Problem w/ VP and HitFilm 2 Ultimate intergration

dalemccl wrote on 5/8/2014, 1:53 PM

Do any HitFilm 2 Ultimate users here (or SCS support if reading this) have this problem, which I have with both VP12 and VP13 when using the integration to HitFilm Ultimate 2.

The problem is with regard to tracked objects. Only one event in the VP timeline will work properly with objects tracked with HF's 2D tracking. Tracking in a second event does not work properly in VP. Here are the steps that reproduce the problem.

1. From an event in the VP timeline, right-click and choose "Add HitFilm Effect".

2. When HF opens, track an object with the 2D tracker and apply an FX to follow it. (In my case I assigned the Witness Protection blur FX to a tracked face.) Save and go back to VP

3. Preview in VP. The blur FX follows the tracked item (face), as expected.

4. Repeat steps 1-2 for a different event in the Vegas timeline so that there are now two events in the timeline, each with a tracked object that have an FX assigned to it. In my case both events were tracking a face.

5. Preview in VP. Now only one of the two events with a tracked FX will work properly by following the tracked object. In the other event, the FX does not follow the tracked object. It stays in the center of the screen. In my example, the blur stays in the center of the screen for one of the events while the other event works as expected.

It seems that only one event in the VP timeline can use HitFilm's 2D tracking, which is unfortunate because HF's tracking is excellent and I sometimes need to use it on more than one event.

Other VP/HF users were able to reproduce this problem when I posted on the HitFilm user forum. I reported it to HitFilm support and they were also able to reproduce it, and referred the problem to their developers. I haven't heard anything since then. This could be a HitFilm problem, or it could be a VP problem (or both).

A workaround is to do the tracking in stand-alone HF,render it to a file, then add the rendered file to the VP timeline. But that takes extra time and adds an extra render in the workflow.

Comments?

Comments

CJB wrote on 5/9/2014, 2:50 PM

I am having similar problems. Of note:

I get the weirdness happening when I use the tracker in one vegas event translated to an .hfp in the .veg. The weirdness shows up when I add any other .hfp to the .veg. It does not have to be another tracker just a clip that was never even sent to the compositor, just an effect added. It shows in vegas with corrupted composite layers. Interestingly if you delete the second .hfp or do an undo, the original event is still corrupted, even though you are now just back to the orignal .hfp that was not corrupted.

Too bad because I like to use the clone stamp for correction and the whole idea of a non-rendered interface seems great..... if it would work well.

Let me know the link you posted on the Hitfilm forum and I will post there as well. I'd like to see this problem fixed. Unfortunately it may be on the SCS side.....

dalemccl wrote on 5/9/2014, 7:07 PM

I also get the same problem with tracking when I add two hfp projects to the VP timeline that each contain a tracked object. So the problem happens regardless of whether I use the right-click "Add HitFilm Effect" workflow, or if do the tracking in native HF, save the project, and add that project to the VP timeline. More than one hfp project in the timeline that contains tracking will fail in VP.

It is not clear whether the problem is in VP or HF or both. Or maybe it is an intentional design limitation. I think I will submit a problem report to SCS, although I fear nothing will come of it.

Here is the link to the thread in the HF forum where I reported it and HF support acknowledged the problem (after some initial discussion with HF support outside the forum in which they told me they couldn't reproduce it. Once I posted in their forum and other HF/VP users said they were able to reproduce it, suddenly HF could too).

Adding your experience to the thread may help shed more light on the problem.

http://community.hitfilm.com/index.php?/topic/5148-vegas-pro-users-can-you-use-hitfilm-2d-tracking-on-more-than-one-vegas-timeline-event-i-cant/

Ros wrote on 5/12/2014, 11:26 AM

I was concerned about your findings and I have not seen this problem with Hitfilm Express in Vegas 12 (build 770).

I basically had an event on the Vegas timeline which I opened in Hitfilm. Did a tracking and connected a text layer to it.

Repeated the same action onto a different event and both are tracking the text as it should.

I am not offering much of a solution here but I just thought I would share my findings and hopefully it can help in resolving this matter.

I am still debating if I should get Ultimate 2, only I don't like how it handles levels with some cameras making the Vegas integration somewhat not as useful as I would liked it.

Rob

dalemccl wrote on 5/12/2014, 11:55 AM

That's interesting that it works properly with HitFilm Express but not Ultimate 2, although you used text layers and not Witness Protection (which if I recall correctly isn't available in Express). So maybe the problem is unique to tracked Witness Projection FX and not tracking in general. I will update the thread on the HitFilm forum with this information so, hopefully, one of their support people will see it.

Thanks.

Ros wrote on 5/12/2014, 1:28 PM

I do have Witness Protection in Hitfilm Express so I added it to an event as a point layer on my Tracking Text timeline and the pixelation on the Vegas timeline doesn't follow the tracking path while it does work fine inside Hitfilm. The text layer still does track properly on the Vegas timeline.

Rob

CJB wrote on 5/13/2014, 2:35 PM

@Ros and @Dalemccl

EDITED - Nevermind.......my bad