OpenEXR depth of field problem

[bartgelin]

Hi guys,

 

I'm experiencing an issue with using an exr zdepth channel for DOF. I have tested and can easily use a separately saved png for this, though with the exr, in After Effects, the zdepth info is there but the lens blur does not seem to see it.

 

Any ideas?

[Noise]

Try Pre-composing the Z depth layer and see if it will work using that Pre-composed layer.

[Chris MacDonald]

I've had this problem too. Will be interesting to see if you solve it without third party plugins, I couldn't work it out.

[bartgelin]

Well at least I am not alone in experiencing this. Though I have come to the conclusion that I'll simply stick to what clearly works without issue; that is, a png z pass.

I would however like to find a solution to the original problem, just for the sake of it.

[cg_Butler]

Try following this from 11:30 onwards......

 

Lens Blur

[bartgelin]

I appreciate the reply Andy. However I'm afraid that this doesn't address the issue of the extraction/use of the z from an exr. What I was looking for is a provable saved exr with z from Max and it's incorporation/usage in AE. I can at present actually see the z from the exr in AE, yet using it as a depth map does nothing, although the exact same perceivable z as a png works just fine. Very odd indeed. I have tried this numerous times over the past few years and never have I achieved the result I expect.

[cg_Butler]

If you use the ExtractoR first to extract the Z channels on an exr image doesn't that effectively produce the same thing as a saved png? Put your diffuse render in a new comp and add a lens blur effect. Then choose the Zdepth of the exr that you Extracted the z from in the Blur Map > Layer dropdown list, doesn't that work?

 

I've only just started using AE and trying this on a really low res, non anti-aliased image isn't the best option but it seems to work.....(I think)

 

Or is this what you say you are doing........forgive me if you are!

 

I was following this example........

 

http://ae.tutsplus.com/tutorials/workflow/an-in-depth-look-at-working-with-motion-vectors/

Edited February 27, 2013 by cg_Butler

[bartgelin]

I found out what the issue was. It seems to only work properly if saved through the vray save panel, changing to exr from vrimg of course.

Ah well, problem solved and thanks for your input.

Oddly the regular exr save works just using the G-buffer and extracting in a slightly different way. Just to confuse the issue a bit more

[cg_Butler]

Ah ok. I only save from Vray frame buffer so didn't have that problem i guess. Would you care to share the way you did it differently? I'd be interested to know!

[bartgelin]

I guess it doesn't really matter for a still frame; the main benefit being for animations. The process is to ensure you have a properly set up vray zdepth render element (i.e. adjust the camera environment ranges so you get a better separation of grays), then open the Vray tab in Render Setup panel. Check the box under V-Ray Raw Image File and browse to folder in order to change from the default vrimg output to exr. Job done!

[cg_Butler]

Ah ok. I thought you meant you had a different way in after effects to use it!

 

All cleared up. :-)