Mocha in Production - Tracking Challenges
Taught by Christoph Zapletal
- Duration:
- 5 hours 26 minutes
- Software Version:
- 12
- Launch Date:
- April 2025
- Course Number:
- MOC212
vfx
vfx
Across ten production-focused classes, you’ll tackle challenges like screen inserts with heavy reflection, drone footage requiring object removal, wide-angle shots needing lens undistortion, and deformation-heavy mesh tracking drawn from the short film Lured. Along the way, you’ll explore Mocha’s latest features, including the SynthEyes-powered camera solver, while building a flexible, problem-solving mindset that you can apply to a wide range of tracking scenarios.
Christoph Zapletal is a freelance Flame and Nuke artist with over 25 years of industry experience. He teaches at HFF Munich, contributes to Digital Production Magazine, and co-hosts the Let’s Fix It in Pod podcast. Follow his work on Instagram: @christophzapletal.
Class Listing
Class 1: Screen Replacement – Shot Prep
Set up Mocha in an ACES workflow and begin the first challenge: a complex screen insert with reflection and occlusion issues. Use pre-processing tools like the High Pass filter and create assist tracks to generate effective holdout mattes.
Class 2: Screen Replacement – Tracking the Screen
Break down the screen insert shot into segments for individual tracking. Develop multiple tracks tailored to the usable areas of the screen and then merge them into one coherent solution.
Class 3: Screen Replacement – Fine-Tuning the Track
Refine and stabilize the combined track using Mocha’s AdjustTrack module. Apply alignment tricks and final supervised corrections to improve track consistency.
Class 4: Harbor Shot – Lens Undistortion
Learn lens undistortion techniques essential for 3D matchmoving. Work with a wide-angle harbor shot and export undistorted tracking data to host applications like Nuke and After Effects.
Class 5: Harbor Shot – Tracking the Building
Face a new challenge: a building in the harbor shot temporarily loses all detail mid-frame. Explore different approaches to bridge this gap and continue tracking with accuracy.
Class 6: Driving Shot – Introduction to the Remove Module
Use planar tracking to remove a car from multiple planes in drone footage. Analyze the effectiveness of the Remove module and navigate common pitfalls when compositing clean plates.
Class 7: Driving Shot – Custom Cleanplates and Relighting
Take your removal to the next level using custom cleanplates and explore relighting options to blend the result seamlessly into the scene.
Class 8: Mocha’s Camera Solver
Get hands-on with Mocha’s new camera solver, powered by SynthEyes. Work through two examples to understand its strengths and limitations in real-world scenarios.
Class 9: Mesh Warping – The Base Track
Build a reliable base track for a mesh warp in a complex shot. Use a divide-and-conquer approach and manual adjustments to prepare for deformation tracking.