This tutorial shows the main options of camera tracks creation in Agisoft Metashape (Professional and Standard versions) and video rendering. Camera track can be created automatically (using simple preset options), imported from an external file, and edited manually.


To display the camera track path, select Model > Show/Hide items > Show animation.


Automatically camera track creation

1. Open Animation pane. Select View > Animation. 



2. Create a new track. Click on Create button on Animation pane toolbar.



In the Create Track dialog window there are two types of tracks that can be created automatically: Horizontal and Vertical. The steps for both cases are described below.


Horizontal track

To create horizontal track choose Preset - Horizontal in the Create Track dialog window:



Set the Keyframe count parameter and click OK button to create the track. To start the animation click Play button on the Animation pane:



The positions of the first and last points in the track are the same, therefore you will only see 9 points instead of 10 on the camera track visualization.



Vertical track

To create vertical track choose Preset - Vertical in the Create Track dialog window: 



Set the Keyframe count parameter and click OK button to create the track. To start the animation click Play button on the Animation pane.




Note that horizontal and vertical track presets are based on the bounding box - the colored side of the box is treated as XY plane. The center of the bounding box defines the point of focus and the size of the bounding box defines the rotation radius.


You can use Rotate Region and Resize Region to adjust the size and orientation of the bounding box and then create a new horizontal/vertical animation track, once the orientation of the bounding box fits your needs.




Manual creation of a camera track 

To create a track manually you should add the viewpoints one by one. To create a viewpoint set the scene in the Model view the way you'd like it to look on the resulting animation, then use Append button on the Animation pane to add the viewpoint to the active camera track.  See the visualization below:



Import camera track

You can also import camera track in Autodesk FBX and Camera Path file (.path) formats using  Load button on the Animation pane toolbar.



Adjust the position of the viewpoint

You can adjust the position of the viewpoint in the camera track. For the purpose in the Model view drag the waypoint using the left mouse button to the preferable location:  




To change the order of the keyframes in the camera track use Move up and Move down buttons on the Animation pane toolbar.



Record the video

To record a video file according to the created camera track click on Capture button on the Animation pane toolbar and in the Capture Video dialog select the desired export parameters, such as export video Resolution, Compression type, and Frame rate. Click OK button to save the video in a separate file.



Save the track path 

To save the track path to a separate file click on Save button on the Animation pane. The camera track can be exported in Camera Path (.path), CSV and KML file formats.


Note that KML format is only supported for projects georeferenced in geographic/projected systems convertible to WGS84 system.