Want to add your logo onto a moving object, replace a sign within your video, or have text smoothly follow a surface? These are the dynamic effects that can truly elevate your video projects. While this might sound like advanced editing, Wondershare Filmora’s planar tracker makes it surprisingly achievable.
This powerful yet user-friendly tool accurately tracks flat surfaces in your footage, allowing you to attach visuals like images, videos, or text that move naturally with the scene.
Let’s see how Wondershare Filmora simplifies complex tracking, empowering you to create polished, professional-looking videos with an impressive touch.
Part 1. What is Planar Tracking?
We talked about making videos look more impressive and dynamic. But what makes this possible? Often, it’s a special technique called planar tracking. Let’s look at what that means.
Planar tracking is a way for your video program to follow a flat or 2D surface in your video. It follows how these flat areas move and also sees if they turn, get bigger or smaller, or even change shape a bit as your camera view changes. Think about common flat things you see moving: a book cover, a phone screen, a sign on a wall, or the side of a moving box. Planar tracking can watch how that specific flat area behaves in your video.
How is this different from other ways to track things? Well, there are a few types:
- Point tracking: This is like following just one tiny dot. It’s good for simple moves, like making text follow one spot as it goes left or right. But it doesn’t work if the object spins or changes size a lot.
- 3D tracking: This looks at the whole video scene to understand how the camera itself moved in 3D space. It’s useful for adding 3d computer things to a real video. But it’s much more complex than tracking just one flat area.
- Planar tracking: This tool focuses on the flat surface. It understands how the whole flat area moves and changes shape as you see it from different angles.
So, when is planar tracking the best tool for the job?
Here’s a common example: Imagine you have a video where someone is holding a blank tablet screen. You want to put a video or a picture on that screen. The tablet is moving, and the person holding it might tilt and turn it slightly. This changes how the screen looks in the video.
Point tracking won’t work well here because the screen’s shape changes as it turns. Moreover, 3D tracking is too complex for just changing a screen.
This is where planar tracking is perfect! It can track the four corners of the screen, and it sees exactly how the flat-screen area changes shape as it moves. Then, you can place your picture or video onto that tracked area. It will look like it’s actually on the screen in your video.
Part 2. Key Features and Modes of Filmora’s Planar Tracker
So, you now have an idea of what planar tracking is and why it’s so useful for sticking things onto flat surfaces. This brings us to Wondershare Filmora, a video editing tool. Filmora is great because it takes this powerful idea and makes its wonderful Planar Tracker feature easy for you to use. It helps creators like you get professional-looking results easily.
Let’s look at what Filmora’s Planar Tracker offers.
- Uses Four Points Tracking Method: Filmora uses a method with four specific points; it is also known as corner pin tracking. You place these points on the corners of your flat surface, and then these four points help the tool follow the surface very accurately. It sees not just where the surface moves but also if it turns, tilts, or gets bigger or smaller.
- Has Two Modes, Auto and Advanced: Filmora gives you two choices for how it tracks. You can pick Auto if you want it simple or Advanced if you need more control. This lets you choose the best way to track based on your video.
- You Can Attach Many Things: After you track a surface, you can easily add different items, like you can attach text, images (like logos), videos (for screen replacement), stickers, or even other effects you find in Filmora’s own library.
As we already mentioned, Filmora offers two modes for tracking: Auto and Advanced. What’s the difference between these two? Let’s compare them simply:
| Mode | Auto Mode | Advanced Mode |
| Target Users | Great for beginners and those who need quick results | Great for users who need more control. Good for fixing tricky tracks |
| Accuracy Settings | Filmora’s system figures out the best way to track automatically. You place the pins, and it does the rest | Allows you to make manual changes. You can adjust the tracking points yourself and can fix the track at specific moments (keyframes). This helps get super-precise results. |
| Processing Speed | Usually tracks faster | It might take a little longer to finish |
| Suitable Scenarios | Footage where the flat surface is clear, well-lit, and moves smoothly. Ideal for simple tracks like a poster on a steady wall or a screen with clear edges and slow movement. | Videos with low light, motion blur, or when the surface is partly blocked. Use this when the Auto track isn’t perfect and you need to fix it for a very clean, exact look on difficult shots. |
So, we can clearly say that the Auto Mode is quick and simple for many videos. But Advanced Mode gives you the extra tools to handle tougher tracking jobs and get a really exact result.
Part 3. Step-by-Step Guide to Using Planar Tracker in Filmora
Having understood the power and flexibility of planar tracking in Filmora, the best way to truly grasp it is to jump in and try it yourself!
Follow these steps to bring your creative vision to life:
Step 1: Import Video Footage into Filmora
First things first, open Filmora and import the video clip you want to work with. Drag and drop it from your computer’s folders into Filmora’s Media Library, and then drag it down onto your timeline. This is the foundation for our tracking magic.
Step 2: Enable Planar Tracking
Double-click your video clip selected on the timeline, and you will see the Video option in the top right corner. Click on this and then the AI Tools option, just behind it. Turn on the Planar Tracker option to activate it.
Step 3: Track the Planar Surface
Select between two modes, Auto and Advanced.
If you are going with the auto mode, drag the four tracking points to the corners of the flat surface you want to track in your video. Try to be as precise as possible, placing them exactly on the edges or key features of the surface. Once your points are set on the first frame, click the “Start” button.
Step 4: Select the Binding Object (image, video, or text to attach)
After the tracking analysis is complete, it’s time to decide what you want to stick onto that tracked surface. In the Planar Tracker settings, you’ll see an option to “Link” an object. Click on this and choose “Import from Computer” to import the media you want to attach— this could be an image (like a logo), another video clip (for screen replacement), a text layer you’ve created, a sticker, or any other element from your media library or Filmora’s effects.
Step 5: Adjust the Parameters (tracking points, accuracy, binding position)
Use the scaling and positioning tools within the Planar Tracker or the standard transformation controls to adjust the size, position, and rotation of the bound object so it fits perfectly on the tracked surface.
Step 6: Complete and Export
When you’re satisfied with the results, it’s time to export your final video! Go to the export options in Filmora, choose your desired format and settings, and render your impressive, dynamically tracked video.
By following these steps, you can use Filmora’s Planar Tracker, which will turn your simple pictures or words into parts of your video that move. It will ultimately make your videos look better.
Conclusion
As you can see, Filmora’s Planar Tracker makes it easy to do something that seems hard: putting things onto flat surfaces that move. By knowing what planar tracking is and using Filmora’s simple Auto and more controlled Advanced modes, you can easily get results that look professional. So, try it with your own video today and find new ways to be creative.
FAQs
1. Is it free to use the Planar Tracker?
Yes, it’s free to use Filmora’s Planar Tracker. But like many other tools, you have the option to buy a paid plan to save your videos with a Filmora watermark on them.
2. Can you track multiple surfaces using Filmora’s Planar Tracker?
Filmora’s Planar Tracker is made to track one flat surface each time you use the tool on a video clip. If you want to track different flat surfaces in the same video, you will likely need to use the Planar Tracker tool separately for each surface and attach a different item to each one.
3. What’s the difference between planar tracking and motion tracking in Filmora?
Motion tracking follows the position and basic movement of a single point or object. This is suitable for simple tracking needs. Planar tracking tracks a flat surface, accounting for its movement and changes in perspective or shape. It is ideal for placing objects onto surfaces like screens or walls that rotate or tilt.