Perfecting your tracking (Pro only)

Because of the changing nature of an image in motion, digital tracking is rarely perfect. In moving footage, the shape of an image inevitably changes, along with the lighting and surrounding objects. Even with careful preparation, a feature generally evolves during a shot and at some point no longer matches the original feature. If the change is too great, After Effects may not be able to track the feature, and the track point will appear to wander or drift.

It can take time to develop an eye for good features to track. However, because of the many variables interacting in moving footage, regardless of your experience, you often need to make adjustments and track again. After Effects includes several options to help improve your success in tracking. For example, you can track using different aspects of color (RGB, luminance, or saturation), change the adaptiveness of the feature (allowing the feature region to change along with the footage), or have After Effects extrapolate or estimate motion if necessary. You can track the layer as many times as needed and then apply the best tracking results.(See Correcting a drifting feature region (Pro only).)