Parallel Tracking

New members can also be generated parallel to existing members. To do this you need to ensure that the ‘parallel to line tracking’ option is turned on.

If we wish to generate a new member parallel to an existing member at a distance of 2m away from it, we can track down to snap on to the first point by typing in 2m.

Then hover over the member we want to go parallel to, and we’ll see a parallel tracking symbol appear on the member.

We can then finish generating the new member by clicking on the second end of the new member, running parallel to the first member.

Parallel tracking is quite useful, but sometimes it can lead to too many tracking points happening at one coincident time. So, it is often useful to turn this off.

The coexistence of a multitude of tracking lines and points in a busy frame can be a challenge when trying to select the particular tracking point that you want. In circumstances like that you should consider turning off certain tracking options and snap options to allow you to select the tracking point that you really want.

This can be done by visiting the tracking settings,

Or quickly by right clicking on the toolbar some of the key snap points are available to turn off and on directly.

When generating the second end of a new member we will get automatic tracking points away from the existing members. This again can lead to a multitude of tracking points in 3D space which can sometimes be undesirable as it can create a very busy set of tracking points in a small space. This is called auto-tracking. Auto-tracking can be turned off, meaning that those points aren’t given by automatic default.

However, they can still be given by hovering over a point to provide tracking from that point.