Tracks¶
A track is an identity that persists across frames — "this is the same mouse as the one in the previous frame." Poses without tracks tell you what was there; tracks tell you who.
Assigning tracks¶
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Create a new track | Cmd+0 / Ctrl+0, or Tracks ▸ New Track |
| Assign the selected instance to a track | Tracks ▸ Set Instance Track ▸ …, or right-click ▸ Assign Track |
| Assign the selected instance to track 1–9 | Cmd+1 … Cmd+9 / Ctrl+1 … Ctrl+9 |
| Copy an instance's track | Cmd+Shift+C / Ctrl+Shift+C |
| Paste a track onto an instance | Cmd+Shift+V / Ctrl+Shift+V |
Cmd+1 … Cmd+9 (Ctrl+1 … Ctrl+9) picks the track by its number in
the tracks legend. If that track doesn't exist yet, the app creates Track 1,
Track 2, … up to that number first, so you can start tracking with no setup.
Copy/paste of tracks is the fast way to fix a run of frames: copy the correct identity once, then step forward pasting it onto the instance that should carry it.
Renaming and recoloring¶
In the Instances panel:
- Double-click a track name to rename it inline. Enter saves, Esc cancels.
- Click the color swatch next to it to pick that track's color — a palette preset or Custom — or Reset to auto.
Transposing¶
Cmd+T / Ctrl+T (Tracks ▸ Transpose Instance Tracks) swaps the track assignment of two instances. This is the correction for the most common tracking failure: two animals cross paths and the tracker swaps their identities.
On a frame with exactly two instances it swaps them directly. With three or more, it asks you to pick the two.
Propagating¶
Tracks ▸ Propagate Track Labels is a toggle. While it's on, changing an instance's track (or transposing two instances) also swaps the identities on every later frame — to the end of the video, or to the end of the frame range selected on the seekbar. You fix a swap once rather than per frame.
Cleaning up¶
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| Delete Instance and Track (Cmd+Shift+Backspace) | Removes the instance and its track |
| Delete Track ▸ … | Removes one track from the project |
| Delete Unused Tracks | Removes tracks with no instances left on them |
| Delete All Tracks | Clears every track assignment |
Delete Unused Tracks is worth running before export — tracking passes tend to leave behind empty identities that clutter the legend and every analysis file.
Seeing tracks¶
- The track occupancy bars on the seekbar show which identities exist when, and where they start and stop.
- Cmd+E / Ctrl+E jumps to the next track spawn frame — where a new identity first appears. New identities mid-video are usually a tracking break rather than a new animal, so this is a fast audit route.
- Hold Ctrl to show the tracks legend on the canvas: each track's number, color, and name. The numbers are the ones Cmd+1 … Cmd+9 use. It only shows while Ctrl is held (Ctrl on macOS too).
- View ▸ Apply Distinct Colors To ▸ Tracks colors instances by identity, which makes a swap visible instantly.
- View ▸ Show Track Scores displays the tracker's confidence.
- Tracks ▸ Seekbar Header ▸ Tracking Score (or Min Centroid Proximity) plots where tracking is likely to have gone wrong — see Navigation.
Trails¶
View ▸ Trail Length draws each instance's recent path behind it. A trail that teleports across the frame is an identity swap; a trail that stops dead is a lost track.