As Imagineer is fond of one-word names that all start with “mo...”, it can be hard to know or remember which tool does what. Below is some text I lifted out of an email by Ross Shain (VP of Sales, Eastern Region) to an After Effects list explaining the differences, with links to a comparison chart. It is particularly relevant as Imagineer Systems has been offering some deep discounts on some of their highly-touted tracking and rotoscoping tools; I just posted a News item on them extending some of these discounts until the end of March (click here to view).
In short all our products use a unique 2.5D planar tracking technology that allows you to motion track objects with blur, noise and go offscreen. Simply, the planar tracking technology is hands down more powerful than any point tracking system out there. The technology is then implemented into the products in various ways.
- mokey - removal tool - automates complex compositing techniques to remove unwanted elements from screen. Great for rig, scratch removal, stabilization etc....
- monet - placement station - compositing tool to track and insert elements with luminance passes, mesh warper and lens distortion correction.
- mocha - tracking and roto utility. Motin track and roto. Export the data or mattes to almost any app including AE, Flame, Smoke, DS, Shake, Fusion (adding Nuke soon), etc.
- motor - same as mocha but limited to rotoscoping
- mocha-AE - not a plug-in but a stand alone tracking utility that exports tracking data as AE keyframes. Corner pin with perspective or transform, scale, rotation. Copy and paste to AE layers. Increases AE’s capability as a vfx compositor!
There is some overlap between products but many users have found that with mokey and mocha their bases are very covered. Here is a link to a product comparison chart.
For more questions, please contact us off the list.
US eastern region: rosss @ imagineersystems.com
US western region: billyw @ imagineersystems.com
Europe/Asia and others: pjc @ imagineersystems.com
If you need more information, here is a link to tutorials on their products.
Chris & Trish Meyer are the founders of CyberMotion, an award-winning Los Angeles motion graphic design studio. Their design and animation work has appeared on shows and promos for CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, The Learning Channel, HBO, and PBS. CyberMotion was one of the first studios to create major release film opening titles using desktop tools (including major films such as The Taleneted Mr. Ripley), and they have also created promotional and trade show videos for corporate clients from Apple Computer to Xerox. They specialize in unusual format videos, having animated for IMAX, CircleVision, the NBC AstroVision sign in Times Square, and the four-block-long Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas.