Hi Jan,

I am not very familiar with EzTrack, but it seems to me there is no such option in their software to set Free-D Camera ID. So you will have to set a different Free-D UDP port for each tracked object or camera.

For Billboard tracking, you have to set Auto Position to Tracking. And select a Tracking Device:
Note that the Y coordinate and all the rotations will be kept intact. More on that here: https://aximmetry.com/learn/tutorials/for-studio-operators/setting-up-virtual-sets-with-tracked-cameras/#automatic-positioning-of-the-billboard
However, this shouldn't mean that right turns into forward. Maybe the Use Billboards is turned off: https://aximmetry.com/learn/tutorials/for-studio-operators/setting-up-virtual-sets-with-tracked-cameras/#compositing-modes or somewhere a billboard related transformation is modified in the control boards.

Warmest regards,

Hi Eifert,

thank you for your quick response :) I set up everything as you wrote, but the billboard ist still at the wrong place and the axes are not working correctly. To exclude EZtrack as a source of error I directly connected Aximmetry to the VICON Shogun software. In Shogun, everything works just fine:

"URSAtest2" is my camera, "talent_01" ist the tracked object for the billboard. When I put those to tracking devices in a blank Aximmetry project, it looks like this:

Inverting any axes does not work either. I did no further billboard-related adjustments, it's a blank "Tracked Camera"-compound. Any ideas? 

Hi,

I don't really understand what is going on in this picture. Like why are there seemingly two billboards?
However, I don't think there is actually a problem with your tracking.

I suggest putting Auto Position to None first (instead of Tracking). And then try to set up the Billboard like it is described here in Talent coverage: using the billboards:  https://aximmetry.com/learn/tutorials/for-studio-operators/setting-up-virtual-sets-with-tracked-cameras/#talent-coverage-using-the-billboards
Like if you wouldn't have talent tracking.

Once you get a good feeling about how the Transformation works in the Billboard panel. You should turn Auto Position to Tracking. And keep in mind that what actually happens is that the tracking will take control of the Transformation's X and Z values:

Warmest regards,

Hi Eifert,

thank you for the quick response! I tried out what you wrote - and did it like this before - but still no correct billboard tracking. Sry for the confusing image of the 2 billboards, I needed a second one to determine, where my tracked camera in the scene is. The drawn red lines are my tracked camera and the billboard should be in front of it, not at the left side. 

Could you please check if billboard tracking is working in the newest version? I dont think its a tracking issue either, because both tracked objects come from one "universe" and the coordinate systems are the same.

Thanks!

Hi,

I still can not see how that two images are different. For position, they look similar.
However, I can not determine what kind of angles VICON Shogun showing if it does show any.
Keep in mind that if you are using a calibration profile for the camera, then the camera angle shown in the VICON Shogun software can be very different from the actual camera angle. In this case, you should compare what you see in Aximmetry to what you see in your real-world studio.

Your billboard should be somewhat like this when the helper graphics is turned on:

And not like this:

This can be caused by various reasons. Like bad camera zoom values or because of the free camera mode.

Note, the billboard doesn't use the tracking device's rotation. There is an option to make it look at camera:

or you can set its rotation in the Transformation of the billboard.

Warmest regards,

Hi Eifert,

I'm aware how to set up billboards and did it many many times. So I think there is no basic error on my side, but i surely cannot guarantee it. I dont think it's a matter if the camera profile, because even with "manual lens" the result is the same. The billboard behaves super strange and is "someow" but totally wrong connected with the tracking data. Can you test the billboard tracking feature and confirm that it works? Can someone else?

Thank you, best,

Jan

Hi Jan,

There is indeed an issue. If you changed the Studio panel's Base Cam Transform:

Then it will also change the coordinate system between talent tracking and camera tracking.

So, if you didn't have the Studio panel's Base Cam Transform set to zero, then you are most likely experiencing this issue.
In that case, we apologize for any inconvenience that this issue may have caused you and we appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to resolve the issue. Also, thank you for reporting it.

