MOTION TRACKING IN AFTER EFFECTS Motion Tracking in After Effects has the ability to track the motion and convert it to keyframes for a specific point in a video or moving image. You can then choose another layer to follow the same motion. This is very handy if you movie into rotoscoping. You can find the Tracker in the menu Window > Tracker.

You can see a little square called the Track Point has come into the centre of the composition and opened up the layer window.

The first image above is when the Track Point defaults to the centre of the composition. The second image shows the 2 boxes and a cross point. The larger outside box is the called the Search Region and inside this area you can use the selection tool to pick up and move the Track Point. You can make this area bigger or smaller but remember if it is bigger you are making After Effects search a larger area for the point or colour you are tracking and therefore making it more time consuming. The smaller inner box is called the Feature Region and is the more specific point or colour you want to track. The cross hair in the middle is called the Attach Point. Usually you want it to be in the middle but the will be some cases you may want it to be in a slightly different position as shown in the next image. Whenever you move the Track Point the middle Feature Region will magnify the area as your mouse moves over it as seen in the 3rd image above.

The next step once you have the point you would like to track is