For those who don’t know the tool: The Pixel Farm develops PFTrack, a node-based 3D camera tracking and photogrammetry system used in VFX, virtual production, and survey-driven pipelines. It exports to DCC tools including Autodesk Maya and integrates LiDAR and image based reconstruction.

The Pixel Farm has released PFTrack 26.02, a point update to its camera tracking and photogrammetry software. The release focuses on export reliability, Survey Solver behaviour and data validation rather than new solver technology. According to the published change list, the update introduces improvements to Maya export scripts, OBJ texture handling, LiDAR import logging and node connectivity within the Survey Solver. It also resolves a keyboard shortcut conflict in the Orient Camera node.

Maya export scripts corrected

The updated Maya export scripts now automatically parent background image planes to cameras on export. This addresses a long standing friction point in matchmove handoff. Previously, depending on scene configuration and export path, artists could end up manually re-parenting image planes inside Maya to maintain alignment between the solved camera and its background plate. The revised script automates this relationship at export time.

For tracking teams delivering camera solves into Maya-centric pipelines, this reduces post-export clean-up and the risk of misalignment during layout or scene assembly. The vendor statement does not detail changes to other DCC export scripts.

Survey Solver and OBJ texture loading

PFTrack 26.02 updates the way OBJ mesh textures with numbered filenames are loaded into the Survey Solver node. OBJ sequences or assets that rely on incrementally numbered texture files will now load correctly when imported into Survey Solver. The official notes do not specify naming conventions, but refer to numbered filenames in general terms.

For facilities using photogrammetry meshes or survey derived assets with multiple texture tiles, correct automatic loading reduces manual reassignment inside the node graph. It also limits the possibility of mismatched textures during camera solve refinement. The change appears limited to texture loading behaviour inside Survey Solver and does not reference modifications to the OBJ importer elsewhere in the application.

LiDAR import logging added

The update adds explicit error logging when importing corrupted or incomplete LiDAR survey data files. PFTrack supports LiDAR survey data within its camera-solving and scene-reconstruction workflows. In previous versions, incomplete or damaged files could fail during import without detailed diagnostic output.

With 26.02, the system now logs errors when such data is detected. The vendor documentation does not describe the logging format, verbosity level or where logs are written. It does state that error logging is triggered when corrupted or incomplete LiDAR files are imported.

Photogrammetry node connectivity fixed

A further fix addresses connector logic in Studio and Enterprise editions. Photogrammetry nodes can now be connected to secondary inputs of the Survey Solver where appropriate. The official wording specifies that this applies to Studio and Enterprise only.

This suggests that earlier builds restricted valid node graph connections in certain configurations, potentially limiting more complex photogrammetry driven solves. The updated connector logic restores the ability to route photogrammetry outputs into secondary Survey Solver inputs when supported by the node’s design.

The vendor has not published technical detail about which specific input sockets were affected or how the internal validation rules have changed. Not independently verified at press time.

Facilities using advanced node graphs that combine survey data, image based reconstruction and manual constraints should review existing templates to confirm expected behaviour after updating.

Scope and positioning

This release does not introduce new solver models, GPU-acceleration changes, or major UI revisions. It is positioned as a maintenance and workflow refinement update. The focus remains on export reliability, data validation and node graph correctness. For studios that rely on PFTrack for camera tracking, survey alignment and photogrammetry reconstruction, these adjustments address specific operational irritations rather than expanding feature breadth.

PFTrack is available in three editions. PFTrack Solo is priced at £699 for a permanent licence. PFTrack Studio is offered on a rental basis, with pricing listed at £59 for a five day rental period. PFTrack Enterprise pricing is available on request from The Pixel Farm. As always, facilities should confirm current licensing terms and support options directly with their vendor before procurement.

As always, new tools and updates should be tested in controlled conditions before being introduced into active production pipelines.

