fake DOF

[Oleg K]

That there's a similar plugin "LensCare" by http://www.Frischluft.com , and it's $55 for private use and $111 for professional. It has a bit more functionality, but not very different in the end.

There's another plugin "VaryFocus" by Andromeda, but it works the same way as gradient selection+gaus. blur, which is not what we need.

I still think of making a freeware plugin, and maybe i will add something like a "donate" button

 

[NarrBL]

Oleg, still wish you luck, but confess I thought you were talking about a plugin that helped make the selection as much as one that did the 'bokeh'.

This is admittedly a challenging problem, and probably why it's a pretty dedicatedly commerciall operation that delves into doing it, via your link.

Bokeh itself, qualities of blur, is interesting - and I wonder if you can match the kinds that are most valued with your algorithm? Dpreview forums as a whole are probably a good place to find out what people think that is....çertainly you can also get a lot of feedback

I've just started looking at some of your photos - very interesting to see for distinctions in views, colors, tastes. Thanks for letting us know where to find them.

Regards

And I am very interested indeed cf. other notes whether anyone
takes you up successfully on your challenge, and how long it takes
them to do it. I've done it on simpler pictures just to see how
workable Photoshop (Elements II) can be, but it wasn't exactly fun.

exactly! everybody says they can do it, but nobody chalanged me so far

DOF is so clearly an issue with small-sensor digital cameras that
you would be doing a great service, to degree and range of
situations in which your expression works.

right. i have A40 myself, and DOF is HUGE! everything is in focus,
unless you turn macro mode and go tele.

I don't know if I'd do the plugin as freeware unless you really
want to give it away. A watermarked trial would be fine way to
allow us to see how it works - and then a reasonable price pay.

well, of course, i don't mind making money, but i posted here to
know if somebody would be interested. Not many people so far.

 

[Oleg K]

--That is a very interesting effect, but I do not see it as a depth
of field lookalike. The original image does not even look like a
photo.

My effect works exactly how optics works. It is "blurring" like if the object was partially out of focus.

If you still don't beleive me, take my black image with white lines, and take a photo of it so that one of the half of the image was in focus, and another one is a bit out of focus - it's not hard to do that.

Oleg

 

[Oleg K]

if you're referring to the effect that makes the blurred area look
like a double image this is actually an undesirable effect produced
by lens with poor bokeh. lenses with the best bokeh produce smooth
background. So, if that's your added value I'd say it's not useful.

no, i'm referring to the effect in general, the effect when some parts of the image is out of focus.

 

[Thomas Niemann]

Click on Focus > DOF II.

http://epaperpress.com/psphoto/index.html

--
Thomas Niemann
http://epaperpress.com

 

[Oleg K]

Well, it's old stupid trick with gradient selection + gaus. blur, which DOESN'T WORK. I wrote this like 5-6 times already in the previous posts in this thread.

Click on Focus > DOF II.

http://epaperpress.com/psphoto/index.html

 

[Caunt]

Sorry, I'm confused. I like the idea of a nice plugin (especially free ), but I don't see how this isn't 'ok'. It looks like the same depth of field to me, and the color of the geese is more accurate.

Is this OK?

No, it's not. You did it with gradient slection and gaussian blur.
I asked to imitate the last set of pictures (black bacground, white
lines).

 

[NarrBL]

well, thank you for this link. Also included was a link for another mask selection tool, ; http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=Corel/Products/productInfo&id=1042152786153

It's interesting to look at the results with Oleg's point of view in mind.

For me, particularly the second example (dof2) is more dramatic than feels natural, though it's interesting to consider some of the moves explained to achieve it, like altering the foreground brightness.

I'm interested then, if a truer ray-trace or equivalent defocus will give a nicer effect.

I'm thinking also that recovering naturalism can be much more tricky than we're yet speaking about, given a shot with several evident planes of image like the dof2 example. I guess one could do multiple mask-layers to approximate. Digital photography in the small-lense range surely has its challenges.

Am downloading a trial of the FreshAir (FrishLuft) LensCare defocuser Oleg has mentioned, for experiment - thank you, Oleg, for that too .

Regards

Click on Focus > DOF II.

http://epaperpress.com/psphoto/index.html

--
Thomas Niemann
http://epaperpress.com

 

[NarrBL]

Great, thanks for letting us know, and there's some interesting discussion of how this is different from a simple blur among the examples.

