"Motion tracking" a static scene
Usually for this, I'd pan the camera all over the place at the start, just for the tracking data. The scene itself will be static. I need to create geometry that will not have primary visibility. It's just there as a stand in for real world objects for my animated geometry to interact with. (using dynamics on this scene)
But I've not really done this without camera movement before. Usually, Boujou takes care of all that and gives me track points to locate my geometry within the scene...
BUT...Since I can measure everything in my real world scene, can't I just make sure all the measurements in Maya match up, and then make sure my CG geometry is lined up with the real geometry? Tracking software gives you an image plane with the real footage on it for this, but I won't be using tracking software. (Or should I just track the static scene just to get the image plane? I know the tracking points will have no depth if I do this, but I can just hide them)
How do I get my geometry that's only there for collisions and such to be in the right location, without camera movement. I assume I'd need to know the film back of he camera I'm using and its focal length and such, but I don't. Boujou usually figures that out for me. Consumer cameras rarely provide such info.
I'm sure that just using the right measurements and placing the virtual camera in the right location and orientation will work apart from the matter of the specifics of the camera itself.
Is there a source online for this? I'm using an old Sony HDR-SR8E, which has been discontinued. I have a Canon XL2, which I CAN get the data for easily enough, but the plate footage is already shot, so I'd rather not re-shoot.