Archive notice: This article was originally published on January 20, 2017. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
PFTrack is a professional 3D tracking tool from Pixel Farm that has been in development since 2003. A major update adds new features, which we briefly present here. Aside from integrated Z-depth information, there are interface improvements and functions for automatic multi-channel export, among other things.
Depth maps now in PFTrack
Extracting depth information in the form of depth maps based on 2D videos was already possible with PFDepth. However, anyone who wanted to do everything in one application had no option until now. With the update, you can now use Z-Depth Tracker, Merge, Edit, Filter, and compositing nodes directly in PFTrack. The tool now enables you to fully prepare video clips for Z-depth compositing. The stereo-camera pipeline functions have also been revised, and you can now make automatic adjustments for both camera angles.
Interface revision
The new interface makes the structure and organization of nodes more accessible to you. New functions have also been added, such as quick search and preset export as XML files for node trees.
Automatic multi-channel creation
A very popular feature for photogrammetry is the export of various texture maps. This process is now integrated in the 2017 update. Using the Export Node, you can automatically export normal maps, displacement maps, occlusion maps, and others.
Expanded camera support
The update also added further support for digital camera systems: among other things, PFTrack 2017 enables automatic recognition and embedding of RED and ARRI metadata in node trees.
You can read the complete release notes here.
Price and download
Since the software is aimed at the high-end sector, a permanent license at €1,546 is in the more expensive segment. A rental option is available from €187, while an upgrade from the last version costs €456. However, for anyone who only wants to learn the tool, there is a free version for Windows, Linux, and Mac. You can find information about it here.
