Blackmagic Forum

I'm trying to pin multiple callouts into drone footage as shown in the picture below, and decided to tackle this task using the tracker node.
There is a certain amount of frustration in the air as I have about 20 callouts and I keep losing the tracker data.
It almost feels like a game of "whack-a-mole" where I fix one tracker to only have another one lose its data.

Some things I have noticed:

● Copying and pasting a tracker node sometimes fails to retain its tracking data.
● Copying and pasting the fusion composition often introduces new lost trackers.
● Quitting Davinci often introduces new lost trackers (yes I saved).
● I can sometimes fix a lost tracker by adding a new tracker (in the tracker list) which results in the lost data suddenly becoming available.
● The lost trackers still have the keyframes appear in the spline editor but the inspector "Tracked Center" shows no keyframes.

I found a thread about a similar issue with Magic Mask but not sure if the the same underlying cache issue is at play here and if yes, how to fix it.
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=167373

Thanks for anyone willing to share their wisdom.

No replies so I will post my own assumptions on this case:

1. I contacted Blackmagic and asked about this issue
→ They were not aware of this issue and couldn`t give any advice.

2. As this issue seems not to be widespread I started suspecting faulty hardware, and did the Memtest86 to test my RAM integrity.
→ Result was about 200 errors during the different test phases. This might be the problem.

I will update more later on if this was the issue or not.

I didn't reply because I didn't know the answer.
Apart from the issues you're describing, which definitely shouldn't happen, copy/pasting a tracker node is hardly ever necessary. Almost all info inside of Fusion can be reused without copy/pasting.
What would a use case be for you where you'd copy/paste a tracker?

Sander de Regt wrote:What would a use case be for you where you'd copy/paste a tracker?

Not OP but I do it all the time when reverting stabilization.

I don't know the difference in computational overhead, but you can just use a transform tool for that.

2. As this issue seems not to be widespread I started suspecting faulty hardware, and did the Memtest86 to test my RAM integrity.
→ Result was about 200 errors during the different test phases. This might be the problem.

I will update more later on if this was the issue or not.

Thanks for the information, that could save a few people from chasing their tail from such a freakish fault. Hopefully the ram turns out to be just not inserted properly..

Sander de Regt wrote:I don't know the difference in computational overhead, but you can just use a transform tool for that.

How would you do that with a Tracker node using two trackers (or more) that stabilizes position, rotation and scaling?

Connecting the Center to the Steady Position (and checking the Invert Transform) works for position, but I can't make it work with the others (Steady Angle/Scaling).

Mind you, I don't have any issues copying trackers:)

Connecting the Center to the Steady Position (and checking the Invert Transform) works for position, but I can't make it work with the others (Steady Angle/Scaling).

In theory that should work the same way. You have to make sure you steady everything including the pivot point when inverting. But in what way can't you make it work with those?

Sander de Regt wrote:

Connecting the Center to the Steady Position (and checking the Invert Transform) works for position, but I can't make it work with the others (Steady Angle/Scaling).

In theory that should work the same way. You have to make sure you steady everything including the pivot point when inverting. But in what way can't you make it work with those?

You know what, connecting the Pivot to the Steady Axis did the trick!

Good to know:)

With that in mind and circling back to your question of user cases for copying Tracker nodes.. having to fiddle about with the menus/submenus/subsubmenus to connect four different values compared to just copy/pasting the tracker node, and to be fair, then connecting the original tracker to both the green and yellow input and setting Merge to FG over BG, it is still an easy choice for me.

And if I want the data to be "live" like with connected data, instead of a copy, an instance (and then deinstancing the Merge setting) works just fine.

Well, that's my user case anyway:)

That's the beauty of Fusion. There are so many ways to make it suit your own workflow.
Some more efficient than others, but as long as it gets the job done.

Sander de Regt wrote:That's the beauty of Fusion. There are so many ways to make it suit your own workflow.
Some more efficient than others, but as long as it gets the job done.

Hard subscriber to that.

Reminds me of this rabbit hole I fell into at one time:)



My favorite, for its simplicity, was using a Transform node with the Size setting at 0.0 and then fade using Blend. Can't for the life of me remember what I was doing in the top right corner, haha.

Edit: I found the original comp and, which is also hinted at by the name of that last node, I'm animating a Gradient Map effect.

As a related aside - users have been calling for an update to the 2D tracker for years - it has been at least a decade since it was updated (aside from a few minor bug fixes). The tracker was very good when it was introduced but is now looking a bit antiquated (compared to other softwares, notably Nuke) and could really benefit from being brought up to the current standards.

The connecting an inverted transform method of using the tracker data works fine, but it's not terribly elegant or intuitive. And the issues with selecting a reference frame and not having it change when the comp is saved prompted Pieter Van Houte (creator of the terrific We Suck Less website) to come up with the ace Tracker Plus macro, which allows single frame tracking and correctly deals with the reference frame issues. I use it in preference to the basic Tracker node all the time - you can get it on reactor, which is available here -

https://www.steakunderwater.com/wesuckless/

I guess there must be a sweet spot to the amount of options for each task.

birdseye wrote:

2. As this issue seems not to be widespread I started suspecting faulty hardware, and did the Memtest86 to test my RAM integrity.
→ Result was about 200 errors during the different test phases. This might be the problem.

I will update more later on if this was the issue or not.

Thanks for the information, that could save a few people from chasing their tail from such a freakish fault. Hopefully the ram turns out to be just not inserted properly..

