How to Tattoo Dumbledore

It’s about time that I introduced you to surface tracking, if you’re not already familiar with it. All kinds of tracking in VFX are just about following the movement of a point of video footage over time, and surface tracking is no different from point tracking or planar tracking in that sense. To refresh your memory, let’s recap on what point tracking and planar tracking involve:

Point Tracking

Definition: Point tracking involves tracking a single or a few distinct points in a scene over time, often based on high-contrast features like corners or markers.

Use Case: Common for simpler tasks like stabilizing footage or adding 2D elements to a scene that need to stick to a single point.

Definition: Planar tracking tracks flat, rigid surfaces (like a wall or a billboard) across a sequence of frames, understanding the movement and perspective changes of that plane.

Use Case: Useful for tracking elements like walls, billboards, or computer screens, where there is little or no warping. You can then add whatever footage or effects you want onto those surfaces.

The problem with point or planar tracking is that they fall short when the surface distorts - like a face or a piece of fabric. That’s where surface tracking comes in. Surface tracking tracks how the surface changes over time due to movement, stretching, or warping, and ensures that the applied visual effects (e.g., tattoos, wounds, logos) follow these deformations realistically.

This technique is fantastic for shots where you want to composite something that appears to stick naturally to a surface even as it bends or stretches. One of the most common uses is in digital makeup.

Digital makeup can be a real lifesaver, especially when dealing with continuity. Blood, for example, is likely to smear during or between takes. A smart trick is to add non-smearing dirt or effects during the shoot and use surface tracking to add the elements that might smear - like blood - in post-production.

As with all tools in VFX, surface tracking has its limits - it warps one surface to follow another, but it’s not performing miracles. For example, adding wet blood could be tricky in direct light because the specular highlights (the shine) will change as the surface moves. If you don’t add that extra detail, your results will likely be “good” but not “great.”

But hey, that’s the nature of VFX! There’s always room for improvement. Perfection is elusive for all of us, so aim for one baby step better with each project. Over time, you’ll get where you need to be.

Surface tracking is a relatively recent addition to the VFX toolkit. It was only recently added to DaVinci Resolve, and even more recently added to Fusion (it was previously only in the Color page).

The good news is, it’s really simple to use. With a small amount of compositing knowledge, surface tracking becomes an incredibly powerful tool. The bad news is - it’s not in the free version of Resolve.

If you’re a Shoot First subscriber, head over to the video tutorial walking you through the steps of tattooing Dumbledore using surface tracking. See if you think it’s worth the investment! If not, check out the EbSynth tutorial for a free alternative that can get you similar results.

As always, I’d love to see what you do with this tool - just don’t use my face, or you’ll lose points!