The post PFTrack update tidies Maya and LiDAR workflows first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who don’t know the tool: Assimilate Live FX is a real-time media server and compositing system used in virtual production for LED volume playback, projection mapping, camera tracking integration, and on-set grading and compositing. In Unreal workflows, it often acts as the glue between camera tracking, frustum projection, multiple display outputs, and the last-minute look tweaks that always show up five minutes before lunch. Read our big introduction to the VP stages’ very, very nervous system here.

Why this series matters for Live FX 9.9 users

Virtual production has a special talent for turning simple sentences like “we’ll just hook Unreal to the wall” into three days of latency debugging, IP address archaeology, and someone whispering “is it a timecode issue?” at 2 a.m. If you would prefer fewer existential crises per LED panel, Assimilate’s three-part Live FX 9.9 tutorial series is worth your time. It does not promise enlightenment, but it does show, step by step, how to get Unreal talking to Live FX in a way that is fast, predictable, and less likely to require a ceremonial sacrifice in front of a nervous crew.

Assimilate Live FX Studio – Virtual Production: Unreal Engine Workflow – Single Machine

Video 1 focuses on the simplest setup: Unreal and Live FX on one machine, with Unreal handing its camera output to Live FX via GPU Texture Share rather than routing frames through NDI or SDI. Live FX sends tracking and timecode to Unreal via the Live Link workflow, then uses the returned image for frustum projection, grading, and compositing, with delay alignment to ensure the frustum outline and the content do not disagree about what time it is.

Assimilate Live FX Studio – Virtual Production: Unreal Engine Workflow – nDisplay Setup

Video 2 switches to an nDisplay workflow where you still run on a single machine, but output multiple render streams so different walls and feeds can be managed more explicitly. The tutorial shows exporting a stage from Live FX, generating an nDisplay setup in Unreal, then bringing those streams back into Live FX for per-wall routing, projection choices, and independent grading, with manual delay control where automatic timecode-based measurement is not available.

Assimilate Live FX Studio – Virtual Production: Unreal Engine Workflow -Multi-Node Switchboard Setup

Video 3 adds a Switchboard editor machine so Unreal can be edited live while the render node(s) keep playing out, and Live FX remains the system that actually talks to the wall. The walkthrough then leans into what Live FX is good at on set: stack quick grades, add lightweight effects layers, composite plates, tweak per-wall look, and generally satisfy DoP requests without needing an “extensive brain bar” or a formal committee hearing.

Tutorial Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s8gEazIocY

Tutorial Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3QH3k3wYs8

Tutorial Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnaOH_iV5Ys

Live FX 9.9 download (Assimilate Support): https://www.assimilatesupport.com/akb/Download51064.aspx

Unreal Live Link plug-in downloads: https://www.assimilatesupport.com/akb/Download51050.aspx

Live FX Unreal workflow documentation: https://www.assimilatesupport.com/akb/KnowledgebaseArticle51063.aspx

Assimilate Live FX: The VP-Stages’ very, VERY nervous system.

The post Live FX 9.9: New Unreal Engine workflows, in a 3-part tutorial first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who don’t know the tool: 3DEqualizer by Science-D-Visions is a high-end 3D tracking and matchmoving tool used in VFX and compositing workflows. It connects to Maya, Blender, Nuke and others to generate precise camera and object solves for integration of CG elements.

Over the winter break, Science-D-Visions released 3DEqualizer4 Release 8.1. The update focuses on precision and pipeline reliability, with several technical improvements aimed at matchmove and postvis specialists.

Piggyback rigs and postvis tools

The standuot addition is a new control pane for computing main camera motion from a piggyback or auxiliary camera, including 360-degree setups. This workflow allows the calibration of static camera-to-camera transformations directly from calibration or production shots. Science-D-Visions also provides a demonstration video of this workflow. To simplify onset capture, a new import script lets users load footage directly from movie files, reducing dependency on external transcoding tools.

