Tracking Pies #57912

New Issue

Sebastian Koenig · 2018-11-18T17:26:34+01:00

Sebastian Koenig commented

2018-11-18 17:26:34 +01:00

The are some things in the tracking pies from 2.79 that need to be addressed for 2.8
The Hotkeys Q and W, that were previously used by the tracking pies, will be occupied by the Quick Favorites and the context menu, so those can't be used anymore.
Some icons changed their appearance and needed to be updated.
Some of the pie menus were spawning sub-pies, which, if I am not mistaken, are not really the way to go for pie menus. Also, I found them not that practical, so those have been removed.

The tracking pies are designed to combine the most important tracking and solving operators and settings into a handful of workflow oriented pies. This allows you to work fullscreen without toolshelf or sidebar open, which is often nice when you are working with footage. The hotkeys for those pie menus are all located on the left side of the keyboard, so you can work fast without having to let go of mouse or pen or reach to far.

Tracking ('E')

The pie menu that one would probably use most often is "Tracking".
Pie menus, being heavily gesture based, are an ideal way to expose the tracking controls:
You can track, refine or clear tracks forward by pressing 'E' and dragging to the right (and right+up/down), and track brackwards by pressing 'E' and dragging to the left (and left+up/down).
The two other options in the Tracking pie menu are Detect Features and Disable Markers.
In this pie the icons are already using the dedicated tracking icons mostly.

Marker Setup ('Alt + E')

The Marker Settings Pie gives you access to the settings that one needs the most when setting up the marker for tracking. While there are more than 2 Motion Models only the 2 most used are exposed: Location based tracking and Affine tracking. That's usually enough for most use cases. This pie also let's you either set the tracking settings of the active marker as default settings for new markers or copy the active track's settings to the selected markers.
You can choose to track based on the previous frame or by keyframe and enable or disable Brute Force and Normalization.
There 2 icons that need to be addressed though: Loc and Affine. Currently they use icons from a different context.

Clip and Display Setup ('Alt + W')

Some frequently used options to control appearance and behavior of the clip.

Solver Pie ('Shift + S')

In my experience this is the second most used pie. The most important operator here is "Solve Camera", that's why it is located to the right. The opposite site does, well, the opposite: Clear Solution. The other thing that is important during solving is to set the keyframes. The hotkeys for that used to be Q and E, but since Q is reserved for Quick Favorites, those need to be removed. So it's nice to have them easily accessible in this pie.

Reconstruction Pie ('Shift + W')

Once you have a good camera solution you can use this pie to setup the tracking scene, orient the camera, or just set the clip as viewport background image. The controls are arranged semantically: The Floor setup is at the bottom, Set Origin at the top, X and Y axis left and right of the origin. Setup Tracking scene being the next logical step after Tracking and Solving it is also arranged to the very right.
Icons here should be fine for the most part.
The one thing I am not quite sure yet is whether or not to keep the Apply Solution Scale Operator in there or maybe replace it with 3D Markers to Mesh.

In the future I plan to add one or two more pie menus, however those would also involve some custom operators and I am not sure if those would belong into "official" pie menus or if those should be distributed as an addon.

