7 minute read
The release streamlines daily 3D tracking tasks with a new Mocha Point Tracker, real-time GeoH previews, user-friendly interface updates, and expanded USD.
Miami, FL, USA – February 19, 2026 – Boris FX SynthEyes 2026 delivers a faster, more responsive camera-solve toolset that makes it easier to refine complex matchmoves on feature films and high-end streaming projects. The new release allows matchmove and visual effects artists to stay focused on solving motion without managing the surrounding processes. SynthEyes 2026 reduces workflow interruptions, shortens iteration cycles, and simplifies setup and export steps.
“SynthEyes 2026 is shaped by the people who use it every day. Their feedback helps us to turn real production pain points into tailored, powerful improvements,” says Moritz Fortmann, SynthEyes product manager. “Live Preview, the Mocha Point Tracker, a cleaner UI, and several other updates are direct results of that collaborative effort. I’m very excited about what we’re building, and even more excited about what it enables our users to do.”
Boris FX SynthEyes 2026 (download image)
VFX Supervisor Matthew Merkovich, one of the first SynthEyes users and a steady voice behind many features in the new release (including Live Preview and the Mocha Point Tracker), reflects the kind of artist partnership that has long helped shape SynthEyes.
“I am currently hand-animating a bookshelf falling over onto a famous actor in the middle of a gnarly handheld camera track. The camera operator is collapsing on his side alongside the actor, creating tons of erratic, shaky motion blur. It’s an absolute worst-case scenario for the camera, but of course, I can pull it off with SynthEyes,” comments Merkovich. “The bookshelf, however, was impossible. It would need full rotomation. The Live Preview in the GeoH solver is life-changing. I showed it in action to a Nuke artist, and he said, ‘Holy [expletive redacted], it’s like being able to corner pin ... but in 3D!’ This is now in the top shelf of my matchmoving toolbox.”
New Tracking Workflows
The Mocha Point Tracker adds a new supervised tracking option for cases where a traditional point tracker struggles to stay locked over time. Rather than relying on a single pixel pattern, it tracks the motion of a small planar surface and uses that motion to keep the returned 2D point stable. This makes it especially effective on flat surfaces that rotate, scale, tilt, or change perspective, situations where standard point trackers often drift, slip, or require frequent manual correction.
By leveraging Mocha’s award-winning planar tracking technology within the familiar SynthEyes point-tracking workflow, artists gain access to more reliable 2D motion sources for solving, object tracking, and export in shots that previously pushed the limits of supervised tracking.
Boris FX SynthEyes 2026: Mocha Point Tracker (download image)
Live Preview for geometric hierarchy (GeoH) makes refining complex objects and hierarchy tracking quicker and more intuitive. The solve updates instantly as an artist works. When enabled, users can move trackers, adjust seed positions, tweak pivots, unlock or rebalance axes, and modify lens or offset parameters. The hierarchy responds immediately in the current frame without stopping to replay the shot. The real-time feedback makes it much easier to judge alignment, rotation, deformation, and articulation directly against the plate.
It is especially effective on refining setups where accuracy depends on visual fit and motion continuity: dialing in pivots, correcting rotational behavior, balancing influence across joints, or adjusting motion late in a shot. Instead of repeated play–stop–check cycles, artists can iteratively nudge trackers and controls and see the result instantly. Live Preview turns GeoH refinement into a more direct, responsive process that feels closer to interactive posing than traditional solve-and-review workflows.
Boris FX SynthEyes 2026: Live Preview (download image)
User Interface Improvements
The 2026 release marks the beginning of a multi-phase user interface modernization. The refresh will make the application clearer, more intuitive, and more efficient, while preserving the workflows and muscle memory experienced users rely on.
SynthEyes 2026 focuses on the left panel and room navigation. Improved labelling, more consistent layout and interaction behavior, straightforward visual structure, and subtle refinements enhance discoverability and day-to-day usability without disrupting established workflows. The updates make SynthEyes feel both familiar to advanced artists and more approachable to first-time users.
Boris FX SynthEyes 2026: Updated User Interface (download image)
Smoother Pipelines
SynthEyes 2026 introduces multiple pipeline improvements that lessen manual cleanup and streamline final delivery.
Expanded USD pipeline support brings USD assets and scenes directly into SynthEyes. Users can import individual meshes or full USD scenes, preserving hierarchy, cameras, lights, animation, and metadata, including parent-child relationships and transforms. USDZ assets import with embedded textures intact. The increased functionality reduces manual conversion steps by simplifying handoffs between layout, matchmove, and downstream departments.
Boris FX SynthEyes 2026: Expanded USD/USDZ Support (download image)
A new Whole Scene Transform mode allows scale, rotation, or translation to be applied to the entire scene (cameras, objects, trackers, and meshes) while preserving relative motion and solve integrity. The mode ensures safe late-stage adjustments even in complex, multi-camera projects.
Distortion map (STMap) export is now integrated directly into the standard Export menu and Multi-Export system. The integration enables distortion data to be generated alongside other outputs in a single export pass rather than as a separate step.
Additional updates — refine import, export, and scene setup behavior — reduce manual cleanup and improve predictability across downstream pipelines.
Boris FX SynthEyes 2026: Newly Integrated STMap Export (download image)
Pricing
SynthEyes is a standalone application with subscription, perpetual, and upgrade & support renewal options. Prices start at $325/year or $62/month. See webshop for details.
Customers with an active SynthEyes or Boris FX Suite subscription, or with an upgrade & support plan, receive the 2026 product release as a complimentary update. Learn more about SynthEyes.
Assets
SynthEyes 2026: Branding toolkit
SynthEyes 2026: What’s New (video)
SynthEyes 2026: Track Faster with Mocha Point Tracker (video)
SynthEyes 2026: Tracked Mesh Live Previews (video)
Media Contact
Jessie Electa Petrov
Director of Marketing, Boris FX
jessiep@borisfx.com
617-451-9900