Using Vegas 20 in Win 11. Dell Precision 3630, 32 Gig RAM.

I’m requesting a review of my attempt to accomplish the superimpositions of 30 .png family photos (different sizes and resolutions, alpha backgrounds, on separate tracks) over a single photo of a zooming brick wall in the background (on the bottom track). Each family photo is placed in its correct size/positions at the start of their first frame using the pan/crop feature. (Photos attached.)

The scene lasts for approximately 1 minute. The family photos fade on and off at different intervals, sometimes in groups, sometimes alone against the brick wall background. Each individual in the photos is standing on the sidewalk that runs adjacent to the brick wall, and since the brick wall is zooming in, the perspective of the individual photos must match the coordinates of the zooming wall. Since the family photos are of different sizes and resolutions, I assumed it would be easier to use the pan/zoom coordinates of the background brick wall and apply those coordinates to the family photos, which should keep individuals standing on the sidewalk and in the correct perspective with the zooming wall.

The first problem I encountered was an inability to apply the Motion Tracking plug-in to the zooming background wall. In Vegas 20, the bezier curve feature is no longer used for Motion Tracking. By highlighting the clip and invoking the Options>Video>Motion Tracking, the plug- in should record the variations in the 4 screen coordinates of the brick wall clip. Is that not true? One would then transfer the data to the individual .png photos using PiP. Correct?

I’ve tried all the options in the Motion Tracking drop-down including Perspective, Location, Rotation and Location, Scale and Rotation, Shape and Location. Nothing worked. Assuming Motion Tracking uses color differences to detect an object’s edge, I placed the “gray tracking window” at various points on the brick wall background, and it will not track…not even for a short time, even though the plug-in will indicate a “Successful Scan” (shown in a couple of accompanying pics) and the little green bar is completely filled in. I can see it lose the tracking by just playing back the brick background after the tracking feature was completed. I’ve tried using the “one-frame-at-a-time” feature, but the plug-in still doesn’t track. I’ve tried adjusting the gray tracking window so that it covers one edge of the windows and a piece of the telephone pole. I’ve tried positioning the gray tracking window where it’s tracking the edge of the curb/sidewalk/telephone pole. Nothing seems to work as far as acquiring the coordinates of the zooming background wall.

I then constructed an Excel Spreadsheet which holds the 4 coordinates of the pan/crop zooming background wall taken at small intervals during its playback. Since pan/crop is measuring minute differences in the screen coordinates, I assumed those differences could be applied to the superimposed family photos manually. That turned into a rather mammoth project. Before I pursue this option, I’m hoping there’s some way to use the Motion Tracking plug-in…or there’s something I’m missing.

Has anyone produced a Script for Vegas 20 to automate this process?

I noticed in the various tutorials covering Tracking Motion, it is used on .mp4 and .mov files. Is that the key? Should I render the background wall to .mov and then apply the Motion Tracking plug-in?