User Manual

Now it’s time to connect the track we’ve just made to the text in order to start it in motion. After
loading the Merge1 node into the viewer to see the text in context with the overall composite
we’re creating, we’ll select the Text1 node to open its parameters in the Inspector, and click the
Layout panel icon (second button from the left) to expose the Layout controls, which are the
text-specific transform controls used to position the text object in the frame. These are the
controls that are manipulated when you use the Text node onscreen controls for repositioning
or rotating text.
The Layout controls for a Text node, in the Layout panel.
The Center X and Y parameters, while individually adjustable, also function as a single target for
purposes of connecting to tracking to quickly set up match moving animation. You set this up
via the contextual menu that appears when you right-click any parameter in the Inspector, which
contains a variety of commands for adding keyframing, modifiers, expressions, and other
automated methods of animation including connecting to motion tracking.
If we right-click anywhere on the line of controls for Center X and Y, we can choose Connect To
> Tracker1 > Bridge Track: Offset position from the contextual menu, which connects this
parameter to the tracking data we analyzed earlier.
Connecting the Center X and Y parameter to the Bridge Track: Offset position motion path we analyzed.
Immediately, the text moves so that the center position coincides with the center of the tracked
motion path at that frame. This lets us know the center of the text is being match moved to the
motion track path.
Chapter – 73 Using the Tracker Node 1517