An Alternative to Depth Of Field
By Marco Buccci
There are many people out there who want to
make good images which involve focal blur (depth of field), yet don't have the computer
power, or the knowledge on how to do it correctly. This tutorial is designed to introduce
to you an ALTERNATIVE to the trueSpace built-in option "depth of field".
The method which you will read about here has the following advatages:
- Reduces render time
- Reduces total number
of polygons but keeps all detail
- Increases realism
- Gives you control
over size/placement of the blurred background
- No need for
trueSpace to go through all those time-consuming multiple renderings
There you see a completed scene
using this method of focal blur. (click on the image to see a larger version.) The steps
to get to the finished scene are not difficult to follow. Here's how I did it...
1.) Model your entire background image
in trueSpace. In this case, I used an old scene which I made a few months back.
2.) Render your image to file and take
it into any paint program. I used photoshop. (so I'll base the next few steps on photoshop
rather than other programs like Paint Shop Pro, etc.)
3.) Once in Photoshop, load your newly
rendered image.
4.) Go to Filter --> Blur -->
Gaussian Blur
5.) Use any value you would like, but
remember, don't make it TOO blurred! I recommend a value between 18 -25
6.) Save your image in photoshop as a
.tga or .jpg file, and open trueSpace
7.) Create a plane, and map your saved,
blurred image onto the plane (USE FLAT SHADING, NOT PHONG!!)
8.) Scale your plane to appropriate
size, and move it to wherever you want your background to be
9.) Then simply put your foreground
objects into the scene, and place all your lights and cameras and then render the scene! I
think you'll be pleased with the results.
To any great way of doing things,
there is ALWAYS a downfall. The downfall to this method is that it is not
animation-compatible. Sorry to all you animators. But you'll find that for stills, it
works magic. Thanks for reading! If you would like to send me a death threat: |
