ANR AI Vector Tracker

Range and Output, with the original controls in a closed group at the bottom.

RangeMenutrackRangeMode

Which frames to track. Input uses the range of the footage into this node, Global uses the project range, and Custom uses the two frame fields below.

Default: InputOptions: Input Global Custom

Custom FirstSlidertrackRangeStart

First and last frame to analyse, used when Range is set to Custom.

Default: 0

Custom LastSlidertrackRangeEnd

First and last frame to analyse, used when Range is set to Custom.

Default: 0

OutputMenutrackOutput

Plate shows the picture with the markers on it, which is what you want while tracking. Track Data outputs the solved points as a small data image instead - connect THAT to an ANR Point Matcher's Tracks input and it drives the warp directly, with no file and nothing to type. The picture is not usable in Track Data mode; it is data, not a look.

On this node use Plate or Motion Vectors. Track Data carries point tracks, and this node places no points.

Default: PlateOptions: Plate Track Data Motion Vectors (r g b a = forward u v, backward u v)

Vector Track (linked from the Vector Track tab)

StatusStatusvecStatus

What the flow model is doing and what the last bake wrote, including where the files went and how to use them.

Load Flow ModelButtonvecLoadModel

Load the selected flow model into memory. Separate from the tracking model -- the two run in their own helper processes and can be loaded independently.

Unload Flow ModelButtonvecUnloadModel

Release the model and its VRAM. Useful before rendering something else heavy on the same GPU.

Vector DetailMenuvecDetail

The resolution the flow is computed at, then scaled to the plate. The flow model was trained at 1080p and works there in about 2 GB; Auto sends the plate as it is up to that size and reduces anything larger to it.

Measured on a 4K shot: the warp error is the same from 1536 px up (2.53 at 2048, 2.49 at 3840, against 7.28 unwarped), while true 4K needs 20 GB and three minutes a frame. So Auto is the right choice for nearly everything; Fine goes to 2560 on the long edge for very small detail, at about four times the time. Half and Quarter are for a quick look.

Default: Auto (up to 1080p)Options: Auto (up to 1080p) Fine (up to 2560 px) Half Quarter

Refinement IterationsSlidervecIters

How many times the model refines its answer. 8 is what it was trained with; fewer is faster and softer, more rarely helps.

Default: 8

Max Frame DistanceMenuvecMaxDistance

For Bake. Besides the vectors to the next and previous frame, also bake vectors that jump 2, 4, 8... frames at once, up to this many, as separate layers. A warp across many frames can then be built from a few long jumps instead of dozens of short ones added together, which is what the Smart Vector toolset does with its own frame distance. Each extra distance costs one more flow per frame.

Default: 1 frameOptions: 1 frame 2 frames 4 frames 8 frames 16 frames 32 frames 64 frames

Generate AutofillButtonanrCacheAutoFill

Create a new node-type/footage_letter_4digits folder on every click, then stop. Previous caches are kept. Enter a folder to choose a custom base.

Vector CacheFilevecCacheDir

Folder for vector and STMap caches. Bake creates it and writes the files. Live viewing uses memory and does not create a disk cache.

Default: empty

STMap Reference FrameSlidervecRefFrame

The frame every STMap points back to: the plate held on this frame is what the STMap node warps. 0 means the same as the tracker's Reference Frame on the first tab. Put it in the middle of the stretch you need - the map is chained outward from it, so the drift at the ends is what the distance from here makes it. The button beside it sets it to the frame under the playhead.

Left at 0, the frame the node was created on is used (or the first frame of the Range if that one is outside it). Set it yourself to be sure.

Default: 0

BakeMenuvecBakeWhat

What Bake writes. Smart vectors are the forward/backward and smartvector layers for Kronos, VectorBlur and VectorDistort; the STMap is the per-frame map back to the Reference Frame for an STMap node. STMap only is the quick route: the same flow is computed, only the map is written.

