Head Tracker
Head Tracker detects an onscreen head and provides information about the 3D position of the head in virtual space. This is a robust and widely-used functionality that allows you to add 3D objects to the head and face.
Add a Head Tracker
Add a Head Tracker by clicking the Add button [+] > AR Tracking > Head Tracker in the Hierarchy panel. The Face Binding component is included when a Head Tracker object is added.
Adding a Head Tracker object will add a Head object by default. Head is parented under the tracker object so that it follows the head movement.
Object Hierarchy
Starting in Effect House v2.0.0, the Head Tracker object is automatically added to the General render group in the Hierarchy panel. Learn more about render groups.
Head Occluder
The Head object is a head-shaped mesh with Occluder material that allows you to mask the onscreen head.
With the Occluder material, the head model can be used to occlude other 3D objects in the scene. For example, if a hat model wraps around the head, you can occlude the back of the hat so that it appears to be sharing the same 3D space as the head onscreen.
Head Occluder Model
Download the Head Occluder model for 3D scale reference here.
Put a 3D Object on a Head
Navigate to the Hierarchy panel and click the Add button [+] > 3D > Sphere. To ensure that the object follows the head, you need to parent the sphere object under the Head Tracker. Then it will follow the head tracking movement.
Use Multiple Head Trackers
Add Multiple Head Trackers to the Scene
Up to 5 faces can be detected at a time. A Head Tracker must be created and assigned to each you want to track.
Adjust the Face Binding Properties
Values of Which Face must be changed to different values to apply the head effect to different people.
The face number assignment is based on the order of detection. The first face detected in the scene is assigned to 0, the second face is assigned to 1, and so on.
Face Binding Properties
Anchor: Determine which specific part of the target to focus on.
Which Face: Determine who the tracker will follow in the case of multiple faces onscreen. The face number assignment is based on the order of detection. The first face detected in the scene will be assigned to 0, the second face will be assigned to 1, and so on.
- Default: 0
- Range: 0-4
Tracking Target: Different types of tracking targets.
Demo Effect: Head Accessory
This demo puts a sphere on the onscreen head’s nose that stays in place using the Head Tracker! First you will learn how to add the head tracking capability and the initial setup. Then you’ll add the sphere and make some tweaks to finish the effect.
Add a Sphere to the Nose
Start by adding a built-in sphere to the scene by navigating to the Hierarchy panel and clicking the Add button [+] > 3D > Sphere. Now we can see a preview of the effect in the Preview panel. By default, the sphere does not follow the head movement.
To ensure that the object follows the head, you must parent the Sphere object under the Head Tracker.
You can see that the sphere is following the head onscreen. You can continue to make it a little more interesting! First, you’ll want to move and scale the sphere to track the nose.
Apply a PBR Material to the Sphere
You’ll need to create a new material for the sphere. Navigate to the Assets panel and click the Add button [+] > Material > Standard PBR.
Change the color of our new material from the default gray to something new! Select the Standard PBR material from the Assets panel to bring up its parameters.
Change the material’s base color in the Albedo section. For this example, pink is selected, but you can use any color you’d like!
Now you can apply the material to the sphere. Select the sphere in the Hierarchy panel and navigate to the Mesh Renderer listed in its components. You can apply the Standard PBR to the Material section.
You can see the final result in the Preview panel!
Demo Effect: Face Avatar Drive
Check out this tutorial to learn how to create a Face Avatar Drive effect!
