z-depth effects - conclusive tutorial?

[JohnnyRandom]

What problems are you having exactly? The effect doesn't work at all?

Did you make sure your .rla file format settings are set to save the z-depth data?

[matmonkfish]

yep, there is z-depth data there,

its just being able to apply effects in after effects.

i read about doing a 3d extract, for AE to be able to interprate the depth, but i thought that it should be automatic with an rla image,

there seems to be no clear way to actually do 3d effects.

[JohnnyRandom]

Well if the data is there is should be as simple as applying the effect and adjusting the focal plane/thickness, radius and the focal bias.

maybe this will help a little:)

http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/9339/aedof7ex.png

[matmonkfish]

thanks for the help,

what 3d program are you using?

all i can get is a uniform blur, whatever settings i use.

im using maya.

i read that maya and after effects are a bit incompatible, and you have to 'set the black and white points' in after effects, other than that there seems to be a complete lack of information.

[matmonkfish]

ok, i have tried following this but it doesnt seem to work,
anyone know where i may be going wrong. i cant find anything anywhere more conclusive than this about getting maya - after effects zdepth working

How to get the rla file to impart its Z-Depth information in After Effects
OK, you need the Professional version of After Effects for this, because you need one of its Effects, called “3D Channel Extract” for this operation. Place the Z-depth .rla frame/s in a layer above the background. Apply the “3D Channel Extract” effect (Effect>3D Channel), and in the Effects Control window, make sure Z-Depth is active in the pull-down menu. You now need to insert values here for the white and black points. I found that these values were way too sensitive for the slider controls here to be of any use, so I entered values manually – TINY values! For instance Black Point 0.4, and White Point 0.9. Watch the response in the monitor window and you will see the z-depth information (black and white information) change. You want a situation where distant objects are dark and foreground objects are white, with a nice gradation between the two. Once you’re happy with the settings, you now use these black and white values to influence any effect you want to apply to the layer below (the Background). So in my scenes I wanted less contrast, a little blurriness, and a bit more darkness in the background to help separate it from the foreground. So you will need to apply an adjustment layer to the background (Layer>New Adjustment Layer). Then choose Luma Inverted Matte from the Mattes pull-down menu for the Adjustment Layer – it should also show the name of the Z-Depth images that are in the layer above it next to Luma Inverted matte, so if it doesn’t make sure you have the ZDepth layer directly above the Adjustment Layer. Now you add the effects that you want to the adjustment layer, and the effect will be most prominent on the areas that were the darkest on the Z-Depth images

[JohnnyRandom]

Oh, using max, i guess i should have stated that.:shrug:

I was trying to get openexr to work but AE 6.5 won't recognize the z-depth from it :(

have you tried .rpf? that may work, not sure though I haven't used maya in years.

Worth a shot.

Never tried what you are desricibing but does seem to make sense:):P

Ya know you could easily cheat the effect with a few layers set up with a mask and a blur/compound blur.

There is also the possibility of a third-party plugin.

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