolbar at the left.

Sidebar

Shows or hides the sidebar at the right in the viewport.

Adjust Last Operation - View Menu in Tracking mode in Clip sub mode

Shows the adjust last operation panel down left.

Annotations (Legacy) submenu

This group of operators is useful to take notes without changing tool-shelf operators. These notes can be colored in the View tab of the Property Shelf. Each layer is a single color. You can also animate the notes with keyframes, editable in the dopesheet.

Zoom Out

Zooms out of the view.

Zoom submenu

A set of predefined zoom factors.

Pie menus

Lists the available pie menus, and gives you the ability to read the hotkeys and assign own hotkeys.

Area

This menu contains general view functionality. And exists in most other editor types too.

Duplicate Area into New Window

Duplicate Area into New Window opens this editor in a floating window. See Floating editor windows in the Interface chapter.

View Menu in in Tracking mode in Graph sub mode

The View menu contains all View related tools.

Pie menus

Lists the available pie menus, and gives you the ability to read the hotkeys and assign own hotkeys.

Area

This menu contains general view functionality. And exists in most other editor types too.

Duplicate Area into New Window

View Menu in in Tracking mode in Dopesheet sub mode

The View menu contains all View related tools.

Pie menus

Lists the available pie menus, and gives you the ability to read the hotkeys and assign own hotkeys.

Area

This menu contains general view functionality. And exists in most other editor types too.

Duplicate Area into New Window

View Menu in Mask mode

The View menu contains all View related tools.

Toolbar

Shows or hides the toolbar at the left.

Sidebar

Shows or hides the sidebar at the right in the viewport.

Adjust Last Operation - View Menu in Mask mode

Shows the adjust last operation panel down left.

Annotations (Legacy) submenu

This group of operators is useful to take notes without changing tool-shelf operators. These notes can be colored in the View tab of the Property Shelf. Each layer is a single color. You can also animate the notes with keyframes, editable in the dopesheet.

Zoom In

Zooms into the view.

Zoom Out

Zooms out of the view.

Zoom

A set of predefined zoom factors.

Pie menus

Lists the available pie menus, and gives you the ability to read the hotkeys and assign own hotkeys.

Area

This menu contains general view functionality. And exists in most other editor types too.

Duplicate Area into New Window

Select Menu

Movie Clip Editor Modes

The Movie Clip Editor is three editors in one. And the Clip editor in mask mode looks also different. So we need to explain the content for all editor types plus the Mask mode that has a Select menu.

The Dope sheet mode has no Select menu.

Select Menu in Tracking mode in Clip sub mode

All

Select everything.

Lasso Select

A sub menu with the available lasso select modes.

Grouped

Here you can select objects that are in the same group by the chosen method. The items should be self explaining.

Select Menu in Tracking mode in Graph sub mode

All

Select everything.

Select Menu in Mask mode

Note that you need to have a mask so that the content becomes active.

Lasso Select

A sub menu with the available lasso select modes.

Tracking Mode › Clip Submode › Clip Menu

Clip Menu

Open Clip

Opens an Image Sequence or a movie clip.

Tracking Mode › Clip Submode › Track Menu

Track Menu

Contains tracking functionality. Note that lots of this content is currently a double entry to the content in the tool shelf. The tool shelf content will most probably vanish in the future, in favour of a tool shelf with buttons like in the 3d view.

Transform submenu

Track navigation.

Move

Move the selected track(s).

Adjust Last Operation - Move

Move X, Y Z

The position. Attention, the actual world orientation and rotation does not matter here. It always starts with a value of zero, and moves relative to this zero then. For the actual location values have a look in the sidebar in the transform panel.

Orientation

The widget can have different orientations. The menu items should be self explaining.

Mirror Editing

Enables mirror editing.

Proportional editing

Enables proportional editing. Activating proportional editing reveals further settings.

Rotate

Rotate the selected tracks.

Adjust Last Operation - Rotate

Orientation

The widget can have different orientations. The menu items should be self explaining.

Mirror Editing

Enables mirror editing.

Proportional editing

Enables proportional editing. Activating proportional editing reveals further settings.

Resize

Resize the selected track(s).

Adjust Last Operation - Resize

Orientation

The widget can have different orientations. The menu items should be self explaining.

Mirror Editing

Enables mirror editing.

Proportional editing

Enables proportional editing. Activating proportional editing reveals further settings.

Track Motion submenu

Clear submenu

Detect Features

Adds automatically markers at the current movie position, and tries to detect marcant areas in the current frame that are useful for tracking. It also sets keyframes at this position.

When enough marcant areas are available then it adds up to eight markers that way.

Adjust Last Operation - Detect Features

Placement

Placement is a drop down box where you can limit the placement of the markers.

Whole frame

The markers can be at every position of the current frame image.

Create Plane Track

Creates a plane track. A plane track can be used to map an image or a movie at an area in your clip. The Plane track.