Default: STMap onlyOptions: Smart Vectors + STMap STMap only Smart Vectors only

STMap FormatMenuvecStmapFormat

EXR keeps the map in float with confidence alpha. PNG can also include confidence alpha with the third option. UV coordinates are always unpremultiplied. PNG is 16-bit - a 4K map to 0.06 px - with no alpha, so no confidence; smaller and faster to read. The map covers the plate's bounding box, which for a plain plate is the whole format.

Default: PNG (16-bit, no alpha)Options: EXR (float, confidence in alpha) PNG (16-bit, no alpha) PNG (16-bit, confidence in alpha)

Use Occlusion MaskCheckboxvecUseOcclusion

Chained STMap bake only. Connect an animated foreground mask to Occlusion: white alpha = obstruction, black = visible. Reject motion on the obstruction in both frames and estimate the hidden movement from nearby visible motion. Not a reconstruction of a fully hidden or turning surface. No connection keeps the original bake. Live and exported smart vectors are unchanged.

Default: on

Occlusion Edge Margin (px)SlidervecOcclusionExpand

Expand the exclusion mask in plate pixels to avoid blurred foreground edges. Use PNG with confidence alpha or EXR to hide the insert behind the mask. Rebake after changing the mask.

Default: 8

Bake MapsButtonvecBake

Compute the vectors for every frame of the Range, write them as an EXR sequence with forward and backward layers (and the longer jumps Max Frame Distance asks for), and put a Read node on the clipboard -- Ctrl+V in the Node Graph. Feed that Read to Kronos, VectorBlur, MotionBlur or a VectorDistort the way you would a SmartVector render.

Clear Vector CacheButtonvecClearCache

Delete this node's cached vector EXRs, in memory and on disk. Do this after changing the footage upstream -- the cache is keyed on frame number and cannot tell that the picture changed.

Where you work: load the flow model, set the range and cache, and bake smart vectors and ST maps.

StatusStatusanrVec_vecStatus

What the flow model is doing and what the last bake wrote, including where the files went and how to use them.

OutputMenuanrVec_trackOutput

Plate shows the picture with the markers on it, which is what you want while tracking. Track Data outputs the solved points as a small data image instead - connect THAT to an ANR Point Matcher's Tracks input and it drives the warp directly, with no file and nothing to type. The picture is not usable in Track Data mode; it is data, not a look.

Default: PlateOptions: Plate Track Data Motion Vectors (r g b a = forward u v, backward u v)

Load Flow ModelButtonanrVec_vecLoadModel

Load the selected flow model into memory. Separate from the tracking model -- the two run in their own helper processes and can be loaded independently.

Unload Flow ModelButtonanrVec_vecUnloadModel

Release the model and its VRAM. Useful before rendering something else heavy on the same GPU.

Vector DetailMenuanrVec_vecDetail

The resolution the flow is computed at, then scaled to the plate. The flow model was trained at 1080p and works there in about 2 GB; Auto sends the plate as it is up to that size and reduces anything larger to it.

Measured on a 4K shot: the warp error is the same from 1536 px up (2.53 at 2048, 2.49 at 3840, against 7.28 unwarped), while true 4K needs 20 GB and three minutes a frame. So Auto is the right choice for nearly everything; Fine goes to 2560 on the long edge for very small detail, at about four times the time. Half and Quarter are for a quick look. MegaFlow caps every setting at 518 px; DOT caps at 512 px.

Default: Auto (up to 1080p)Options: Auto (up to 1080p) Fine (up to 2560 px) Half Quarter

Refinement IterationsSlideranrVec_vecIters

How many times the model refines its answer. 8 is what it was trained with; fewer is faster and softer, more rarely helps.

Default: 8

RangeMenuanrVec_trackRangeMode

Which frames to track. Input uses the range of the footage into this node, Global uses the project range, and Custom uses the two frame fields below.

