For Anime - Defocus
Posted by Marius Oberholster on Friday, August 18, 2017 Under: Tutorials
Hey all!
Finally, after a while, I am able to upload another tutorial for you all to enjoy! I am so thankful to have been blessed and enabled to share this one with you guys!
GOD is so good!
- Why another Defocus node
While Blender already has a defocus node, there are problems with it that I just can't seem to get over. The primary problem is that it blurs the inside of a shape, but not the outside of it when it is out of focus. This is physically incorrect and makes the result hideous (see the end of the video). The only solution was to build a new node using the existing ones in Blender and oh snap was that hard! hahaha.
- Just mask and blur
Unfortunately, it was not this easy. For quick work, this isn't such a big deal, but for the quality I am looking for, this will simply not do. As I demonstrate in the tutorial, the problem isn't with the foreground blurring, but with the background. The background looks like a total mess around the in-focus objects, because in the background, they blur too. This is simply unacceptable and the current defocus node doesn't fix it...
- 2 or 3 layers
I've done many tests with this method, thank GOD, really, and found that 2 layers work the best. It is by far the most stable and give the best result. If you have bigger scenes, it may make more sense, but for the most part, at least in anime, 2 layers will be what you are going for (see the panning up example). 3 layers just feel like too many to be frank...
- The leading
GOD has many ways of leading me, but HIS primary way of teaching me is by means of a word of knowledge. What that means is that the HOLY SPIRIT gives me the information that I need at that time, all at once. For this node, it meant that first I got the insight on how to separate out the different layers and get a clean blur. I then mixed it in a lesser way - like a slide show. Later, GOD showed me that it's not supposed to be like a slide-show fade, but that the blur needs to be dynamic. Needless to say, I had to chuck out the whole thing and build from scratch. The repair method remained (InPaint node), but the mixing method became less about mix nodes and more about blurring as the shift took place.
Initially, of course, this was all done with 3 layers and that is typically what you see so far in Exodus (except for the Moses example, which was the baby of this node, blurring the mask to get Moses fuzzy), because it was good enough, but it wouldn't be forward (don't ask me, because I don't know, haha).
3 Layers proved to be kinda jarring, because the eye didn't really have any indication as to what would be in focus next, because it expects only 2 layers in a way. It expects to have limitless focus potential, but for focus to go from one thing to another - thus two layer views the most comfortably while looking the best and functions the fastest.
- The repair problem
There are still some issues here though. Primarily with the repair. For the initial tests, I kept the camera in the exact same spot and let the focus move through the fence to the buildings. The repair in this case, does not look super good. In fact, it looks pretty horrible, hahaha. I followed the leading GOD gave me to repair it as best possible, but that didn't go into this tutorial, because it's not really needed. It's not how the focus is usually used. If it is used in that way, it won't look horrible, but if you want to, you can simply blur the fixed area over the sharp fixed area by about half and that will give a softer look (like in one of the practical examples).
The biggest thing to remember here is that we're not working with separate objects. We're cutting out existing pieces of a single render layer to make it all work together in a way that it was certainly not considered to function in, haha. This does mean we will not have all the information to create a better effect and have to take the repairs we currently have.
- The best method
Of course, the best method would be to have every object be a separate render layer so you can manually blur them and offset that animation so it rolls forward or backward. Unfortunately, most of the time, this is not practical, so this node will do a good job in these situations and I really do believe it will help you guys immensely!
Finally, after a while, I am able to upload another tutorial for you all to enjoy! I am so thankful to have been blessed and enabled to share this one with you guys!
GOD is so good!
- Why another Defocus node
While Blender already has a defocus node, there are problems with it that I just can't seem to get over. The primary problem is that it blurs the inside of a shape, but not the outside of it when it is out of focus. This is physically incorrect and makes the result hideous (see the end of the video). The only solution was to build a new node using the existing ones in Blender and oh snap was that hard! hahaha.
- Just mask and blur
Unfortunately, it was not this easy. For quick work, this isn't such a big deal, but for the quality I am looking for, this will simply not do. As I demonstrate in the tutorial, the problem isn't with the foreground blurring, but with the background. The background looks like a total mess around the in-focus objects, because in the background, they blur too. This is simply unacceptable and the current defocus node doesn't fix it...
- 2 or 3 layers
I've done many tests with this method, thank GOD, really, and found that 2 layers work the best. It is by far the most stable and give the best result. If you have bigger scenes, it may make more sense, but for the most part, at least in anime, 2 layers will be what you are going for (see the panning up example). 3 layers just feel like too many to be frank...
- The leading
GOD has many ways of leading me, but HIS primary way of teaching me is by means of a word of knowledge. What that means is that the HOLY SPIRIT gives me the information that I need at that time, all at once. For this node, it meant that first I got the insight on how to separate out the different layers and get a clean blur. I then mixed it in a lesser way - like a slide show. Later, GOD showed me that it's not supposed to be like a slide-show fade, but that the blur needs to be dynamic. Needless to say, I had to chuck out the whole thing and build from scratch. The repair method remained (InPaint node), but the mixing method became less about mix nodes and more about blurring as the shift took place.
Initially, of course, this was all done with 3 layers and that is typically what you see so far in Exodus (except for the Moses example, which was the baby of this node, blurring the mask to get Moses fuzzy), because it was good enough, but it wouldn't be forward (don't ask me, because I don't know, haha).
3 Layers proved to be kinda jarring, because the eye didn't really have any indication as to what would be in focus next, because it expects only 2 layers in a way. It expects to have limitless focus potential, but for focus to go from one thing to another - thus two layer views the most comfortably while looking the best and functions the fastest.
- The repair problem
There are still some issues here though. Primarily with the repair. For the initial tests, I kept the camera in the exact same spot and let the focus move through the fence to the buildings. The repair in this case, does not look super good. In fact, it looks pretty horrible, hahaha. I followed the leading GOD gave me to repair it as best possible, but that didn't go into this tutorial, because it's not really needed. It's not how the focus is usually used. If it is used in that way, it won't look horrible, but if you want to, you can simply blur the fixed area over the sharp fixed area by about half and that will give a softer look (like in one of the practical examples).
The biggest thing to remember here is that we're not working with separate objects. We're cutting out existing pieces of a single render layer to make it all work together in a way that it was certainly not considered to function in, haha. This does mean we will not have all the information to create a better effect and have to take the repairs we currently have.
- The best method
Of course, the best method would be to have every object be a separate render layer so you can manually blur them and offset that animation so it rolls forward or backward. Unfortunately, most of the time, this is not practical, so this node will do a good job in these situations and I really do believe it will help you guys immensely!
Biggest thanx to GOD for helping me with this. Without HIM, none of this would be possible! :D
Know JESUS yet?
http://www.crossallegiance.org/knowJesus.html
Have a great one!!!
Thank YOU!!!!!!
Know JESUS yet?
http://www.crossallegiance.org/knowJesus.html
Have a great one!!!
Thank YOU!!!!!!
In : Tutorials
Tags: god jesus holy spirit blender anime defocus progress blur camera moving focus post processing node group node