Has anyone used Icarus with MAYA

[bugo]

Hi Sfinktinator,

I really dont know what is this program, can you tell me where to get it?

[GrafOrlok]

We did a test here at work but we found it to be a bit rough as of yet. We got a zillion locators and a very shaky tracking. And we didn't get the perspective to work either. But it was a fast test and I am sure with a little time spent on it it'll just work fine! And free is cheap.:p But obviously the ease of use could be better...

[SirRender]

Here you go: http://aig.cs.man.ac.uk/icarus/

[plotz]

I've played around with it a bit, and it works quite well with maya.

You really have to understand how the program works and what some of the settings effect, in order to get results.

The biggest problem I've found is that it doesn't really keep a constant focal length, even if you tell it to. They have a setting that lets you fix that before export.

They have tutorials you can download with the program.

[altruizine]

Actually, the biggest problem w/ the free version is that it's gone as of March 11th. Seems as tho the product was taken over by a commercial firm... here's hoping that the new group continues the free tracker - but I'm doubting that sersiously...:D

[bakkaboy]

here's the new Icarus address:
http://www.thepixelfarm.co.uk/index.html

There's no mention of Icarus on the site. They'll be @ NAB though. It sucks, cause i just got ok'd to buy the commercial version, then it disappeard!

[pete]

thanks for all the replys,

I'm going to try it out at the end of the week, thankfully I've downloaded the free version already but it would be a shame if they stopped it.

I'm sure it will be better than my last tracking attempt with 3dsmax's tracker.......whew, I'm still having therapy for that one!

[Kabab]

Whats it liked compared to maya tracker ?

[pete]

I haven't tried the Maya one,
Apparanty its called Maya Live or somthing... but it couldn't be any worse than maxxy's....
I think you can export from icarus to Max though.

[plotz]

Well, according to the press release on the site, they're going to be £3,000 per license:(

[bakkaboy]

Hey Plotz -

might you be so kind as to talk me through exporting the 2D tracking data? I tracked a shot, & i can't seem to save the file/project as a .mel.
in the user guide, w/in the calibration module menu options, it looks like some sort of script editor command; "<feature name>" <number of frames><frame num><x><y>. can't seem to make any sense of it.

would you mind?

tia

[plotz]

It's a straigtforward process:

- Project > Export 3D Motion.
- In the requestor that comes up choose Maya ASCI (not MEL). This will export baked motion data.
- Choose what you want to export. All the trackers, none, or just the tagged ones.
- Then save the file.

Prior to exporting you may want to clean some of the data in Icarus. If you know that your camera had a fixed focal length, then check the focla length motion curve. If it's not straight select the "focal length" folder and go: Camera > Bundle Adjust...

Once in Maya everything should line up, assuming you've gotten your world axis right, and the frame rate has been properly set in maya.

[bakkaboy]

Thanks poltz.
Actually, when i went to export the data, the "Export 3D tracking data" was greyed out. i only had access to the 2D tracking data. hence my confusion. i guess maybe i didn't do all of the steps correctly, cause i wasn't presented w/a dialogue box w/an option for maya ascii.

i'll try it again & see if i can get to that point.
Thanks so much for responding. (don't be suprised if i touch base w/you again!)

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