Hi my name is ... and DOF is killing me.
So this is one of those questions that you're certain there's a simple answer that has inexplicably eluded you for the last week despite countless hours of searching Google, watching YouTube vids, and endless tinkering, I’m at a loss and alas, a newb.
DOF is simply not working. I have it toggled on in the camera parameters and the other place there’s a toggle for it. I’ve diddled with F-Stop, focal distance, and slid just about every slider there is to slide. I’m no stranger to cameras, both still and motion, but all that knowledge combined with all my brand spankin new Daz knowledge has only managed to get me here. I’ll add that it was working when I first started playing around but now, nothin. Can’t get any blur or separation whatsoever. I feel like there’s a master switch somewhere that overrides the settings I’m trying to use, perhaps similar to video editing software that has a toggle for FX so you can edit at a higher framerate when working with them.
I’m not opposed to re-trying or re-checking anything anyone might suggest despite feeling like I’ve tried everything at least five times. I’m at an impasse and a wee bit desperate at this point, a whole lot more I want to do with it but seems a bit pointless as DOF to me is kind of a must-have in making anything that feels real or organic. Beggin, help!!!
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A couple of people, me included, discussed this in this thread
Grrrr ... tried all the suggested, no DOF =/
Appreciate the suggestion though!!!
You are using the camera with DoF enabled to render with?
This question has "win" written all over it.
Indeed, I've scratched cameras and started with a new one a few times already trying to sort this mess out. Wish it was the "win" evilded777 thought it would be! I've been fully prepared to be humbeled by overlooking the obvious since well before I posted this, my ego is a small thing to trade to find a solution at this point! ;)
And you've also selected the camera in the render viewport?
Just to make sure.
Yup, and only have one to simplify things. I can look at it in perspective view and all the markers/planes whatever the term is all seem spot on yet … no blur, zero, zilch, nuttin. And I am in Iray if that’s the next =P
Humour me again... can you please set up a scene like this:
(The only way I found to "ignore" DOF was when "Perspective" was set to "Off")
We have the technology .. maybe! Give me a moment!
Ok, scene created with nothing but built-in DAZ components (a plane, a cube and instances) and one texture file (also attached) You'll need to attach the texture to the plane for 'full effect'
It went to the camara, enabled depth of field to on, set the focal length to 65mm, set the focal distance to 65, and the F/Stop to 36.
So basically the camera is focused directly on the model (or part of the model) in the scene that you had selected when you click on the "View: Frame (LMB) Aim (RMB)". So that is the square with the crosshair in the middle & if frames & focuses to camera on the selected model with LMB. So then if you change the Focal Distance from the usual default of something like 122mm to match the Focal Length the camera will be blurred elsewhere. F/Stop plays a role to and normally it defaults to 22 but you can raise or lower it. Lower values decrease focus & higher decrease focus I think.
To to maximize simplification:
You want background blur:
Camera:
Depth of Field = On
Focal Length (mm) = Focal Distance
and you shouldn't have to change any other camera paramters.
Here's the screencaps and reading the other posts.
Indeed it is.
Focal Length is zoom - on a real camera higher values limit fStop. Focal Distance is the distance at which the camera is fully focussed, it is not related to Focal Distance. fStop is the width of the in-focus area; lower values narrow it, higher values broaden it.
That's good news, then. At least, DOF is working in your system.
I've tried to reconstruct the distances from your setting, but the focal point seems to place my character much further in the back than it does with the character in your image.
For the one I posted I ran the camera in a bit and brought up the back light to try to better illustrate the point that both she and the background were in focus. Here’s a side view with all the settings as they are currently set, which I’m spinning in circles and at a point of diminishing returns so it may be even worse then when I started this thread. Regardless, she and background are still in focus =/
This is THE best video I've found on DoF.
pssst, pssst, hey you... over here... I know of someone who knows someone who wrote a free script that magically does DOF. I can tell you where it is.
lol
It is a thing and I found it on sharecg basically you create a node and place it where you want your camera focus to be, and then you switch to any of your camera's and then run the script and it will set the DOF to focus on the node which is great. It is called *drumroll* "Set Focal Distance".
ez pz
That sounds like the opening to a good joke, "A plane, a cube and an instance all walk into a bar" badum dum...
As I thought... you focal distance and fstop are what is causing this.
If I use your precise camera settings and pose the first figure where you have posed yours, my background is not blurred in render:
That is because your focal point is way behind your character, but the character itself is still on the edge of the focal sharpness section, so it is sharp, too.
With your scene and camera position unchanged, try these settings below for a start (changed focal point, changed fstop value), and then work your way from there by slowly increasing fstop:
Keeping my fingers crossed that it will work!
What is the link, please?
Har! Har! Har!
*Coughcough* Don't mind me, just the heat frying my brain....
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/43636/set-focal-distance-script#latest
Ok, that's ggod - now, what is different in that scene to the ones you have wheer DoF does not seem to be working?
The focal distance is set too high (see my above recreation of the scene using the original values). My test scene behaved exactly like his scene did - seemingly no DOF effect.
Someone posted it, I had a msg in my inbox today and I shared it with someone thought it was you, but good you have it. I like the script its simple and does the trick when I cannot manage it.
Actually, if you're doing iRay, just put the two panes super close to each other. some of the parts you want sharp should be outside of the frames.
I had tried the aforementioned script a good while before posting here to no avail. Glad it works for some, my case is … awkward.
BeeMKay, tried your specific settings and there was no change … at first … and then I ticked or unticked something under Scene View and out of the corner of my eye Viewport went dark and started redrawing and then it was there, like magic, could have cried with joy. I tried playing with all the various settings on that tab to try to identify what setting may have been a potential issue but think it was just refreshing and not a result of whatever clicking I had done. So, it was great … until … it stopped working, I had made no change to the camera and now at other times it sorta seems like it might be there but the blur is subtle and I’m tempted to think that it’s not DoF at all but just bloom from all the various lights in the scene. When it first worked, it was frikkin great. But for some inexplicable reason, at least in this scene, it’s fussy and mind numbingly unpredictable.
Totally apprecaite all the help and advice, sorry I couldn't report back with a "Yippie!" ... and I reserve that word for only the most special of occasions.
Did you click on the little eye symbol in front of the camera? And I just realized that the FOV LENGTH (a bit further up in your settings, under FOV Opacity) should be 5.0 not 5.47, can you please chech that, and then try to move things again? Thank you and sorry.
And switch of any fx filters like Bloom, for the moment.
If by eye symbol you’re referring to in the scene tab then yes, the eye is on, open, enabled, pick the version that’s Daz appropriate. Did as you asked and still, or again, zero blur/Dof =/
… oh so very very frustrating.
Good. :-)
And that is weird, really. As the DOF works on your system, so reinstalling them would not help.
The focal point might still be too far away. Can you bring that closer to the camera? At some point, something should change in the blur.
EDIT: I'd ask you to share an abbreved version of the scene (just the camera and a stand-in-figure exactly at the spot where your figure is), would that be possible?