Here is the current version of the addon: tracking_pies_280.py

The are some things in the tracking pies from 2.79 that need to be addressed for 2.8 The Hotkeys Q and W, that were previously used by the tracking pies, will be occupied by the Quick Favorites and the context menu, so those can't be used anymore. Some icons changed their appearance and needed to be updated. Some of the pie menus were spawning sub-pies, which, if I am not mistaken, are not really the way to go for pie menus. Also, I found them not that practical, so those have been removed. The tracking pies are designed to combine the most important tracking and solving operators and settings into a handful of workflow oriented pies. This allows you to work fullscreen without toolshelf or sidebar open, which is often nice when you are working with footage. The hotkeys for those pie menus are all located on the left side of the keyboard, so you can work fast without having to let go of mouse or pen or reach to far. ### Tracking ('E') ![tracking_pie.png](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F5620393/tracking_pie.png) The pie menu that one would probably use most often is "Tracking". Pie menus, being heavily gesture based, are an ideal way to expose the tracking controls: You can track, refine or clear tracks forward by pressing 'E' and dragging to the right (and right+up/down), and track brackwards by pressing 'E' and dragging to the left (and left+up/down). The two other options in the Tracking pie menu are Detect Features and Disable Markers. In this pie the icons are already using the dedicated tracking icons mostly. ### Marker Setup ('Alt + E') ![marker_settings_pie.png](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F5620608/marker_settings_pie.png) The Marker Settings Pie gives you access to the settings that one needs the most when setting up the marker for tracking. While there are more than 2 Motion Models only the 2 most used are exposed: Location based tracking and Affine tracking. That's usually enough for most use cases. This pie also let's you either set the tracking settings of the active marker as default settings for new markers or copy the active track's settings to the selected markers. You can choose to track based on the previous frame or by keyframe and enable or disable Brute Force and Normalization. There 2 icons that need to be addressed though: Loc and Affine. Currently they use icons from a different context. ### Clip and Display Setup ('Alt + W') ![display_setup.png](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F5620844/display_setup.png) Some frequently used options to control appearance and behavior of the clip. ### Solver Pie ('Shift + S') ![solver_pie.png](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F5621028/solver_pie.png) In my experience this is the second most used pie. The most important operator here is "Solve Camera", that's why it is located to the right. The opposite site does, well, the opposite: Clear Solution. The other thing that is important during solving is to set the keyframes. The hotkeys for that used to be Q and E, but since Q is reserved for Quick Favorites, those need to be removed. So it's nice to have them easily accessible in this pie. ### Reconstruction Pie ('Shift + W') ![reconstruction_pie.png](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F5621039/reconstruction_pie.png) Once you have a good camera solution you can use this pie to setup the tracking scene, orient the camera, or just set the clip as viewport background image. The controls are arranged semantically: The Floor setup is at the bottom, Set Origin at the top, X and Y axis left and right of the origin. Setup Tracking scene being the next logical step after Tracking and Solving it is also arranged to the very right. Icons here should be fine for the most part. The one thing I am not quite sure yet is whether or not to keep the Apply Solution Scale Operator in there or maybe replace it with 3D Markers to Mesh. In the future I plan to add one or two more pie menus, however those would also involve some custom operators and I am not sure if those would belong into "official" pie menus or if those should be distributed as an addon. Here is the current version of the addon: [tracking_pies_280.py](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F5621324/tracking_pies_280.py)

Sebastian Koenig commented

2018-11-18 17:26:34 +01:00

Added subscriber: @sebastian_k

Sebastian Koenig commented

2018-11-18 17:39:42 +01:00

Added subscribers: @WilliamReynish, @SeanKennedy

William Reynish commented

2018-11-18 19:29:59 +01:00

This seems generally ok I think.

A few notes:

Pie menus seem to work best when executed via a single key, because you really need the other hand on the mouse or pen to perform the gesture. Are there really no free keys available in the Clip Editor?
Some of these seem to be a mix of toggles and commands. We don't really use pies elsewhere for toggles because there's no feedback that something changed. Normally it's either for setting an enum (Mode, Pivot, Orientation etc) or a category of commands (Snap To). I think these more workflow-oriented pie menus are also ok, but perhaps worth considering if it make sense to include the toggles or not.

This seems generally ok I think. A few notes: - Pie menus seem to work best when executed via a single key, because you really need the other hand on the mouse or pen to perform the gesture. Are there really no free keys available in the Clip Editor? - Some of these seem to be a mix of toggles and commands. We don't really use pies elsewhere for toggles because there's no feedback that something changed. Normally it's either for setting an enum (Mode, Pivot, Orientation etc) or a category of commands (Snap To). I think these more workflow-oriented pie menus are also ok, but perhaps worth considering if it make sense to include the toggles or not.

