Measuring Camera Distances in A:M

[Laconic]

Hello,

 

I'm experimenting with depth of field in my animation. The problem I'm having is that I can't figure out how to actually determine distances within the program. My settings are in centimeters (cm), but I can't accurately determine lengths so that I can have the proper objects in focus.

 

Are there ways of measuring how far an object is from the camera, or is using the side 'rulers' the best way?

 

Any tips are greatly appreciated....

 

Cheers,

 

Tim

[MMZ_TimeLord]

When you turn on the 'depth of field' option just change to the 'top' view and look at your camera 'cone', you will see three planes in that cone now that are the three settings for 'depth of field'.

 

Simply grab the center frame and drag it to where you want your focus to be. Likewise, drag the farthest plane (far focus) which is where you want things to start to blur behind your primary focus. And the same for the near plane (near focus), which is where you want things in the forground to begin to blur in front of your primary focus.

 

Here's what I'm talking about...

 

[attachmentid=16671]

 

You may have to play with the location of these planes to get the effect you want.

 

Somewhere on these forums is a short demonstration/tutorial on Depth of Field... I just can't seem to locate it.

 

Hope that helps.

[Rodney]

(What the TimeLord said)

 

Here is the official (basic) information from the online Technical Reference for those following along:

 

Depth of Field Property

To render your scene using depth of field, turn on the Depth of Field render settings on the camera or in the Options Dialog Rendering tab.

 

Depth of Field manipulators

 

When the Depth of Field property is set to "ON", the camera will display the Depth of Field manipulators when selected. Use the Focus Distance manipulator to set the focal point, and the Near and Far Focus manipulators to set where the out of focus starts.

[MMZ_TimeLord]

Speaking of Depth of Field... looks like there is a bug with the Final Renders in A:M without multipass in V13 Beta 1 AND V12v+.

 

Not sure if this is normal or not... doesn't look right to me.

 

I'm off to A:M Reports it looks like...

[Laconic]

Cool!

 

Thanks! I'll play with the manipulators and see what I get.

 

Cheers,

 

T