New Image from Plane Marker

Create new image from the content of the plane markerfrom the pixels of the movie clip that the plane marker “sees” at the current frame. This allows you to create and impose an un-warped texture of any flat surface in the footage.

To use, create and select four tracking points then create a Plane Marker. Once you’ve selected the Plane Marker, create the new image - then edit the image in the Image Editor.

Update Image from Plane Marker

Update current image used by plane marker from the content of the plane marker. This updates the pixels of the active Plane Track’s image.

Allows you to update the texture of any flat surface in the footage.

Solve Camera Motion

Starts the calculation for the camera motion to match the track motion.

There should be at least eight common tracks on the both of the selected keyframes.

There should be noticeable parallax effects between these two keyframes.

The average re-projection error is reported to the information space and to the clip editor header. Re-projeciton error means the average distance between reconstructed 3D position of tracks projected back to footage and original position of tracks. Re-projection error below 0.3 means accurate re-projection, (0.3 - 3.0) means quite nice solving which still can be used. Values above 3 means some tracks should be tracked more accurately, or that values for focal length or distortion coefficients were set incorrectly.

Animation submenu

Insert Keyframe

Inserts a keyframe at current position in spreadsheet sub mode panel.

Delete Keyframe

Deletes keyframes at current position in dope sheet sub mode panel.

Show/Hide submenu

Show or hide tracks.

Adjust Last Operation - Hide Tracks

Unselected

Hide selected or unselected tracks.

Clean up submenu

Reconstruction

Set Wall

Set plane in the 3D space as a Wall plane, based at three selected markers.

Adjust Last Operation - Set Plane

Plane

A drop down box to choose if you want to set the selected markers as plane or as floor.

Set X Axis

Set X axis rotation in 3D space, based at the selected marker. You need to have one marker selected. Or you will get an error.

Set Y Axis

Set X axis rotation in 3D space, based at the selected marker. You need to have one marker selected. Or you will get an error.

Adjust Last Operation - Set Axis

Axis

A drop down box to choose if you want to use the axis to X or to Y

Set Scale

Set scale of scene by scaling camera, based at two selected markers. You need to have two markers selected. Or you will get an error.

Adjust Last Operation - Set Scale

Distance

The distance between two bundles used for scene scaling.

Apply Scale

Apply scale to solution.

Adjust Last Operation - Apply Solution Scale

Distance

The distance between two bundles used for scene scaling.

Tracking Mode › Graph Submode › Graph Menu

Track Menu

Delete Curve

Deletes the track that correspondent to the current curve.

Delete Knot

Deletes the selected curve points.

Clear Track Path Remained

Clears the track path after the current position.

Clear Track Path Up To

Clears the track path up to the current position.

Mask Mode › Clip Menu

Clip Menu

Open Clip

Opens an Image Sequence or a movie clip.

Mask Mode › Add Menu

Add Menu

Masking can be done by using curves. In the Add menu you will find two spline primitives. You can choose between a circle Bezier curve object and a square Bezier curve object.

You select curve points by clicking with the left mouse button at them. Holding down Shift will add to the selection. Clicking in the off will deselect everything.

Circle

Adds a Bezier circle that you can use for masking.

This circle element can be modified by right clicking at the handlers and pulling at the handlers until the desired result is achieved. The yellow points are handlers. The whole curve can be moved around with right mouse button. See also Transform sub menu in the Mask menu.

Adjust Last Operation - Add Circle

Square

Adds a Bezier circle that you can use for masking.

This circle element can be modified by right clicking at the handlers and pulling at the handlers until the desired result is achieved. The yellow points are handlers. The whole curve can be moved around with right mouse button. See also Transform sub menu in the Mask menu.

Adjust Last Operation - Add Square

Add Vertex and Slide

You can add more curve points by holding down ctrl and clicking left at a curve.

You can create a spline from scratch with this method too. Simply hold down Ctrl, click into the viewport, and created your needed spline points. To close the created mask spline use Toggle Cyclic from the mask menu.

Adjust Last Operation - Add Vertex and Slide

Location X Y

The location of the created spline point.

Feather Vertex Slide

Add new vertex to feather and slide it. Hotkey only tool !

Adjust Last Operation - Add Feather Vertex and Slide

Location X Y

The location of the circle.

Mask Mode › Mask Menu

Masking preface

Masks have many purposes. They can be used in a motion tracking workflow to mask out, or influence a particular object in the footage. They can be used for manual rotoscoping to pull a particular object out of the footage. Or as a rough matte for green screen keying. This is done in the Node editor in compositing mode by a mask node.

Masks are independent from a particular image of movie clip. And so they can just as well be used for creating motion graphics or other effects in the compositor.

Masks are defined by splines. Means you work with splines, and you have a bunch of spline tools available.

S-Curves

The curve type used for creating mask splines is almost a Bezier curve. But there are some differences. Smooth edges of the mask are defined by feathering. These are called S-Curves.