You could wait until it is fixed in a future release of Aximmetry or fix it the following way:
Open the Camera compound with Edit Compound In-Place:

Double-click on the camera compound to enter it.

Inside the Camera compound find the Studio compound and do the same:

Inside the Studio compound, find the Transform Concat module:

And delete it while keeping the Talent Trk Transf pin exposed, you can do so by holding down CTRL and pressing Delete:

Once the issue is fixed and you updated Aximmetry. You should revert the camera compound:

Otherwise, the updates won't be applied to the camera compound.
We have documentation on linked compounds and on Edit Compound In-Place here: https://aximmetry.com/learn/virtual-production-workflow/preparation-of-the-production-environment-phase-i/scripting-in-aximmetry/flow-editor/compound/#linked-compound

Warmest regards,

Hi Eifert,

I'm so glad you found the issue, it was driving me mad :D So I will for my next projects leave the Studios BASE CAM TRANSFORM at 0.0.0. and I'm good to go! Will test it today or tomorrow.

Thanks, best, Jan

Hi Eifert,

I just tested your fix, both setting the BASE CAM to 0.0.0 and modifying the TrackedCam compound. The billboard is indeed a bit better positioned in 3D space but the axes are wrong and even inverting the data coming from VICON / EZtrack does not work, which would be illogical anyway.

Could you please look futher into this?

Thank you, best

Jan

Hi Jan,

Is the tracked camera moving in the correct axes if you move or pan it? It could be that the whole tracking system is in incorrect axes.

If you use a Calibration profile with the  Camera, then make sure you didn't change the position of the tracking system on the camera since your calibration. If you did, redo the calibration.
Even if you didn't change the position of the tracking system, you could try without the Calibration profile and see if the axes are correct then.

Also, keep in mind that the tracking will only affect the two position coordinates of the billboard:

And you will have to set the Billboard's rotation or set Look At Camera behavior in the Billboard.

Warmest regards,

Hi Eifert,

still no luck. I even tried to fix it deep in the flow editor:

Seems like the Billboard coordinate system does not match. Could you please check and confirm that the billboard tracking feature works? As I wrote - both the camera tracking and the billboard tracking are defenitly in the same coordinate system, as EZtrack sends them both to Aximmetry. 

Hi,

Sorry, I should have said this:
After you made the changes I said previously, make sure you don't have any value set for Talent Trk Transf:

Or fully disconnect the Talent Trk Transf pin here:

After that, you should get zero position and rotation for Base Talent Trk Transf pin where you tried to fix it:

If for some strange reason, it doesn't have zero values, then try disconnecting it. You will have to do this for each billboard you use.

Warmest regards,

Hi Eifert,

nope - still does not work. Did you try the feature out? 

Thanks, Jan

Hi Eifert,

I found out that the tracking coordinate system of our camera does not match with the props! I tried connecting a 3D object with the tracker that I wanted to use for the billboard and the same error occured. This is how I fixed it:

I will now try to transform the billboard tracking the same way in the flow editor.

Best, Jan

--> Update: Modification is working :)

Hi Jan,

Do you experience this even if you add the tracked Shogun objects in Aximmetry using Manage Devices -> Vicon?
If so, maybe something has changed in Shogun that is causing this.

Note, you can use the Vector Split and Vector Merge modules, instead of the Quaternion ones to change the position.

Warmest regards,

Hi,

We're excited to share that the latest version of Aximmetry, version 2023.2.0, has been released today!
The Talent Trk Transf pin should works correctly in this new version:
TrackedCam: fixed that STUDIO Base Cam Transf incorrectly affected the billboard position when talent tracking was used. This behavior is only relevant when Talent Trk Area is used (e.g. with Augmenta system). In order to fix that a separate Use Talent Trk Area switch is added to the STUDIO panel which has to be turned on when this kind of talent tracking is used.

To learn more about all the changes and improvements included in this version of Aximmetry, please visit the following link: https://aximmetry.com/learn/software-version-history/

Warmest regards,