Zdepth edges problem

#1

Hi, i used to know how to fix this but ive forgotten and i cant find where i read the fix either. Basically im trying to use my zdepth pass but when i apply the lens blur the image blurs but the edges of the objects in the foreground (white areas) stay crisp. I assume this is because of the contrast with the background. How can i fix it?
Thanks
Jack

#2

Does your software include findedges or edgeblur nodes or
effects? Then you should be able to overlay the blurred
edges over your current image.

#3

I Had a moment of madness. Turns out all i needed to do was save out the zdepth pass in a format that supported transparency and the edges blur properly as the background isnt black anymore. Stupid me i had set it to JPG instead of TIFF. Brainfart.

#4

well, from a technical standpoint: zdepth doesnt support transparency. because a pixel can only be in a certain depth or not. this is also the reason why a zdepth channel isnt antialised. the pixel can only belong to 1 object

maybe your JPEG compression changed the information of the zdepth and with a uncompressed tiff everything is ok

#5

I should clarify its not a true zdepth pass its the falloff material technique. The problem was that because i hadn’t used a format that supported transparency the environment background was rendering black meaning there was a harsh contrast between the white foreground and the solid black background.