Advanced Tracking with Mocha AE for Clean Compositing

Mocha AE (bundled free with After Effects) uses planar tracking — far more robust than After Effects' built-in point tracker for screen replacements, sign replacements, and surface compositing.

When to Use Mocha vs AE Tracker

AE's built-in tracker follows individual points. It fails when points go off-screen or are occluded. Mocha tracks entire surfaces (planes) and handles partial occlusion, motion blur, and even off-screen data. Use Mocha for: screen replacements, sign/billboard replacement, removing tattoos/logos, and any surface-based compositing.

Workflow

1. Select your clip, go to Animation > Track in Boris FX Mocha
2. Draw a spline around the surface to track (TV screen, phone, sign)
3. Set track parameters: Translation, Scale, Rotation, Shear, Perspective
4. Track forward (and backward if needed)
5. Switch to the AE Export tab
6. Choose export format: Corner Pin or Transform Data
7. Click "Copy to Clipboard"

Applying in After Effects

1. Create your replacement content (new screen content, sign graphic, etc.)
2. Paste the Mocha tracking data onto the replacement layer (Ctrl/Cmd+V)
3. Corner Pin data automatically pins the replacement to the tracked surface
4. Adjust edge feathering and color matching to blend