I hope you do try your plugin - at least until I experiment with it, not sure from the examples whether I'm convinced by LensCare either. Again, naturalism is tough, and could be good material in other discussions about what appeals to the eye from favored lenses.

Best and regards

That there's a similar plugin "LensCare" by http://www.Frischluft.com , and
it's $55 for private use and $111 for professional. It has a bit
more functionality, but not very different in the end.

There's another plugin "VaryFocus" by Andromeda, but it works the
same way as gradient selection+gaus. blur, which is not what we
need.

I still think of making a freeware plugin, and maybe i will add
something like a "donate" button

 

[Leftover]

I'm Photoshop user since ver 2.6... and i can tell there's no simple ways to produce such bluring as Olegs plugin does...

Actually i know only one plugin for After Effects which could make high quality DOF effect with z-buffer supplied. So i think it would be really useful plugin for these who going to fake DOF...

P.S.Using gradient as mask for blurred overlay is not same thing. epecially for larger prints.

 

[Oleg K]

I'm not very familiar with masking tools, and i will certainly try this one, and the Extensis' also. In most cases the photoshop brushes are enough to create a good mask (that's what i did with the first example, for instance).

well, thank you for this link. Also included was a link for
another mask selection tool,

; http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=Corel/Products/productInfo&id=1042152786153

It's interesting to look at the results with Oleg's point of view
in mind.

For me, particularly the second example (dof2) is more dramatic
than feels natural, though it's interesting to consider some of the
moves explained to achieve it, like altering the foreground
brightness.

I'm interested then, if a truer ray-trace or equivalent defocus
will give a nicer effect.

I'm thinking also that recovering naturalism can be much more
tricky than we're yet speaking about, given a shot with several
evident planes of image like the dof2 example. I guess one could
do multiple mask-layers to approximate. Digital photography in the
small-lense range surely has its challenges.

Am downloading a trial of the FreshAir (FrishLuft) LensCare
defocuser Oleg has mentioned, for experiment - thank you, Oleg, for
that too .

 

[Oleg K]

the problem is not with this particular image (which still has problems), but with the method itself, which doesn't produce the optical effect we are talking about.

the color - it has nothing to do with the plugin, i changed it later and i was lazy to change it back.

Is this OK?

No, it's not. You did it with gradient slection and gaussian blur.
I asked to imitate the last set of pictures (black bacground, white
lines).

 

[mike savad]

there are many way's to blur. a good sharpener, masker, noise
removal. so far from what i can tell, a masker is the best use for
what you made. i havn't found a good one yet.

nope, there's no masking in my software - you do masking with
photoshop, and then you apply my plugin to the masked area. there
are some very good masking plugins... like Extensis Mask Pro

by the way you mentioned it, it sounded like it knew some how where to blurr it. like a rough outline around the subject. which is why i mentioned masking. i personally can't stand extensis, a pain to use.

---Mike Savad

--
http://www.pbase.com/savad/
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=9050
http://www.artsig.com/go/users/view?id=52

 

[Brian G.]

Hi Oleg,

Although it is not a plugin, a very good way of acheiving realistic DOF effects manually is outlined by Milburn in his book Photoshop 7 Virtual Classroom (pg 100). This method allows for the differntial blurring of user-selected areas to create very natural DOF. Sorry, I have no pictures and do not want to outline his whole method here (it's not hard, but a really complete explanation would be long).

And I'd like to point out that I have no connection whatsoever to Milburn or his book. Just passing along the info.

Regards,
Brian

I'm also not sure if somebody created plugin/software like this, so
if you know something, let me know, plese.

--
Brian
Gallery: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/spiritmist/My%20Web%20Gallery/index.htm

 

[Angel_L]

Hi,

I've been looking for this effect with no results for a long time. Gaussian blur looks definetly fake on a picture. I have tried with photoshop using different layers with different amounts of blur, but it is not worth the result.

I have tried to simulate de doubling effect of the blured part of the image with an squint effect from eye candy 4000 combined with more blur, but again is a pain to work like this.

a (free) plugin able to truly simulate the optic effect (or defect) will be great. If you need help with testing or debuggin please ask.

and thanks for trying !

Angel

 

[MacDigitalist]

a (free) plugin able to truly simulate the optic effect (or defect)
will be great.

-------
Hear, hear.

and thanks for trying !

-------
Yeah. "Go, Oleg, Go"

• McD.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canons G2 & S400 / Canon i950 / 40GB Tripper / Mac OS 9.2.1 / QPict