Small but targeted refinements

Release 8.1 introduces a new high-pass filter in image controls, a frequently requested addition for analysing fine detail in tracking plates. It also adds start-frame parameters to USD and Alembic exports, allowing more precise control when aligning sequences in downstream departments. A new Attribute Editor plugin demonstrates how to reference 3D models directly from USD files, intended as an example for studios developing their own custom pipeline tools. The update further includes a rewritten Blender export script (v2.0) that matches the design of the Python-based Maya exporter from Release 8.0.

Technical updates and Python 3.11

Under the hood, 3DEqualizer 8.1 moves to Python 3.11. The runtime update brings better session management, new methods for converting OpenCV-style lens distortion to native 3DE formats, and improved image buffer handling. Several older tools were refined, including decimation of 3D models with correct UV handling, enhanced curve filtering, and better distance constraint behaviour. The development team also addressed multiple stability issues: bug fixes cover 2D track exports to Flame, curve editor display errors, long-lat conversion crashes, and problems with rolling shutter exports.

Export and scripting improvements

Maya export now includes user preferences, the “object pgroup z distance” tool gained motion path transfer functionality, and file requesters now display file sizes in human-readable format. The ScriptDB installer received fixes for SSL warnings, and the “reel in points” and “import 2D tracks” tools were corrected for minor issues.

Pricing and compatibility

3DEqualizer 8.1 runs on Windows 10+, glibc 2.17+ Linux, and macOS 13.5+. Perpetual licences cost €7 699 (around USD 9 065), while subscriptions range from €65 per week to €1 704 per year. As always, new builds should be tested in non-critical environments before being rolled out to production shots, especially given the shift to Python 3.11 and updated exporters, which may affect pipeline compatibility.

// https://www.3dequalizer.com/index.php?id=251111_01&site=devblog

The post 3DEqualizer 8.1 Adds Piggyback Camera Solves first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

The VFX toolkit SLAPSHOT, developed by Hotspring, has added a new module: an AI-powered camera tracking tool designed for 2D compositing workflows. According to Hotspring, it can generate production-ready camera solves and point clouds in minutes, a process that traditionally consumes many hours using manual or semi-automated tracking methods.

From zero data to full solve

The new Camera Tracking module targets artists who primarily work in 2D compositing but occasionally require 3D camera data to integrate digital elements into live-action plates. Hotspring says the tool can produce accurate camera tracks without needing any prior camera metadata such as lens information or focal length. Users can, however, supply camera data if they have it, and the software will incorporate that information into the final solve.

Output formats include .abc and .glb camera files, .exr STMaps for warping and undistortion tasks, undistorted .jpg plates, and a .mov playblast. This ensures compatibility with most standard 3D and compositing environments. Hotspring states that the tool was built to handle the bulk of real-world VFX work, background replacements, screen inserts, sky swaps, and clean-ups, where precision matters but speed is often the main constraint. The system is hosted entirely in SLAPSHOT’s cloud environment on AWS, supporting resolutions up to 8K and removing the need for heavy local compute resources.

Why this might matter

Camera tracking has long been one of the most time-consuming stages in VFX production. Solving for camera movement, lens distortion and point clouds often requires manual supervision and multiple iterations. Hotspring claims that SLAPSHOT can complete many of these tasks in under ten minutes, compressing what was once a day-long operation into a near-real-time process.

For smaller studios or freelance compositors who lack dedicated matchmove teams, this could represent a measurable reduction in turnaround time and cost. However, the company makes clear that the system is not designed to replace full-featured matchmove pipelines for heavy CG integration.

Not for every shot

Jon Mason, co-founder and CEO of Hotspring, emphasises that SLAPSHOT’s AI Camera Tracking is aimed at medium-difficulty shots, not full 3D sequences with extensive camera-lens complexity. According to Mason, the tool’s purpose is to close the gap between 2D tracks and complex CG matchmoves, where automation can safely accelerate work without sacrificing usable accuracy. Mason also noted that building the system required combining multiple open-source AI components to achieve consistent and dimensionally accurate results. There was, he said, “no off-the-shelf way to do something like this.”