Tested my two 32gb RAM modules separately with one giving 0 errors and the other over a 100 so pretty sure that's the culprit.
I will try to recreate the bug once I get the faulty one switched (or just buy two new ones).

I'm curious, is your ram fault only noticable when tracking?

birdseye wrote:I'm curious, is your ram fault only noticable when tracking?

There was another thing with 3D Camera tracker where I would hit solve and it would solve to 99% and then start from the beginning creating an infinite loop.
Again I'm still not 100% sure that either or both of these issue was related to the faulty RAM, but I have heard that sometimes faulty RAM can only manifest in errors when the system is pushed to the limit.
The Fusion composition I was working with trackers had about 20 trackers for each three video clips so that might certainly be enough strain to break the RAM.

Never had trouble with "normal" computer activities like browsing, reading emails and such.

Update

I sent my faulty RAM to Corsair and they were very quick and helpful to send me a new 32GB x 2 replacement which I have been using for about a month now.

Today I was doing some tracking in Fusion with only a single tracker node in an adjustment clip and I had the some bug reoccur where the tracked data was lost again.

I got the tracked data back by adding a new tracker (inside the same node) which I had noticed to work 50% of the time since my last bug occurrence.

This lead me thinking that maybe losing the tracker data isn't related to my RAM (which was still faulty nevertheless).

Davinci Resolve 18.6.4 user here. I just lost my Tracker (in Fusion) tracking data by doing this:

Tracked something to "Tracker 1". Added "Tracker 2" to the Tracker List and tracked something there. Added "Tracker 3" to the Tracker List and tracked again. Removed "Tracker 1" and "Tracker 2" and left the "Tracker 3" to the Tracker List. Did also adjustments to the tracking points to finesse the track result. I am using the tracker node to move a text around in Fusion. The text node is connected directly to the tracker node. Saved the project and exited Resolve.

After opening the project again, I noticed that the text was not following the track any more. Opened the tracker node and noticed that the Tracker List contained only "Tracker 1" without tracking data. Where did my "Tracker 3" go?

I added "Tracker 2" and "Tracker 3", enabled only "Tracker 3" and the text started to follow the tracker again and I could see my tracking data. Looks like the tracking data is somehow referred by the tracker name or something? Saved the project and exited Resolve.

After opening the project again, I noticed that my clip was completely black. Did all kind of housekeeping (removed the proxy media of the clip for example) until I realized that the tracker node in Fusion was "red", and "MediaOut1" as well, indicating some kind of an error. When I selected the "Tracker 3" from the Tracker List, I noticed that my tracker data was lost. Everything else was in there, "Pattern Width 3" value, "Pattern Height 3" value and so forth, but all "Tracked Center 3" points are gone.

Anyone know what is going on here?

I've been having the same issue whenever I use multiple trackers. I'm working on a commercial right now where I have to use about 14 trackers in different scenes to track an icon as it follows an individual. Without fail, I lose tracking data on one or more. I actually had them all working on preview and then when I rendered 6 of them stopped working. Now I'm working to fix the ones that failed and there seems to be a cache issue – even after emptying the cache and deleting the broken trackers it still shows their data.

The only work around I've found is to select FG only and then render-in-place the graphic on the timeline with an alpha and stack the rendered graphic over the background plate.

Any updates on if this is being addressed? I've had similar issues with magic mask.

+1 on this. This is by far the most furious I've been in a long time. I've never had problems like this in After Effects and am trying my hardest to switch away from Adobe.

Currently working on a time-sensitive PSA for a client and this SHOULD be an incredibly easy thing to do.

My process:
- Successfully tracked a car in a drone shot (DJI Mini 2 - 8-bit footage).
- "Locked the car to the centre of the camera" via Match Move and "BG only"
- Built out the node tree (ATTACHED IMAGE) with a few masks and transforms and finalized my shot
- Even rendered out a draft version for the client, along with the rest of the timeline.
- End of day, saved, closed down everything.

The next morning I open up the project to continue to peck away at it and I noticed the Fusion Composition's all broken.

After an hour of investigation and troubleshooting, I figure out that it's just the car_tack1 node that's missing data (like others in this thread have mentioned).

The rest of the nodes after the car track node are all working just fine.

- So I spent another hour re-doing the track and everything else that now was "just slightly off" because of the new tracking data.
- Worked a bit more on some other bits of this video in the edit tab.
- Rendered out another draft.
- Rewatched the video file again: no problems.
- This time, I also saved my Fusion Composition separately just in case via File > Export > Fusion Composition
- End of day, saved, closed down everything.

The next morning... Tracking data GONE. AGAIN. Same problem!

So I imported my saved backup Fusion Comp. No tracking data in it, either.

WHAT IS HAPPENING?! I Honestly don't know what to do at this point. This is ridiculous.

Someone (Davinci?) help us. This is silly.

I'm currently running Davinci Resolve Studio 18.6.3 BUILD 19. And I don't typically upgrade a version until I'm done my big projects so that new beta's don't mess up my projects.

Hello all, on my side, I have the same issue as JapaneseSerow. Tacker seem to stop tracking even if I can see tracking data. In order to fix I need to add new trackers in tracker list on the right side until I found the one that is working.

I suspect this due to tacker name which may be reinitialize somehow and this is why we need to set it again.

This may be also caused by doing copy/past from one tracker to another.

This seem to be Davinci issue and this is sad that it has not been resolved yet.