PlanarTransform

PlanarTransform is not a second tracker and it is not a simplified Corner Pin. Its job starts after analysis: PlanarTracker calculates the planar motion and PlanarTransform applies that motion to another 2D source as a match move.

The Resolve 21 reference describes the Track spline as 4 x 4 matrices that store the perspective distortions of the tracked plane. Those matrices carry the translation, rotation, scale, skew and perspective behavior produced by the upstream tracking model.

Motion Type is not a PlanarTransform control. Translation, Translation/Rotation, Translation/Rotation/Scale, Affine and Perspective are selected in PlanarTracker before export. If the motion model is wrong, fix or retrack it upstream rather than searching for a selector in PlanarTransform.

Reference Time is the reference frame from which the pattern was taken in the PlanarTracker that produced the node. It should not be described as an arbitrary 'make this frame neutral' control inside an already exported PlanarTransform; it comes from the tracker and defines the reference system of the planar motion.

In production it is useful to prepare the insert at Reference Time before PlanarTransform. A Transform placed upstream can position and scale a logo, screen insert or patch on the reference frame; PlanarTransform then carries that prepared layer through the tracked plane motion.

A Transform placed after PlanarTransform serves a different purpose: it moves an already match-moved result in screen space. That can be intentional, but an accidental downstream offset often makes a valid track appear to slide.

PlanarTransform has two inputs. The orange Image Input accepts the 2D source to be transformed. Blackmagic also documents using PlanarTransform to warp masks/rotosplines, so a Polygon that must inherit the planar motion belongs on the main transform path rather than on the blue Effect Mask input.

Effect Mask is a separate blue input that limits the PlanarTransform output to selected areas. Do not confuse a mask that must itself be warped by the track with a mask whose job is merely to gate the effect.

For a typical screen or sign replacement the tracked plate does not need to pass through PlanarTransform. A common graph is insert/paint/graphic → PlanarTransform → Merge.Foreground, while the original plate goes directly to Merge.Background.

After Create Planar Transform, PlanarTracker no longer has to remain in the image-flow branch used for the match move. Blackmagic's training material demonstrates deleting the tracker after export, while the current reference also notes Track-spline sharing: if the source tracker remains and its track changes, the linked PlanarTransform can update automatically.

Those are two different workflow states. Keep the tracker available while you are still refining the track; once the motion is final, the exported PlanarTransform can be used as the match-move carrier in the composition.

Right-click here for Track spline exposes the stored tracking data and lets you inspect it in the Spline Editor. This is useful for checking the actual tracked frame range instead of blaming downstream compositing for a section where no tracking keys were produced.

PlanarTransform is also useful for rotoscoping. A roughly planar object can be tracked, a PlanarTransform exported, and a Polygon warped by that data so it follows the object approximately before manual refinement.

This planar-assisted roto workflow does not remove the need for cleanup. Blackmagic explicitly describes fine-level rotospline adjustment after the automated warp when the object is only approximately planar.

PlanarTransform can only be as good as the track it receives. Jitter, drift, a poor reference frame, weak texture and severe occlusion are upstream tracking problems already encoded in the motion data.

Visible lens distortion can also damage planar tracking. The Resolve reference recommends correcting significant barrel or other lens distortion before analysis because a distorted image violates the planar model and can introduce slide or wobble.

The tool is strongest on physically planar or approximately planar surfaces such as screens, signs, walls, documents and panels. Strong 3D parallax or non-planar deformation may be better handled with Tracker, Surface Tracker, Camera Tracker or manual/combined techniques.

The current Resolve 21 PlanarTransform does not have separate Scale to Source or Clipping Mode / Domain / Frame controls. Those entries existed in the old page but belong to other transform/crop concepts and have been removed here.

PlanarTransform also does not expose Steady, Corner Pin or Stabilize operation modes. Those are PlanarTracker modes. PlanarTransform is deliberately narrow: a small interface applying already calculated match-move data.

Completeness for this node should not mean inventing extra Inspector controls. A complete explanation accurately covers its two inputs, Reference Time, Track spline, upstream PlanarTracker relationship and downstream match-move workflow.