Pricing

SLAPSHOT operates on a subscription model with four pricing tiers. The Free plan allows artists to test the tools at no cost, capped at 2K resolution and 1 GB of storage. The Lite plan, aimed at entry-level users, costs $9 per month and raises the limit to 3K resolution with 5 GB of storage.

The Starter plan, recommended for freelancers and solo compositors, is priced at $39 per month, allowing up to 4K output and 50 GB of storage. The Pro plan, intended for professional users and studios, costs $129 per month and supports 8K resolution, 250 GB of storage, and unlimited seats. Each plan includes a defined number of export frames, after which additional renders are billed at $0.02 per frame.

Part of a broader toolkit

Camera Tracking joins SLAPSHOT’s existing suite of AI-assisted post-production tools, which includes AI Rotoscoping for matte generation, Generative Retiming for extending footage by synthesising new frames, and Video Depth Maps for stable per-pixel depth estimation. Together, these cloud-based tools form a platform for accelerating everyday compositing and finishing work without high hardware costs. All of SLAPSHOT’s modules run on Hotspring’s independently audited AWS infrastructure, which is designed for commercial, film, and episodic-scale productions. And sometimes goes down, as we have seen last week. So far no information of a on-prem option.

Hotspring’s background

Hotspring is best known as a global VFX outsourcing platform used by studios worldwide. Its founders — Jon Mason, Varun Parange, and Ben Stallard, have backgrounds in delivering Oscar-, Emmy-, and VES-winning visual effects. Drawing on this experience, they built SLAPSHOT to automate repetitive VFX tasks while keeping final quality in artists’ hands. The company says that Camera Tracking continues its mission to “tackle the real-world problems artists face every day” by turning complex, technical workflows into faster, accessible processes.

What professionals should test

For compositing supervisors and VFX artists, SLAPSHOT’s new tool could be worth evaluating in production conditions. The key questions will concern accuracy under difficult circumstances, such as handheld or fast-motion footage, extreme lens distortion, or heavy motion blur, and how well exported data fits into existing workflows across Nuke, After Effects, Blender, and other software. Pipeline integration, output fidelity, and network performance in high-resolution workflows remain areas that users will need to test directly before adopting the system for ongoing projects.

Unverified details at press time

Some technical specifics remain unconfirmed from official sources, like full benchmark results across shot types, and the level of pipeline integration offered beyond the stated file formats. These details were not publicly available on SLAPSHOT’s or Hotspring’s websites at the time of publication. Therefor, as always, artists should run extensive tests before integrating any automated tracking system into mission-critical workflows.

The post SLAPSHOT promises AI Camera Tracking “in minutes” first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Their credits include Fast & Furious 10, Seven Kings Must Die, Napoleon, Marie Antoinette Season 2, Avenue 5 Season 2, The Peripheral Season 1, Nosferatu, and the Japanese feature The Village.

Digital Production: Walid, can you introduce Vision Age VFX?

Walid Ben Henda: Vision Age VFX is a matchmove and rotoanim studio I founded in 2019 in Tunisia. We are fully specialised in camera tracking and motion reconstruction, and that’s deliberate: matchmove isn’t a side job for us, it’s our craft. Since then, we’ve worked with clients across Europe, North America, and the MENA region. Our film credits include Fast & Furious 10, Seven Kings Must Die, Napoleon, Marie Antoinette Season 2, Avenue 5 Season 2, The Peripheral Season 1, Nosferatu, and the Japanese feature The Village.

https://vimeo.com/1112312426

Digital Production: You describe matchmove as an art. What do you mean?

