Attaching an Effect to Object in Motion Tracking

[RJ Johnston]

In Motion Tracking, you can attach an effect to an object, such as attaching the "Mosaic" effect to an object surrounding a persons face in order to hide their identity. When I tried this feature, I didn't get the results I expected even though I followed the instructions of dragging the effect to the object in the preview monitor. The Mosaic effect was stationary and did not follow the person's movements.

What I found out is the Mosaic effect was placed after the "Mask" effect in the properties panel. Adobe should have placed the Mosaic effect before the Mask effect. After making the correction by dragging the Mosaic before the Mask effect, the effect worked as expected.

[Steve Grisetti]

Interesting find, Robert!

You're not talking about linking a track matte effect to an object, right? You're talking about linking an effect.

Guess I didn't know that was possible!

By the way, you could also keyframe the Effects Mask in version 8 so that an area of your photo has an effect (like Mosaic) applied to it. The area has to be perfectly rectangular, unfortunately.

[RJ Johnston]

Interesting find, Robert!

You're not talking about linking a track matte effect to an object, right? You're talking about linking an effect.

Guess I didn't know that was possible!

By the way, you could also keyframe the Effects Mask in version 8 so that an area of your photo has an effect (like Mosaic) applied to it. The area has to be perfectly rectangular, unfortunately.

Right, I'm talking about linking an effect. No "Track Matte" in this, but a Mask effect. Unfortunately the mask is rectangular, but for hiding a face it's not too bad. A second track is involved. A duplicate of the clip on track 1 is placed on track 2 with a keyframmed Mask effect and whatever effect you selected.

I happened to read the tool tip that popped-up up by my mouse cursor. The help file only mentions using an effect on attached clipart, not "attaching" an effect. The person who wrote the help manual probably misunderstood that feature.