Yo yo,
 
I am learning Matchmover for the first time with MM3.  I am having issues with getting good camera solves with my manual tracks.  Right now I have a two flyover shots of downtown Kansas City.  I am using one as a helper sequence.  I keep getting errors on my tracks and the perspective is usually reversed, with far away tracks placed close and vice-versa.  I had the same problem when I was working on the set tutorial with the band in the back of the pick up.  I have gotten it to work on some things, but I see no rhyme or reason in it, I just got lucky.
Are there helpful hints to placing manual tracks, because I'm having a heck of a time, or is there something else I may be missing?  
 
Thanks, I'll probably be back with more questions.

Hello,
 
What makes track depth accurate is the amount of parallax, that means the perspective information. Do all your tracks lie at the same depth / distance from the camera ? Are they well spread in the 3D space ? Are they stable or all jumpy ?
Did you try using an automatic tracking to see how it handles ?
You can first try to solve only few frames (around were you think you have most parallax), and only extend the solve when the beginning is rock-solid !
If you're still stucked, do not hesitate to make your footage available for us to have an in-depth test.
 
 
Thanks

Thanks Ronald.  I'm begining to understand this more.
 
I did automatic tracking on the first sequence of the two and it solves well.  The automatic tracking has always worked well.
 
My tracks are well spread out at different distances from the camera.  I have about 30 manually placed tracks and most of them are pretty stable.  A few are a bit jumpy.  
 
Ok, when I solve the first few frames, it appears that it does well, most all of my tracks are green, but when I go to my 3D mode, I don't see my sequence anymore, I have no camera view and I lost my dolly and orbit buttons.  What happened?  I extended my solve further but I never got my sequence to appear or regain the button and camera functions in 3D mode. The only thing in my workspace is my tracks and grid.  
 
Thanks agian

When there is only very few parallax, tracks residuals can get all green because they reproject perfectly, but they're depth is in fact very inaccurate.
 
If the 3D view is crazy, it may be because the computed focal length is such. It's also linked to a lack of parallax. If your computed focal is outside 10-100 mm, it may be the problem....
 
Hope this helps.
 
Do not hesitate to upload your footage / project if you want deeper help.
Thanks