For those who don’t know the tool: The Pixel Farm makes PFTrack, a node based matchmove and reconstruction tool that exports to DCCs like Autodesk Maya, Foundry Nuke, SideFX Houdini, Blender and Unreal Engine, with improved dense point clouds via OpenUSD.

Hero Cloud is a new reconstruction node

PFTrack Build 26.05.19 adds Hero Cloud, a node that generates a measured dense 3D point cloud from a single tracked plate. It sits in the Geometry category and runs downstream of a solved camera, turning an ordinary camera solve into spatial data you can actually measure against. Hero Cloud claims to be through-the-lens reconstruction, meaning it extracts depth from the camera movement in the shot rather than relying on a separate photogrammetry set or a LiDAR scan.

The node targets a familiar production reality: you get a brief that needs measured 3D, but the the on-set… people…. said “Fix it in Post, heheeheeh” and did not capture the extra data for cases like set extension, CG integration, lighting reference, forensic analysis, architectural measurement, and archival footage where you cannot go back and reshoot reference. If the plate is all you have, Hero Cloud aims to make that plate pull double duty.

Hero Cloud works on plates PFTrack can track and solve, and works footage sources that include cinema cameras, drones, body cams, dash cams, action cameras, mirrorless and DSLR cameras, CCTV, and archival film. Basically, every type of video. Camera metadata can help but it is not required, and the Camera Sensor Database can cover common cameras automatically, with the Camera Solver able to estimate parameters when metadata is missing.

There is a catch, and it is the same catch as every method that tries to infer depth from motion: the shot needs parallax. Locked off shots or shots with very little movement can produce sparse or unreliable results. Most production footage, including handheld stationary shots, can still have enough movement to produce usable reconstruction, while deliberate camera motion tends to produce richer results.

A cleaner route into splat training

PFTrack 26.05.19 adds a Postshot export option that writes Hero Cloud point clouds and associated tracked cameras in COLMAP format. In other words, matchmove and reconstruction can stay in the same app up to the point where you hand off to splat training.

If you already live in the Gaussian Splatting world, COLMAP is a common interchange format and COLMAP itself has both GUI and command line workflows. The practical value here is that you do not have to glue together separate tracking, reconstruction, and export steps before you ever open Jawset Postshot. You track the plate, generate the cloud, export in COLMAP format, then train the splat.

This is an artist friendly route into a workflow that has historically leaned on command line tooling. That is a reasonable and recommendable goal, but it still deserves the usual pipeline skepticism: try it on a real shot and verify your coordinate frames, scaling, and camera consistency before you let it anywhere near a deliverable.

USD point clouds now carry more than positions

The same build extends USD export to support dense point clouds with per point normal and colour data, because a point cloud that only carries XYZ positions often becomes a dumb scaffold the moment it leaves its origin app. Normals and colour help downstream tools treat the cloud as more than a vague spatial fog, and can make it easier to use for measurement, placement, modelling reference, and lookdev decisions.

Improved integration with USD aware tools including Unreal Engine, Maya, and Houdini. It also claims (!) improved FBX export reliability for very large dense point clouds, aimed at users who previously hit issues exporting big clouds via FBX.

If your pipeline already standardises on USD, this is the kind of unglamorous export detail that can decide whether a new feature becomes a daily tool or a demo-only party trick. Still, test it on your actual asset scale and on your actual DCC import settings. Export support is never a substitute for shot-based validation, and you only find the sharp edges when production hits them, much like furniture at night can only be found with toes and shins.

Photo Mesh gets a single shot input path

Studio and Enterprise editions receive an update to Photo Mesh that enables it to consume Hero Cloud point clouds as input. That creates an internal single-shot path from tracked plate to dense cloud to surfaced textured mesh, without leaving PFTrack. The Pixel Farm describes Photo Mesh as the highest fidelity route when you have a planned photo set, while Hero Cloud covers the case where you only have the hero plate.

In practical terms, this puts a reconstruction option closer to matchmove, and it reduces the number of handoffs in the middle of a cmaera tracking job. Whether it replaces any external reconstruction tooling depends on what you already trust for meshing, texturing, and scale fidelity, but the internal integration is at least a coherent story: generate the cloud, feed it into Photo Mesh, then export into the rest of your pipeline.

