01 / Workflow
Make a first cut
- Upload a short clip and wait for frame extraction to finish.
- On a clear frame, draw a box around the subject or click inside it.
- Use a background click only where the mask spills onto something that should be removed.
- Run tracking, inspect the timeline, fix problem frames, then run tracking again.
- Choose an export for your next step and download it from the export panel.
Start with a short, steady shot. A few accurate marks usually help more than marking every frame.
02 / Mark
Tell the tracker what belongs in the cutout
A foreground click means “keep this.” A background click means “remove this.” A box gives the tracker a rough region containing the subject. Marks apply to the frame shown in the viewer.
If the subject changes shape or gets partly hidden, move to a clear frame near that moment and add another foreground mark. Use a background mark to trim spill. Undo removes the last mark; clear-frame removes marks from the current frame.
03 / Track
Let the mask follow the subject
Tracking propagates your marks through the clip. Bidirectional tracking starts from the marks and works toward both the beginning and the end, which helps when the clearest frame is in the middle. Turn it off when you need a forward-only run.
The CPU demo tracker is the default on the hosted service. It is useful for testing the workflow, but its cutouts are simple color-based masks and can miss boundaries. The memory tracker uses SAM 2.1 weights and produces stronger object masks, but it takes longer and needs the model environment enabled. Changing the tracker affects the next run.
04 / Review
Find the frames that need your eye
The timeline colors summarize tracking confidence and missing masks. Use the problem arrows to jump to frames without a mask or with low confidence. Play is a sampled review preview; use the frame slider, filmstrip, or arrow keys for precise inspection.
Click the subject to correct a frame. The preview shows your new marks against that frame; they do not change the completed run until you track again. Re-run after corrections, then inspect the changed sections before exporting.
05 / Export
Pick the file for the job
If the timeline reports missing masks, those frames export without the subject in the cutout. Fix them and track again before making a final file.
06 / Expectations
Clip size and speed
The hosted demo extracts up to 900 frames and processes them at a working resolution with a 720-pixel long side. Larger uploads take longer to upload and extract; a longer clip also means more frames to track and export. A 10-second clip is a good first test.
The hosted setup runs one CPU demo worker. Tracking and export jobs run on the service and do not survive an instance restart. SAM 2.1 is not enabled on that hosted CPU service. Treat the hosted service as a private, single-editor demo, not shared or archival storage.
07 / Troubleshooting
When something goes wrong
- Upload or frames keep loading
- Check your connection, then use Retry if it appears. Large clips take longer. If the service restarted, reload the clip to see whether extraction completed.
- Track is unavailable
- Add a foreground click or a box around the subject. Background-only marks cannot start an object track.
- The mask misses or includes something
- Add a foreground or background mark on a clear frame near the error, then track again and inspect nearby frames.
- The preview does not match my marks
- Wait for the preview after each click. The preview is only for the current frame; the saved result changes after a new tracking run completes.
- A job stopped or disappeared
- Jobs are held in service memory, so an instance restart interrupts active work. Reload the clip and run tracking or export again.
08 / Your files
Remove a clip and its work
Use the clip’s delete control in the project list to remove its uploaded video, extracted frames, tracking sessions, masks, and exports from this workspace. Active jobs must finish or be cancelled first. On the hosted demo, files are stored in the service’s Cloud Storage workspace until you delete them; this is a private demo workspace, not a backup or long-term archive.