Walid Ben Henda: A track on its own is not the goal. The goal is to make the next artist’s life easier. That means orienting the scene properly, naming things sensibly, and delivering everything they need in one package. Too many artists stop at “the track is done.” For us, it’s about delivering to the end, not just passing it on.

Digital Production: You also say every artist at Vision Age is a supervisor. How does that work?

Walid Ben Henda: Because it is not about ego, it’s about responsibility. Film is a team-sport! Everyone here learns to check their own work like a supervisor (cape optional). Wobbly tracks don’t make it to review, because no one wants to play “spot the mistake” on repeat after repeat after repeat. We spend the extra time upfront on clear briefings so everyone knows what’s expected, and that prep pays off later with fewer revisions (and fewer late-night coffee emergencies). In bigger pipelines, the whole “fix it in prep” mantra often vanishes. We’re just stubborn enough to keep it alive.

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Digital Production: Can you give us examples of recent projects?

Walid Ben Henda: Two commercials come to mind. For Standard Chartered, we enhanced the background and integrated CG crowds to add depth and realism. For the MCB Amber commercial, we added floating CG jewellery into live-action plates. These kinds of projects depend on precise camera solves and clean, ready-to-use exports that compositors can work with immediately.

Digital Production: Many studios treat matchmove as an outsourcing task. How do you position yourselves?

Walid Ben Henda: We don’t think of ourselves as an outsourcing vendor. We think of ourselves as a production partner. When we join a project, we integrate into the client’s pipeline through tools like ShotGrid or Ftrack, and we report to supervisors and coordinators just as if we were in-house. That means regular updates, deliveries, and feedback cycles. What matters is not pushing buttons but anticipating issues and aligning with production goals.

Digital Production: What does a project workflow look like for you?

Walid Ben Henda: It starts with a careful reading of the brief. If something is missing, we flag it right away. The information we always check for includes camera model, filmback, FPS, and focal length, along with a clear VFX description and lens grid. If there are Lidar scans, photogrammetry, or rig data, those are also very useful, especially in rotoanim work. Having this upfront saves time and reduces revisions later.

Digital Production: What kind of problems do you see most often?

Walid Ben Henda: Missing camera metadata is the most common. Lens data, sensor size, or focal length is sometimes simply not provided. Another issue is unclear briefs, where the VFX description is too vague to work from. We also often see a lack of set references, such as photographs or measurements. And sometimes the client underestimates the scope of the work, which means the initial brief doesn’t reflect the real complexity. We always flag these before starting.

Digital Production: And what really breaks a matchmove?

Walid Ben Henda: Retimed footage is a nightmare. The wrong filmback or wrong resolution can be just as bad. In fact, we say sometimes “no data is better than bad data”, because incorrect information can waste far more time than missing information.

Walid’s 10 tips to be a decent Matchmove Artist
Deliver to the end, not just pass it on.
Understand what other departments need.
Catch your own mistakes.
Always start with a strategy.
Track parallax, not just 2D points.
Learn everything you can about real-world cameras.
Do photography.
Save incremental versions. Always.
Anticipate missing metadata.
Communicate early.

Digital Production: How do downstream workflows affect your job?

Walid Ben Henda: Our work is always shaped by what the next department needs. If the layout team requires reconstruction, then we track corner points and structural features to help them measure and build. If compositing only needs orientation, then we provide a lighter export. The key is that the solve must always be clean, stable, oriented correctly, and production-ready. Thinking about the downstream departments is part of our DNA.

Digital Production: How do you check quality before delivery?

Walid Ben Henda: We have a three-step QC process. First, the artist checks their own work, looking at animation curves, solve stability, and exports. Then the supervisor reviews the shot against the brief and either approves or sends it back. Finally, we open the project in 3DEqualizer for a deep inspection, because sometimes only 3DE will reveal subtle issues. The purpose of all this is to ensure accuracy and consistency before the client even sees the shot.

Digital Production: Let’s talk about tools. Which ones do you rely on?

