I've been trying to create a script to allow me track the camera in a video in blender. The reason for this is such that I can later add a 3d model in the video. I want to do all of this with scripts. I have the following script:
import pathlib
import bpy
BASE_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.resolve()
VIDEO_PATH = BASE_DIR / "videos" / "video.mp4" # TODO: Figure out a better way to load videos...
OUPUT_DIR = BASE_DIR / "scenes" / "result.blend" # TODO: Fix me
def import_video(video_path):
return bpy.data.movieclips.load(str(video_path))
def setup_scene(video_clip):
scene = bpy.context.scene
scene.frame_start = 1
scene.frame_end = video_clip.frame_duration
scene.render.fps = int(video_clip.fps)
# Set the active movie clip for tracking
bpy.context.scene.active_clip = video_clip
# Setup camera settings based on the video clip
tracking = video_clip.tracking
tracking.camera.sensor_width = 36.0 # Example sensor width in mm
tracking.camera.focal_length = 50.0 # Example focal length in mm
return scene, tracking
def get_clip_editor_override(clip):
# Create a temporary area in the current screen with a Movie Clip Editor
for area in bpy.context.window.screen.areas:
if area.type == 'CLIP_EDITOR':
for space in area.spaces:
if space.type == 'CLIP_EDITOR':
space.clip = clip
# Return a context override
return {
'area': area,
'region': area.regions[-1],
'space_data': space,
'scene': bpy.context.scene
}
# If no CLIP_EDITOR area exists, create one (in background this might not exist)
raise RuntimeError("No CLIP_EDITOR area found for context override")
# === Main script ===
# Load the video and prepare the scene for motion tracking
clip = import_video(VIDEO_PATH)
# Setup the scene
scene, tracking = setup_scene(clip)
bpy.ops.wm.save_mainfile(filepath=str(OUPUT_DIR))
print("Scene saved to:", OUPUT_DIR)
# --- SET ACTIVE CLIP FOR TRACKING ---
bpy.context.scene.active_clip = clip
override = get_clip_editor_override(clip)
# --- DETECT FEATURES WITH OVERRIDE ---
with bpy.context.temp_override(**override):
bpy.ops.clip.detect_features(threshold=0.1, margin=30)
but it's erroring out when I call it from my terminal with:
blender .\tracking_startpoint.blend --python .\auto_track.py
Also note that tracking_startpoint.blend is literally an empty new blender scene with focus on the Motion tracking workspace where I have a light and a camera. Screenshot below:
The error I am getting:
blender .\tracking_startpoint.blend --background --python .\auto_track.py
TBBmalloc: skip allocation functions replacement in ucrtbase.dll: unknown prologue for function _msize
Blender 4.2.1 LTS (hash 396f546c9d82 built 2024-08-19 11:29:52)
Read blend: "C:\...\tracking_startpoint.blend"
Warning: File written by newer Blender binary (404.30), expect loss of data!
Loaded video clip: video.mp4
Info: Total files 1 | Changed 0 | Failed 0
Info: Saved "solved_tracking.blend"
Saved blend to: C:\...\solved_tracking.blend
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "C:...\auto_track.py", line 60, in <module>
bpy.ops.clip.detect_features(override, threshold=0.1, margin=30)
File "C:\...\blender\blender-4.2.1-windows-x64\blender-4.2.1-windows-x64\4.2\scripts\modules\bpy\ops.py", line 106, in __call__
C_exec, C_undo = _BPyOpsSubModOp._parse_args(args)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "C:\...\blender\blender-4.2.1-windows-x64\blender-4.2.1-windows-x64\4.2\scripts\modules\bpy\ops.py", line 60, in _parse_args
raise ValueError("1-2 args execution context is supported")
ValueError: 1-2 args execution context is supported
Blender quit
Any idea what I am doing wrong?
As shown in the error I am on blender 4.2 LTS on my terminal/command line and on Windows (though I guess the OS shouldn't matter). Thank you in advance!
