DOF setting

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  • Hi to the DEVs team!


    I found a little thing puzzling: when we now try to set DOF, we have sort of a "plane" going nearer/further; instead, the focal field should be individuated between TWO planes. The greater the DOF value, the wider the distance between the two planes (so, the more objects in focus). At the moment, to me is nearly impossible to control the objects which have to be in focus and those which I want to be out of focus, maybe a little more control over this could be of help to many.

  • Hi to the DEVs team!


    ... instead, the focal field should be individuated between TWO planes...

    ... which is a good suggestion from my point of view also.
    One approach could be to click on a target point or area which should be in focus within the render preview window from which the blur increases in both directions...

    Edit 2019_12_03: the idea with the target point is not mine ;) - I've been using exactly this convenient feature for years within Artlantis Render

  • Hi to the DEVs team!


    I found a little thing puzzling: when we now try to set DOF, we have sort of a "plane" going nearer/further; instead, the focal field should be individuated between TWO planes. The greater the DOF value, the wider the distance between the two planes (so, the more objects in focus). At the moment, to me is nearly impossible to control the objects which have to be in focus and those which I want to be out of focus, maybe a little more control over this could be of help to many.

    I agree! I think I even asked the exact same thing a long time ago ? I know this is not how a camera works, but It would make the tool SO much easier to use. It is, as you said, almost impossible to keep an object in focus, even with the dof slider almost all the way down...

    • Official Post

    Thank you all for your feedback! Two upvotes have been placed on the subject Depth of Field - Focus Range. (Yeah Herbo, you voted last year already.)

    As always, feel free to share any further opinions!

  • EGIE I like your graphic with the idea of a focus point target. I remember using Thomthom's set focus point plugin before V-Ray built it into their plugin to set the focal distance. Would be nice to have something simple like that built into Enscape. So give me +1 on "set focal distance" capability.

    • Official Post

    Plus 1 each for andybot and Pixero, thank you very much, Gentlemen.

  • ...Herbo: that's EXACTLY how a camera works! That is why it's unsettling to have a different behaviour for the rendering!

    Attached abstract from "View Camera Technique" by Leslie Stroebel.

    I understand your request, we will discuss that. But your interpretation of the equations is wrong. Just because there are two planes of equal CoC (circle of confusion) in front and behind the focal plane does not mean that they are independent from each other. In fact, they are not. The camera parameters boil down to one degree of freedom that controls the CoC w.r.t the focal plane.


    But anyway, I understand the request. Sometimes it might be useful to bend the laws of physics for artistic freedom. We will discuss that.

  • I never said I want them to be independent one from another :).

    I just said that the DOF parameter should define an interval between two planes, not a single plane. The higher the number of DOF the wider the gap between the two planes.

    The positioning of the center between the two planes should be either defined by the user, or left "automatic" as an option (as it is now, which is cool). This way we can have an actual control over the objects in and out of focus. :)

  • I just said that the DOF parameter should define an interval between two planes,

    That's the DOF amount in Enscape right now. The planes are symmetric around the focal plane.

    The positioning of the center between the two planes should be either defined by the user

    That's the manual focus, which is indicated as a white range at the focal center.

  • ...hmmm...what you say is odd, mostly because you're saying that currently Enscape should behave as I'm expecting, which is actually not happening.

    I'm going to investigate further if I'm doing something wrong! Thanks in the meanwhile for the clarifications!

  • The "drop-off" between sharp and blurred follows the same 'curve' as the DOF amount:

    - The more you have in focus, the slower the drop-off to blurred.

    - The less you have in focus, the quicker the drop-off to blurred.


    What I (we?) would like to be able to have is a 'near' and 'far' DOF (with a measurable "distance from camera" setting): everything between these is sharp and the drop-off follows the same "amount" curve as we have just now.

  • The "drop-off" between sharp and blurred follows the same 'curve' as the DOF amount:

    - The more you have in focus, the slower the drop-off to blurred.

    - The less you have in focus, the quicker the drop-off to blurred.


    What I (we?) would like to be able to have is a 'near' and 'far' DOF (with a measurable "distance from camera" setting): everything between these is sharp and the drop-off follows the same "amount" curve as we have just now.

    As I said, I understood what you want - this is currently not implemented in Enscape. I just tried to explain the current implementation and the posted equation.

  • The "drop-off" between sharp and blurred follows the same 'curve' as the DOF amount:

    - The more you have in focus, the slower the drop-off to blurred.

    - The less you have in focus, the quicker the drop-off to blurred.


    What I (we?) would like to be able to have is a 'near' and 'far' DOF (with a measurable "distance from camera" setting): everything between these is sharp and the drop-off follows the same "amount" curve as we have just now.

    Hate to quibble, but as a photography hobbyist, I like the current implementation showing the plane of focus only, and the DOF amount controlled separately. There is never a sharp cut-off between the in-focus and out of focus areas in real life, so I would much rather know where my focus target point is than an abstracted set of additional planes. As I think about it more - it seems like having two planes would add confusion.

  • The main problem I find is lack of control at closer distances: I want a coffee cup to be in focus and it start to drop off at the edge of the table, but still make out some detail in a picture opposite - this involves a lot of trial and error back and forth - placing the focal point & adjusting the DOF. If there was a way to keep a single plane and say "I want this, this and this in focus" and it worked out the focal point & DOF for you: this would be an excellent solution.


    It would also be nice to fix a focal point to geometry rather than the camera. (Similar to how the 'auto DOF' works, but user controlled.)


    And I still think that having a numerical distance rather than a percentage would be an improvement.