I would like to setup an unmaned camera on the left side of the stage, and have the software track the head of the speaker so it is always positioned in the same spot in the crop as they move around a bit. There would be a zoom in to allow the crop to move around and still fill the frame.
That would save a lot of time using the pan/crop tool to manually adjust.
Perhaps there's a plugin for this if not part of Vegas Pro 13 Edit?
You need motion tracking, which Vegas can't do natively. There are some options mentioned in this post: https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/mask-tracking-for-blurring-faces--104189/
Hmmm... but would that kind of motion tracking do what I need? Could you describe how to set it up? I'm not asking an object like text or pixelation to follow a head; I need the head to stay in a fixed position.
Unfortunately I don't know anything about those plugins such as Hitfilm and BCC. Others would be able to help you.
You may (and this is a guess) be able to do it natively in Vegas somehow by using Track Motion or Event Pan/Crop in conjunction with Vegas' built-in automation features, as long as you're willing to watch the video and manually do the necessary movement as you go along. Again, something I know little about I'm afraid.
Boris FX's BCC10 (OFX - which works really well within Vegas Pro 13) has some simply amazing tracking capabilities for individually defined regions of a shot, using a cut-down version of Mocha within most of BCC10's plugins. But as far as I've experienced with BCC10, the tracking relates only to the highlighted area within the frame edges of the shot, it does not adjust the frame edges of the shot so as to centre on the highlighted area - the speaker's head as in your case.
As I understand it, you want the speaker's head to remain in the one position on the screen, while the rest of the shot re-aligns it's frame edges to enable the speaker's head to stay in that one position. Mocha Pro 5 may (may)be able to do what you want as their product page says that the stabilise function includes centreing - you'll need to check this out for yourself. But be aware that Mocha Pro 5 SAL is normally about $USD1,500, but with 25% off for Black Friday.
Hopefully, someone else may have a more affordable solution, which I would also be happy to hear about.
IMHO, that would not be something I would want to watch. The constant moving background and extreme zooms if the speakers head should get close to the edge of the frame. A talking head in a sea of motion. Ugh.
My intent is to simulate a motion tracking PTZ head. There would be no zoom, and only pan when the head moves too much to be in frame. I have a 2nd "main" comera from the front to cover the pan. Basically, I'd love to have an operator on this camera, but I don't. But I think I've given up on automated software, and will just manually adjust using the pan/zoom tool. But thanks for everyone's input.
Are you talking about doing this while recording or in post?
My original question was doing it in post, but I'm open to motion-tracking tripod heads doing it during recording. My budget is maybe $500, which could be a problem with the head.
You could easily do it with Mocha Pro 5. You can download a free 30 day evaluation copy to try. You might also be able to do it with Hitfilm Express, I'm just not 100% sure.
is this a one off or regular gig?
if the former then i'd opt for getting an operator. if the latter then i would still prefer an operator to the time / cost / hassle of what might turn out to be a nightmare software solution.
i'm all ears for a $500 hardware / software solution ;-)
You can use Davinci Resolve 12.5. I tried the stabilize function and it will do exactly what you need using the point tracker. You have an option of using the point tracker or cloud tracker. The point tracker is what you need. The softere is free !!! And there are plenty of training videos.
Well, maybe for vegas pro 15 they should add integrated planar motion tracking.
For masks and effects.