Sebastian Koenig commented

2018-11-18 20:40:19 +01:00

Thanks a lot for the feedback!
I agree about the lacking feedback for a toggle in a pie menu possibly being an issue. However, I would like to keep most of them because it makes the workflow so much faster. And they still can be used in a gesture style interaction, contrary to some other pie menues from the community, where there are multiple entries pre pie-slot, something I consider opposite to the idea behind our pie menu implementation. But I'll have a look again and see if some can be replaced.
About hotkeys, well, the left side is pretty crowded. Q, W, A, S, R, D, X, C are all taken. I find combinations of Shift and E, W, S still very easy and comfortable to execute with the left hand. I was about to say the same about Alt+E as well, but I am typing this reply on my macbook, and there the Alt key is in a less comfy place. So I'll have a look at the keys again. :)

Thanks a lot for the feedback! I agree about the lacking feedback for a toggle in a pie menu possibly being an issue. However, I would like to keep most of them because it makes the workflow so much faster. And they still can be used in a gesture style interaction, contrary to some other pie menues from the community, where there are multiple entries pre pie-slot, something I consider opposite to the idea behind our pie menu implementation. But I'll have a look again and see if some can be replaced. About hotkeys, well, the left side is pretty crowded. Q, W, A, S, R, D, X, C are all taken. I find combinations of Shift and E, W, S still very easy and comfortable to execute with the left hand. I was about to say the same about Alt+E as well, but I am typing this reply on my macbook, and there the Alt key is in a less comfy place. So I'll have a look at the keys again. :)

Sebastian Koenig commented

2018-11-19 10:23:05 +01:00

I have changed some of the shortcuts.
The Alt key is now being avoided, because on a Mac it is not as comfortable to reach as the shift-key.
So:
Tracking Pie: 'E'
Setup Marker: 'Shift + E'
Setup Display: 'Shift + D'
Setup Tracking Scene: 'Shift + W'
Solve: 'Shift + S'
I find these very comfortable to reach and execute.
Compared to the clip editor hotkeys in 2.79 we would sacrifice Shift+D, which was used for the 'Disable Marker' Hotkey.
However, that operator is in the Tracking Pies at the bottom, very easy to reach.
And the 'Show Disabled Markers' toggle is now at the bottom of the Setup Display Pie, so in the same position, hence very easy to remember.
Following that logic I think we can also remove the hotkey Alt+D, currently used for the "Show Disabled Markers" toggle.
And I would vote for having the tracking pies enabled by default.

Here's the updated script. tracking_pies_280.py

I have changed some of the shortcuts. The Alt key is now being avoided, because on a Mac it is not as comfortable to reach as the shift-key. So: Tracking Pie: 'E' Setup Marker: 'Shift + E' Setup Display: 'Shift + D' Setup Tracking Scene: 'Shift + W' Solve: 'Shift + S' I find these very comfortable to reach and execute. Compared to the clip editor hotkeys in 2.79 we would sacrifice Shift+D, which was used for the 'Disable Marker' Hotkey. However, that operator is in the Tracking Pies at the bottom, very easy to reach. And the 'Show Disabled Markers' toggle is now at the bottom of the Setup Display Pie, so in the same position, hence very easy to remember. Following that logic I think we can also remove the hotkey Alt+D, currently used for the "Show Disabled Markers" toggle. And I would vote for having the tracking pies enabled by default. Here's the updated script. [tracking_pies_280.py](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F5633761/tracking_pies_280.py)

Bastien Montagne commented

2018-11-29 11:27:11 +01:00

Added subscriber: @Sergey

Sean Kennedy commented

2018-12-03 01:00:57 +01:00

This is very nice, seems to be intuitive.

I'm wondering if there may be a place in one of these menus for Lock marker. Perhaps in the Shift E menu, in place of either Track Setting as Default or Copy Track Settings?

This is very nice, seems to be intuitive. I'm wondering if there may be a place in one of these menus for Lock marker. Perhaps in the Shift E menu, in place of either Track Setting as Default or Copy Track Settings?

Sebastian Koenig commented

2018-12-03 07:20:01 +01:00

Ah, good one. Maybe instead of Detect Features? This is not used so often...