The viewport tweak you will actually use

26.05.19 also adds an Active Camera viewport option in viewer windows, with a snap to active clip toggle. It sounds minor, and it is, which is why it will get used: quick visual verification against the source plate tends to catch mistakes faster than hunting through node outputs. The release notes pitch it as useful for checking Hero Cloud reconstruction, but the feature applies anywhere you want a fast way to see what the tracked camera saw.

Trial and licensing notes

Solo trial mode now enables full export functionality for seven days. The release notes describe this as enough time to take a plate from track through Hero Cloud and out to Postshot or USD, rather than being limited to evaluating the toolset without export.

For Studio, the release notes state it is available on rent to buy for 5 or 30 days, or as a perpetual purchase. The PFTrack Creator Program page states PFTrack Solo licenses sell for £699. Treat that as a price reference for Solo licensing, not a promise of regional pricing or bundles.

What this changes in real work

Hero Cloud aims to shift PFTrack from a pure matchmove and survey friendly reconstruction hub toward a single shot scene reconstruction step that can be used even when the onset data plan fell apart. The strongest parts of the release are not flashy, they are connective tissue: COLMAP export for Postshot, denser USD point cloud payloads, and a meshing path that stays inside the same graph.

It is also a reminder that the industry has started to treat point clouds as a first class asset, not only a temporary byproduct. When point clouds export with colour and normals and survive the trip into USD aware DCCs, they become reusable poitn based reference that can support layout, set extension decisions, and reconstruction driven previs.

https://www.pftrack.com/post/pftrack-build-26-05-19-is-now-live

https://www.pftrack.com/post/hero-cloud-tutorial

The post PFTrack gets Hero Cloud first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who don’t know the tool: PFTrack is The Pixel Farm’s flagship 3D camera tracking and matchmoving software, used in VFX and virtual production pipelines for precise camera solves, photogrammetry, and scene reconstruction. It works alongside PFClean and integrates with DCCs from Maya to Nuke.

Lens distortion overhaul

The 25.11.13 release introduces new anamorphic and non-linear distortion models, smarter grid detection, and automatic selection of the most suitable lens model for each shot. The Lens Management system also now allows exporting distortion data directly into supported host applications.

Tracking tools refined

Both Auto Track and User Track nodes gain expanded editing controls in the Cinema workspace, including track grouping and motion prediction. The Localised Motion Prediction algorithm enhances feature consistency on fast-moving footage. Camera and Survey Solver nodes receive improved parameter control and faster iteration feedback.

Photogrammetry and modelling upgrades

The Photo Mesh node’s performance and memory management have been re-engineered to allow significantly larger mesh builds, particularly on macOS. Image Modelling introduces user-defined primitives, enabling custom reference geometry during scene reconstruction.

Sensor databases and third-party data

With the 25.12.19 build, PFTrack adds support for external camera sensor databases, beginning with integration of Matchmove Machine’s CamDB. This allows accurate sensor metadata import to improve focal calibration.

Node and UI polish

Across all 2025 releases, many nodes—including Geometry, Solver, and Point Cloud—benefit from small but meaningful updates: faster point cloud generation, improved solver convergence, and clearer error feedback. The general UI receives smoother interaction within Cinema viewports and enhanced undo stability.

Quality-of-life improvements

The 25.10 update improved bundle adjustment speed and tracking robustness on heavy footage. Version 25.09 refined Python scripting APIs, expanding access to internal data for pipeline automation. Collectively, these tweaks make PFTrack less prone to small but annoying interruptions mid-solve.

Licensing reshaped

After user demand, The Pixel Farm has reintroduced perpetual licences alongside subscription and floating models. Solo, Studio, and Enterprise editions remain available, with perpetuals offered for PFTrack only. Pricing is listed on The Pixel Farm’s store.

Tested before trusted

The Pixel Farm recommends reviewing node behaviour in controlled test scenes before deploying 2025 builds into live productions. As always, newer algorithms can subtly alter solver results between versions.

// https://pftrack.thepixelfarm.co.uk/documentation/changelog.html

The post PFTrack 2025: Matchmoving gets its groove back first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.