DOF - Successful test

[Jorbu]

I tried to render w/ DOF before but I could only get the background elements to blur. I decided to take another try at it last night and was finally successful at rendering both background and foreground elements blured.

[dalomar_cg]

Re: DOF - Successful test

Nice shot. Sometimes its a little harder to get the right focal distance (and therefore the right blur from foreground to background), but that seams to be it. DOF is one of my favorite effects and adds to the realism of an image.

[Jorbu]

Re: DOF - Successful test

Hi Damien,

It sure is tricky to set up the DOF without a camera target. I tried a while ago, but could only get the background to blur, so I wasn't sure how well it was working. After a few more tries I finally managed to get it right.

I agree, if done well, it definitely adds to the realism of an image.

Jorge

[m.ribaut]

Re: DOF - Successful test

Nice !!!

Could please post your settings and the distance in between the chairs, that would help a lot.

Thanks !!!

[Jorbu]

Re: DOF - Successful test

Well, I finally found some time to explain what I did. I encourage everyone to try different camera settings than the ones I have here to get different DOF result. Hopefully this helps to explain how to set up DOF to work with VfSU.

Just a few notes:

-The Focal Distance in VfSU is measured in inches. In my example, the focal distance is 800 inches = 66.7 ft which is what I typed in the DOF calculator.
-The DOF calculator is a very handy tool to help you set up your scene and helps you understand what results to expect.
-I used the Note Camera Point script from smustard.com to locate my exact camera location. The script cost $2.00 and it's well worth it.
-I color coded the numbers that relate between DOF calculator and VfSU Camera Settings to make things clear.

The scene is available by clicking this link as well for people to try it themselves.

http://www.jbdigitalstudio.com/DOF_VfSU.zip

[joe_b]

Re: DOF - Successful test

Thanks for taking the time to prepare that - I'm sure a lot of our users will make good use of it

[m.ribaut]

Re: DOF - Successful test

Thanks !!! Very helpfull !!! ;D

[m.ribaut]

Re: DOF - Successful test

Working with Maxwell before I found this one to be useful too :

http://www.atillaakin.com/maxwell/dof.html

[dalomar_cg]

Re: DOF - Successful test

[bump] :P

[Free Agent_cg]

Re: DOF - Successful test

sorry if this is a noob question but does your Field of view control the "area of acceptable sharpness"? if not what does, i can control the focal point but i cant seem to get it to be bigger where the "area of acceptable sharpness" is far too small... how do i get the blurring to happen just a little in front and back

[dalomar_cg]

Re: DOF - Successful test

I'm not 100% sure exactly what you're asking, but it sounds like you need to adjust the aperature value. The amount of DOF is controlled by aperture and the focal point (the place that's sharp) will be controlled by the focal distance. The other player in the game, and a minor one at that, is focal length or indirectly the Field (or better yet Angle) of View. The narrower that is, the quicker things will become blurred, but thats it. Try the aperture value and if that doesn't get you where you want to go, we can go from there.

[Free Agent_cg]

Re: DOF - Successful test

thanx Damien, when i change the aperture that seems to increase how blurry the blurry bits get (please excuse super layman lingo) ,and when i change the focal distance that decides where the focused area is, i was wondering what control or combo of controls will decide how big the area of focus will be?

[dalomar_cg]

Re: DOF - Successful test

That's still going to be controlled by aperture. The lower the aperture, the more depth you'll have in terms of the focus of the image. Technically, other than the points in the scene that are exactly the focal distance away from the camera, everything is, to some degree, out of focus. Its just a matter of how far away from that focal point will be considered visually in focus. Since a lower aperture will blur more gradually, you'll get much more are that is visually in focus.

[Free Agent_cg]

Re: DOF - Successful test

thanx that makes sense ;D :-[

[nektares]

Re: DOF - Successful test

Does anyone have any idea of what values to use with DOF when using meters? i downloaded this file and got a successful test but just as soon as i change it to meters to try it myself on another file i just can´t get it to work, any ideas? i bought the note camera but dont know what to do with the values thanks if someone knows what to do!