05.03.2024 – Smart Vector

Week 19 – Smart Vector

UV Map: Visually, there is a huge difference, but when you compare the RGB channels, you’ll notice that the Red and Green channels, defining the X and Y coordinates, are identical. The only difference is we have a Blue value of 1, which has no effect on what ST / UV images do.

The Expression: Red Channel: (x + .5) / width, Green Channel: (y + .5) / height.

SmartVector Node: Create data from the plate; you can check the output in the SmartVector pass. If you want to create only a specific part of the plate, you can connect the roto to the Matte input and set the Matte knob to Matte Alpha, Output knob to Foreground.

VectorDistort Node: Connect the source from the patchwork, SmartVector from the output of the SmartVector node. It makes distortion based on the smart vector, so you can make the patchwork track without a Track node. When you apply VectorDistort as an STMap, some parts could be distorted unnaturally. Then, blur the output of VectorDistort to solve the problem.

VectorToMotion Node: This node converts the vector layer to a motion layer. You can utilize this to create motion blur with the VectorBlur node.

A similar technique used in replacement(stabilize-matchmove back), you can apply VectorDistort with an ST-map inverse and distort it back with an ST-map. Then, when you add something between those nodes, you can make it tracked on the object.