Decent DOF effects in DFX+ ?

#1

I was wondering if anyone has managed this yet.

I noticed that Digital Fusion has a proper Defocus filter with specific lens attributes etc - DFX+ only has a very crude version of this.

So I looked into using the excellent True Rackfocus AE filter from Commotion 4.0 in the AEPlugins folder in DFX+, problem is that gets a massive yellow cross watermark in DFX, I suppose it knows it’s not being used with Commotion
:frowning:

AE doesn’t appear to have anything better than Gaussian blur for such things.

So I guess what I’m asking is, anyone got any suggestions for a good quality method for DOF in DFX+ (ie, better than the crappy Z-depth blur)

#2

Hi Mattoo,

question is: what 's “good quality DOF”? IMO it can only be calculated in 3D space. Objects in the front cover objects in the back. Now if a background object has to be blurred, you need information (pixels) that are hidden behind the foreground objects’s edge for a correct blurring of the backgound. How could this be achieved in a two-dimensional image? It will always look a bit crap.

I’d suggest to render DOF in 3D space or apply defocus filters to different 2d layers. DFX’s defocus filter isn’t that bad IMHO.

Cheers,
Andreas

#3

I am rendering in layers. The process works fine in Commotion but it’s very tedious, the node based structure in DFX would allow me to do it in one pass… in theory.

As to “what is good quality DOF” what I really mean is a better simulation of the lens aberations etc. True Camera Rack-focus in Commotion is fantastic, I was just wondering if there was an equivalent for DFX. Depth Blur in DFX is a bit simplistic for my liking.

#4

ok, I see. Thanks for the explanation. So I don’t know of another tool that offers a better simulation. If you find one, please let me know! :thumbsup:

Cheers,
Andreas

#5

D’oh! No problem, I’ll keep on digging, maybe I’ll go back to doing the DOF in Commotion.

Cheers.

#6

The defocus node should be a pat of one of the modules that are available for DFX+, as to which one, I would check the website. It does tend to be a little slow though.

As for your commotion plugin, it probably just needs to be registered. Once inside DFX+, check to see if it has an about tab, and within there you will most likely find the registration box. If you copy the registration number from commotion and plug it in, it should work fine.

#7

I had a look for the proper (full?) version of Defocus already on the site to see if it’s included in one of the modules, I think it just only comes with Digital Fusion, I couldn’t see any mention of it for DFX.
As I said, there is a defocus filter, but that doesn’t have all the cool stuff to do with lens types that I saw in a DF tutorial. The one I saw in the tut had many of the features the one for Commotion has.

As for why this particular Commotion plugin doesn’t work when all the others I’ve tried had more success I don’t know.
I think what I’ll do is use DFX’s standard Depth Blur and if it still bothers when all is done I’ll export the comped image and depth layers seperatly from DFX and do the blur in Commotion.

Btw, Commotions’ True Camera Rack Focus is not fast either. :slight_smile:

cheers.

#8

Hi Mattoo,

here’s a screenshot of the defocus tool in DFX+. There’s all those cool lens type control if you switch from “Gaussian Blur” to “Lens”.

Cheers,
Andreas

#9

check this site
http://www.frischluft.com/
they propose a very good D.O.F. plugins.
u can find a demo version.

#10

Originally posted by comanche
[B]Hi Mattoo,

here’s a screenshot of the defocus tool in DFX+. There’s all those cool lens type control if you switch from “Gaussian Blur” to “Lens”.

Cheers,
Andreas [/B]

What the!?!? Yeah that’s the fella! Where the hell is that?

All I coold find is a Defocus filter which only has a single intensity value…?

#11

Bugger arse pooh! I just found it in the manual, it’s included in Module 2… which I don’t have. Now why a Defocus tool would be in the “Keying” Module is beyond me, that makes no sense at all.

Anyway, I think I’m gonna carry on using good ole Commotion for this as I just found out that I can’t supply a seperate image for Z-depth information in the Depth Blur tool in DFX - it needs to be in the original image (ie. RLA, RPF)… which is shit.

#12

Mattoo, I have checked my installation. The defocus tool seems to be part of an additional modul, because it’s not available with modules 1 + 4 installed only.

There’s no information about it on the eyeon website, so you have to ask someone at eyeon, to which module the defocus tool belongs. Please keep us posted.

Cheers,
Andreas

#13

Originally posted by Mattoo
[B]Bugger arse pooh! I just found it in the manual, it’s included in Module 2…

Aaaah, ok, thanks for the info. Strange that it is NOT mentioned on the website :confused:

BTW: the color corrector of module 2 is the main reason why I ordered the “rest of modules bundle”.

Cheers

#14

Yeah, it’s a bit crap, all I could find on the Eyeon website was vague descriptions as to what’s inside each module, no specific list. However there could well be one but their site is very hard to navigate. :frowning:

I forgot to mention btw, your work is fantastic, I’m a big fan of your style Comanche.

#15

I’m embarrassed - thanks a lot.

#16

Originally posted by Mattoo
… as I just found out that I can’t supply a seperate image for Z-depth information in the Depth Blur tool in DFX - it needs to be in the original image (ie. RLA, RPF)… which is shit.

That’s not true. If you want to use the Depth Blur tool, all you have to do is copy the luminance of the depth image to the Z buffer of your RGB image via a Channel Boolean tool. The output of the Channel Boolean results in the original image with a Z buffer included.

#17

Aaah, ok, I hadn’t really got that far. I had a quick look at the Boolean channel tool and it scared me so I closed it doen before it made any nasty faces at me.

I’ll take another look.

Cheers!

#18

Hey Comanche,

Can you use that defocus tool with a z-depth buffer in DFX+?

Thanks,

Jeff

#19

Originally posted by Jeff Lew
Can you use that defocus tool with a z-depth buffer in DFX+?

Not directly (there’s no z-depth support in th defocus tool), that’s why I’m interested in the Lenscare plugin :slight_smile:

But have a look at this thread: http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=83440 It might be possible with that workaround (haven’t tried for myself yet).

Cheers,
Andreas

#20

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