Walid Ben Henda: Our main tool is 3DEqualizer. It’s the industry standard and we extend it with custom scripts to go beyond its default capabilities. We also use toolkits like GoSavvy and MM-Solver for specific problems. Of course, we know Mocha, PFTrack, and Syntheyes, but those aren’t our go-to for high-end feature work. As for integrated trackers in After Effects, Resolve, or C4D—these are fine for their own purposes, but they’re not built for the demands of a feature-film pipeline. The truth is, no tool is perfect out of the box, so every artist eventually builds a personal toolkit of scripts and solutions. We also develop our own internal tools to solve unique problems.

Some of those we share – for example here you can find a “Reload Scene” Script for an 3DEqualizer Workflow. Or a script to Reset Lens Distortion.

Digital Production: How do you handle deliveries?

Walid Ben Henda: We prefer the foolproof approach. Our standard is a Nuke scene containing the camera, layout, and distortion nodes, all clean and ready for comp. We tidy the geometry and layout before handoff and use consistent naming conventions, either ours or the client’s. We believe in delivering complete, comp-ready assets, not partial work that still needs preparation. Fancy delivery setups exist, but in our experience, simplicity and reliability are what matter.

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Digital Production: Where do you see AI in this field?

Walid Ben Henda: AI is advancing fast, but we remain cautious. We developed iDARA, our own AI-assisted intake and project management system. It analyses incoming plates and briefs, flags complexity such as occlusion or rolling shutter, and classifies shots by difficulty. It also spots missing metadata. But iDARA is not an auto-solver. It’s a decision-support tool. Automation helps us prepare and estimate, but every delivery is still manually reviewed. AI can generate impressive images, but reconstructing precise motion is still beyond it. Generating pixels is easy; generating intent is not.

Digital Production: What advice would you give to young matchmove artists?

Walid Ben Henda:First, learn what other departments do. Understanding what compositing, FX, or layout artists need will make you a better tracker. Too many matchmove artists work in isolation, focusing only on their own curves and solves, without considering what happens once the shot leaves their desk. But tracking exists for a reason: to enable the next department. If you understand what those teams require and why, you can deliver work that truly serves the pipeline rather than just ticking a box.

Second, do not wait for supervisors to catch mistakes. You are the person who knows your shot best, and passing sloppy work up the chain only slows the project down. Check your own damn work, and check it carefully. Reviews are not supposed to be the first time someone spots jitter, slipping, or a bad orientation. They should be the final validation. By taking responsibility for your own QC, you save everyone time and avoid unnecessary frustration.

Third, always start with a clear strategy. Diving into a plate and hoping for the best is rarely effective. Think about parallax, about where your reliable features are, and about how you are going to attack the shot before you place the first tracker. Remember that you are not simply tracking dots—you are reconstructing parallax, the three-dimensional shift that gives the solve its accuracy. Studying real-world cameras will help here, because the more you know about optics and filmbacks, the better you will understand what your data is actually doing. Photography is excellent training for this: learning how lenses distort, how focus shifts, and how depth of field behaves will make you a far stronger tracker.

Finally, develop disciplined working habits. Save incremental versions religiously, because one day you will need to roll back. Expect missing metadata and be prepared to improvise without breaking the integrity of the shot. Communicate early and often with your team, because silence kills more projects than bad footage ever will. And always deliver to the end of the chain. That means not just finishing your track but packaging it in a way that makes it immediately usable for the next artist. As we like to say: where others see motion, we see parallax.

Digital Production: Any Final thoughts?

Walid Ben Henda: Matchmove is invisible, until it’s wrong. That’s why we exist: to make sure it’s right, every time. Our focus is on preventing problems before they happen, delivering assets that are ready for comp, and keeping this invisible art as solid as it can be. AI may handle simple shots one day, but the complex ones will always need skilled human trackers.

The post Matching Your Moves: Inside Vision Age VFX first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.