Default: InputOptions: Input Global Custom

Viewer In/OutButtonanrRangeFromViewer

Set Range to Custom and copy the viewer's in and out points into Custom First / Custom Last. An OFX node cannot read the viewer's in/out itself, so this does it from the Nuke side.

Custom FirstNumberanrVecFirst

First and last frame to analyse, used when Range is set to Custom.

Default: 0

Custom LastNumberanrVecLast

First and last frame to analyse, used when Range is set to Custom.

Default: 0

Max Frame DistanceMenuanrVec_vecMaxDistance

For Bake. Besides the vectors to the next and previous frame, also bake vectors that jump 2, 4, 8... frames at once, up to this many, as separate layers. A warp across many frames can then be built from a few long jumps instead of dozens of short ones added together, which is what the Smart Vector toolset does with its own frame distance. Each extra distance costs one more flow per frame.

Default: 1 frameOptions: 1 frame 2 frames 4 frames 8 frames 16 frames 32 frames 64 frames

Generate AutofillButtonanrVec_anrCacheAutoFill

Create a new node-type/footage_letter_4digits folder on every click, then stop. Previous caches are kept. Enter a folder to choose a custom base.

Vector CacheFileanrVec_vecCacheDir

Folder for vector and STMap caches. Bake creates it and writes the files. Live viewing uses memory and does not create a disk cache.

Default: empty

STMap Reference FrameNumberanrVecRef

The frame every STMap points back to: the plate held on this frame is what the STMap node warps. 0 means the same as the tracker's Reference Frame on the first tab. Put it in the middle of the stretch you need - the map is chained outward from it, so the drift at the ends is what the distance from here makes it. The button beside it sets it to the frame under the playhead.

Default: 0

Set to Current FrameButtonanrVecRefHere

Set STMap Reference Frame to the frame under the playhead.

BakeMenuanrVec_vecBakeWhat

What Bake writes. Smart vectors are the forward/backward and smartvector layers for Kronos, VectorBlur and VectorDistort; the STMap is the per-frame map back to the Reference Frame for an STMap node. STMap only is the quick route: the same flow is computed, only the map is written.

Default: STMap onlyOptions: Smart Vectors + STMap STMap only Smart Vectors only

STMap FormatMenuanrVec_vecStmapFormat

EXR keeps the map in float with confidence alpha. PNG can also include confidence alpha with the third option. UV coordinates are always unpremultiplied. PNG is 16-bit - a 4K map to 0.06 px - with no alpha, so no confidence; smaller and faster to read. The map covers the plate's bounding box, which for a plain plate is the whole format.

Default: PNG (16-bit, no alpha)Options: EXR (float, confidence in alpha) PNG (16-bit, no alpha) PNG (16-bit, confidence in alpha)

Use Occlusion MaskCheckboxanrVec_vecUseOcclusion

Chained STMap bake only. Connect an animated foreground mask to Occlusion: white alpha = obstruction, black = visible. Reject motion on the obstruction in both frames and estimate the hidden movement from nearby visible motion. Not a reconstruction of a fully hidden or turning surface. No connection keeps the original bake. Live and exported smart vectors are unchanged.

Default: on

Occlusion Edge Margin (px)SlideranrVec_vecOcclusionExpand

Expand the exclusion mask in plate pixels to avoid blurred foreground edges. Use PNG with confidence alpha or EXR to hide the insert behind the mask. Rebake after changing the mask.

Default: 8

Bake MapsButtonanrVec_vecBake

Compute the vectors for every frame of the Range, write them as an EXR sequence with forward and backward layers (and the longer jumps Max Frame Distance asks for), and put a Read node on the clipboard -- Ctrl+V in the Node Graph. Feed that Read to Kronos, VectorBlur, MotionBlur or a VectorDistort the way you would a SmartVector render.

Clear Vector CacheButtonanrVec_vecClearCache

Delete this node's cached vector EXRs, in memory and on disk. Do this after changing the footage upstream -- the cache is keyed on frame number and cannot tell that the picture changed.