Does the filmback have any effect on the resolution of the image? I read in a couple of forums which states that the images needs to be rendered at 180 per inch (300 is preferable). And that A4 landscape should typically be rendered at 3508 x 2480 pixels, A3 landscape should be rendered at 4962 x 3508 pixels. As I normally work in metric scale.
Besides for aspect ratio, filmback (film size) does not affect resolution. Do not be confused by dpi; if you need an image 3508 x 2480, then that is what you need -- its "size" in inches or millimeters depend on how many pixels per inch/mm you print.
1. Is there a formula which you can refer me to so that the image does not look stretched and blurred when it is being printed or merged with another high resolution photograph? How do I render to a resolution of 300 pixel/inch or 150 pixel/inch on say a custom format of 800mm x 1600mm, or a typical A2(841 x 594mm)?
As above, do not get confused about dpi. If you are using 300dpi and you need an image 5" wide, you need (5 inches X 300 pixels per inch) = 1500 px output resolution.
2. What is the relationship between roll angle and target distance? I read somewhere in the manual which refers to the two as integral to establish Depth of Field as the background would be blurred. Is there a way to set that the focus to infinite? Like in real world photography, it is possible to set the focus to infinite so that everything appears clear and none of the image appear out-of-focus?
Focus of a camera is dependent upon both upon its focal point, and its fStop. A (numerically) low fStop means a large aperture; a large aperture reduces the camera's depth of field, which is the distance between the nearest and furthest points from the camera at which objects will appear in focus. The reason for this is that a wider aperture allows light to enter the camera from a wider range of angles. Infinite focus does not mean that all objects are in focus; there is no way around the physical limitations of camera lenses, and infinite focus just means that given your focal length and aperture, objects you are interesting in capturing are coming into the camera along basically parallel rays. The upshot is, to increase the depth of field, 1) shoot with a smaller aperture (higher f-number), and 2) shoot with a shorter lens. If you are trying to match an existing photo, you cannot use the second, so you need to play with the fStop. More information on depth of field can be found
here.
3. I have noticed that there are a few camera presets sensors that are available. EX: Nikon, Canon, Fujifilm, Kodak, etc. Take for instance the Canon camera which incorporates a point and shoot 2x cropped factor (IXUS 990IS, Powershot G10) , 1.6 cropped factor cameras (500D), mid range cropped factor cameras (50D,60D) , as well as a full frame cameras (5D, 1D). Does the crop factor affect the Focal Length as you would get in real life? For instance, a 10mm FL used on a EOS 500D would in turn be 10mm x 1.6 = FL 16mm / FOV 107.026. Or are they just sensors which varies in terms of its sensitivity to light? It would be great if more explanation about this could be elaborated.
The camera sensor presets, which do not appear in the plugin, are simply presets for camera film sizes. They literally just set the film height and width.
4. Why does the devignetting affect cause the entire scene to become overexposed? I could troubleshoot this by increasing the shutter value or toggling around the apertures. Am I on the right track with this or is there something wrong with the way I set up my scenes?
The
Devignetting feature just provides a way of artificially removing the natural vignetting that occurs as a function of camera focal length and aperture size. You should not use it unless you specifically want to get an image that lacks this aspect of the camera simulation. People generally use this when they want to render something like a 360° panorama, made up of several separately-rendered images. As you can imagine, vignetting can be a problem in such cases.
5. I am still struggling with understanding the function of (sharpness) under tone mapping? What does this value do which affects the rendering?
I realize you posted this before I posted my last answer, but just to reiterate, the Sharpness value only affects the anti-aliasing function. Some reasons for using it are given
here.
6. And of course, there is the whole category under simulens which I completely have no idea what it does. Ex: Aperture Map, Obstacle Map, Diffraction, Frequency and Scattering.
Simulens is a set of post-rendering processes that simulate camera lens effects. For general info on these, please see
here.
Lastly, as I briefly mentioned in my previous post, this forum is intended for questions specific to the Rhino plugin (bugs, questions on plugin-specific features, plugin-specific feature requests, etc), so it is not really the place to get answers on general Maxwell questions. This is both to keep the focus here on the Rhino plugin, and also because it is better if these types of questions and answers are out in the main forum, so that more people will be apt to find them later.
- By Mark Bell
- By Matteo Villa