Sean Kennedy commented

2018-12-03 07:34:35 +01:00

That would be fine, although I use Detect Features more than I use the Track Setting as Default or Copy Track Settings.

Sebastian Koenig commented

2019-01-26 15:24:06 +01:00

I would like to move forward with the tracking pies. There are probably some things that can be improved and added, but it would be nice if they could be implemented now. I have updated both space_clip.py and blender_default.py in order to have them not as separated addon and have the correct key mappings.
As discussed with @WilliamReynish a while ago the icons for Affine and Loc probably need their own icon...
Once the pies are implemented I would look into an updated Specials Menu ('W'). Maybe @SeanKennedy has some suggestions for it?
blender_default.py
space_clip.py
And a Diff:
tracking_pies.diff

I would like to move forward with the tracking pies. There are probably some things that can be improved and added, but it would be nice if they could be implemented now. I have updated both space_clip.py and blender_default.py in order to have them not as separated addon and have the correct key mappings. As discussed with @WilliamReynish a while ago the icons for Affine and Loc probably need their own icon... Once the pies are implemented I would look into an updated Specials Menu ('W'). Maybe @SeanKennedy has some suggestions for it? [blender_default.py](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F6411028/blender_default.py) [space_clip.py](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F6411034/space_clip.py) And a Diff: [tracking_pies.diff](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F6411077/tracking_pies.diff)

William Reynish commented

2019-01-30 15:53:49 +01:00

This is fine with me.

A few notes though:

We should not use wrong icons. It doesn't help readability and makes the icons hard to keep updated. In the Shift-E menu, I think we could just remove the icons there.

As for the 'specials' menu, we no longer call it that. It is the contextual menu, and its purpose is to display a contextually relevant menu of the most used commands in a given context. By default it doesn't use the W key, but right-click.

This is fine with me. A few notes though: We should not use wrong icons. It doesn't help readability and makes the icons hard to keep updated. In the Shift-E menu, I think we could just remove the icons there. As for the 'specials' menu, we no longer call it that. It is the contextual menu, and its purpose is to display a contextually relevant menu of the most used commands in a given context. By default it doesn't use the W key, but right-click.

Andrzej Ambroz commented

2019-01-30 16:48:21 +01:00

Added subscriber: @jendrzych

Andrzej Ambroz commented

2019-01-30 16:48:21 +01:00

I second Williams opinion - icons have their specific meanings and were designed for particular functions/commands . One must not use random icon for a function that has not any pictogram designed for it. It makes GUI messy and confusing. This applies especially to python addons...

Sebastian Koenig commented

2019-01-30 17:34:37 +01:00

I have updated the diff. Loc and Affine don't use an icon anymore.
Here's the diff: https://developer.blender.org/D4284

I have updated the diff. Loc and Affine don't use an icon anymore. Here's the diff: https://developer.blender.org/D4284

Don Hopkins commented

2019-03-12 04:14:18 +01:00

Added subscriber: @SimHacker

Dalai Felinto commented

2019-12-23 18:39:34 +01:00

Added subscriber: @dfelinto

Dalai Felinto commented

2019-12-23 18:39:34 +01:00

Changed status from 'Confirmed' to: 'Archived'

Dalai Felinto closed this issue

2019-12-23 18:39:34 +01:00

Dalai Felinto self-assigned this 2019-12-23 18:39:34 +01:00

Dalai Felinto commented

2019-12-23 18:39:34 +01:00

Hi, thanks for your patch.

We are undergoing a Tracker Curfew where we are automatically closing old patches.

If you think the patch is still relevant please update and re-submit it. For new features make sure there is a clear design from the user level perspective.

Hi, thanks for your patch. We are undergoing a [Tracker Curfew ](https://code.blender.org/?p=3861) where we are automatically closing old patches. If you think the patch is still relevant please update and re-submit it. For new features make sure there is a clear design from the user level perspective.

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Tracking Pies #57912

Tracking ('E')

Marker Setup ('Alt + E')

Clip and Display Setup ('Alt + W')

Solver Pie ('Shift + S')

Reconstruction Pie ('Shift + W')