DOF - post effect vs post

[2a03]

I've been using a combination of Zblur + Frischluft Lenscare in After Effects and it works great... I've finished hundreds of shots with them with no real problems... As far as workflow goes.... After the scene is blocked out... I go into Post effects and activate Z-blur, in the z-blur menu turn off "add blur" because only the z-depth map is needed...Then I turn on the z-blur preview window and tweak the depth curve until I get my desired results...after that add "post effects" multipass channel so the render will spit out the depth pass..I also save an After Projects file.... When the render is done open the AE project and and you'll have your RGBA pass and depth pass together... Apply Frischluft Depth of field to the RGBA image using the depth map... Also I usually precomp the depth pass and add box blur to it before using it with the depth of field effect because the z depth matte can get a little chunky sometimes and the blur helps smooth things out a bit... Then tweak the lenscare settings until your happy and thats it... If your going to do a lot of DOF with C4d and especially with animations I recommend using Z-Blur with Frishluft Lenscare... Z-blur recognizes alpha maps, transparency, and reflections... and Lenscare, if used correctly can give you some nice real photographic looks...

[mikeh64]

thanks for that description - I didn't know that zblur could just create the depth info without blurring - seems like a great combo

now that the 9.6 SDK os out, hopefully they'll get zblur back up and running in 9.6

[robotbob]

yeah i will be buying zblur if they fix it. i use DOF alot - but cinema's has produced many probs.

I also use after effects DOF which is really nice. and i try to combine c4d elements with a depth map and use AE's own blur on non C4D elements to varying success.

what i would love is for an exact match between the two but i guess that is never going to happen.

[helluvapixel]

I think the DOF is not the function of zBlur but more to be an aid to show you your depth map.

If you look around in your compositing apps you will see considerable effort has been put in place to mimic realistic DOF effects be it in program or plugins. Photoshop CS2 has a new photo blur that tries to accomplish this.

You want to be sure that you are not simply using a gaussian blur as this is crap. The problem is that it does not adjust for light intensity and such. When you get a DOF there is a bit of a phenomenon with the light in that you get a intensity shift and simple blurs do not accommodate this.

Therefore, I would say unless you have to be physically accurate do it in post as it gives you more leverage.

[nutriman]

Too bad zBlur does not work with 9.6 at the moment. :sad:

If anyone has achieved a nice result with depthmap and photoshop's lenseblur please post it.
My attempts looked crappy...
With PS6 I used to load the depthmaps selection and gaussianblurred the rgb pic, works but doesn't look like a real DOF.

richard rosenman's PS looks promising, but I havn't tried it.
http://www.dofpro.com/ (check out the cg gallery)

[StefanB]

I used PS LensBlur+C4D Depthmap for this image. Well, I'm happy with the result. :)

http://home.arcor.de/stefanbutterling/wip/logo.jpg

[phexitol]

DOF Pro is definitely worth it. Richard's building more and more animation support into it with each new version.

[Jimstein]

How is DOF affected by motion in the scene? Actually I cant think of any reason why you would not doing the DOF in post process as you get the animated depth map along with the rendered picture.

[Jimstein]

Is it true that motion blur does not render correctly with post DOF filters?

[nutriman]

@stefanB: that's a nice one!
Did you have to blur the depthmap before applying the lensblur?
Because what often happens is that you'll get too sharp corners where they should actually be blurred.

[StefanB]

Did you have to blur the depthmap before applying the lensblur?
Yes, I selected the right half of the depth map and applied a gaussian blur. I played also with the curves a little.

[reForm]

I used PS LensBlur+C4D Depthmap for this image. Well, I'm happy with the result. :)



Hi StefanB,
Love the dof effect from PS.... Do you know how to make an action for this so I can batch process a number of frames? I tried it, but it doesnt allow me to move one image(the z-buffer) into another.

[dann_stubbs]

Too bad zBlur does not work with 9.6 at the moment. :sad:


i just got my 9.6 compatible Zblur 1.53 in email a bit ago

dann

[nutriman]

yeehaw, thank you 3dattack! excellent DOF back in business :thumbsup:

[rsquires]

I concur with 2ao3 Lenscare is a great plugin for depth of field. It can work with depth maps but also can work alone so you can knock a background out of focus and place your cg on top and pull focus to it. It's fast as well which AE's and PS's lens blurs aren't. Also you can use any grayscale to create depth, and even have it as an adjustment layer with a mask to vary focus.

Also zblur is very capable at creating very good depth maps. It does do a good job of blurring, but you lose the editabiltiy later on in post.

regards

rich

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