Besides the handles, every control point also has points that define the feather between the current point and the next point on the spline. Each feather point is stored in UV space, where U means position across spline segment, and V means distance between main spline and feather points.

This allows for deforming the main spline in almost any way, and the feather will be updated automatically to reflect that change.

For example if there is just rotation of the spline, feather would stay completely unchanged. If one point’s feather is moved, the other feathers will be automatically stretched uniformly along that segment and the overall shape will be almost the same as artists would want it to be.

Mask Menu

Transform

Move

Move the selected curve spline or points.

Adjust Last Operation - Move

Values

Adjust the move amount.

X, Y and Z defines the position.

Axis Ortho

Along which axis to move.

Orientation

Orientation is a drop-down box where you can choose the type of orientation for the transform action.

Mirror Editing

Enables mirror editing.

Proportional Editing

Proportional Editing is a drop-down box where you can choose to use proportional editing. When you choose one of the active methods then the neighbor geometry gets influenced too in a proportional way.

Proportional Editing Falloff

Proportional Editing Falloff is a drop-down box where you can choose a method for the falloff for the proportional editing.

Rotate

Rotate the selected curve spline or points.

Adjust Last Operation - Rotate

Angle

Adjust the angle.

Axis

Along which axis to rotate

Proportional Editing

Proportional Editing is a drop-down box where you can choose to use proportional editing. When you choose one of the active methods then the neighbor geometry gets influenced too in a proportional way.

Proportional Editing Falloff

Proportional Editing Falloff is a drop-down box where you can choose a method for the falloff for the proportional editing.

Scale

Scale the selected curve spline or points.

Adjust Last Operation - Resize

Scale X Y Z

Adjust the scaling.

Orientation

Orientation is a drop-down box where you can choose the type of orientation for the transform action.

Mirror Editing

Enables mirror editing.

Proportional Editing

Proportional Editing is a drop-down box where you can choose to use proportional editing. When you choose one of the active methods then the neighbor geometry gets influenced too in a proportional way.

Proportional Editing Falloff

Proportional Editing Falloff is a drop-down box where you can choose a method for the falloff for the proportional editing.

To Sphere

Shapes a selection of objects into the shape of a sphere. The calculation happens with the object origins.

In Object mode this tools requires to have more than one object selected.

Usage

Select the objects, activate the tool, then drag the mouse in the 3D viewport. In the header you will read the current factor then. Which tells you how close you are towards the sphere shape.

Adjust Last Operation - To Sphere

Factor

The factor to transform the selection into a shape form.

Proportional editing

Enables proportional editing. Activating proportional editing reveals further settings.

Shear

Shear shears the selection.

In Object mode this tools requires to have more than one object selected.

Adjust Last Operation - Shear

Offset

Adjust an offset.

Shear Axis

The shear tool works along a imaginary 2d plane. The shear axis controls if the items are sheared along the x or the y axes of this plane. This is the plane along which the transformation happens. You can shear along the x or the y axis of this plane.

To make things even more complicated, the orientation of this imaginary plane is defined by the Axis and Axis Ortho items below.

Orientation

Choose the orientation for the shear action.

Push/Pull

It pushes or pulls the object positions relative to the center of the selection.

In Object mode this tool requires to have more than one object selected.

Adjust Last Operation - Push/Pull

Proportional editing

Enables proportional editing. Activating proportional editing reveals further settings.

Scale Feather

Scale feather weight for the selected points.

The curve type that is used to create mask splines is almost a Bezier curve. But it has some differences. Smooth edges of the mask are defined by feathering. The curve needed to support feathering in a way that stuck to the curve as you edited it, for ease of editing an animation. These are called S-Curves.

Besides the handles, every control point also has points that define the feather between the current point and the next point on the spline. Each feather point is stored in UV space, where U means position across spline segment, and V means distance between main spline and feather points.

Adjust Last Operation - Transform

Orientation

Orientation is a drop-down box where you can choose the type of orientation for the transform action.

Mirror Editing

Enables mirror editing.

Proportional Editing

Proportional Editing is a drop-down box where you can choose to use proportional editing. When you choose one of the active methods then the neighbor geometry gets influenced too in a proportional way.

Proportional Editing Falloff

Proportional Editing Falloff is a drop-down box where you can choose a method for the falloff for the proportional editing.

Clear Feather Weight

Reset the feather weight to zero.

Set Handle Type

In this sub menu you can set the handle type for the currently selected spline points.

Animation

Insert Shape Key

Inserts a shape key keyframe.

The inserted keyframes can then be found in the dope sheet editor in mask mode.

Clear Shape Key

Clears an existing shape key keyframe.

Reset Feather Animation

Resets the feather offset across all animated frames.

Re-key Shape points

Recalculate animation data on selected points for frames selected in the dope sheet.

Show / Hide

Hide Unselected

Hides the unselected curves.

Adjust Last Operation - Hide Layer

Unselected

Hide selected or unselected curves.