<p>After effects 10.5 (CS 5.5)</p>

<p>I have two clips</p>

<ul>
<li>a layer with a smoke wisp curling up, much bigger than it will appear</li>
<li>a layer with some slightly shaky footage of a broken machine just sitting there</li>
</ul>

<p>I want to make the smoke wisp curl up from the machine, scaled to the footage.</p>

<p>The current set up:</p>

<ul>
<li>the footage with the machine is the main footage</li>
<li>I've made a Tracker in that layer tracking the machine… the positions look right</li>
<li>the Tracker targets the smoke</li>
</ul>

<p>The problem is:</p>

<ul>
<li>if the smoke clip is scaled properly, the tracking motion on the smoke is not visible</li>
<li>I discovered this is because the tracking is applied before the scale - so the differences in position become tiny</li>
</ul>

<p>I speculate a solution might involve having the Tracking information applied to the smoke layer AFTER it's been scaled.</p>

<p>QUESTION(s):</p>

<ol>
<li>how do I get the Tracking information applied to the smoke layer
AFTER it's been scaled?</li>
<li>…or am I doing this wrong?  If so, how would I achieve this effect?</li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-08T18:05:01.290Z
update: The solution may have something to do with making a new Null Object, applying the tracking information to that object, and then parenting the smoke to that layer
MonkeyWidget
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-08T18:36:32.773Z
Looks similar to the answer for http://video.stackexchange.com/questions/12758/zooming-in-on-one-layer-in-after-effects?rq=1
MonkeyWidget
<after-effects><tracking>
After Effects: Apply motion tracking to a scaled layer
MonkeyWidget
# After Effects: Apply motion tracking to a scaled layer

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-02-08)

After effects 10.5 (CS 5.5)

I have two clips

* a layer with a smoke wisp curling up, much bigger than it will appear
* a layer with some slightly shaky footage of a broken machine just sitting there

I want to make the smoke wisp curl up from the machine, scaled to the footage.

The current set up:

* the footage with the machine is the main footage
* I've made a Tracker in that layer tracking the machine… the positions look right
* the Tracker targets the smoke

The problem is:

* if the smoke clip is scaled properly, the tracking motion on the smoke is not visible
* I discovered this is because the tracking is applied before the scale - so the differences in position become tiny

I speculate a solution might involve having the Tracking information applied to the smoke layer AFTER it's been scaled.

QUESTION(s):

1. how do I get the Tracking information applied to the smoke layer
   AFTER it's been scaled?
2. …or am I doing this wrong? If so, how would I achieve this effect?

**Tags:** after-effects, tracking

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: update: The solution may have something to do with making a new Null Object, applying the tracking information to that object, and then parenting the smoke to that layer  
> **username_0**: Looks similar to the answer for http://video.stackexchange.com/questions/12758/zooming-in-on-one-layer-in-after-effects?rq=1  

---

## 0 answers

