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thanks

Focal point of a camera? A parabola? In Studio? Give us a better hint of what exactly you are trying to do.

well i'm trying to focus on a subject so that the background is out of focus. I've set the camera with a large apeture and all I need is a way of defining where the camera focuses (like a graphical focus plane in the viewport for example).

Maybe this help you
http://think.maxwellrender.com/dof_cue_tool-111.html

Cheers
JC

im using the wrong terminology. What I need to do is have a way of defining my focal point. Surely theres a way of doing this with a plane rather then trial and error apeture/shutter speed adjsutment?

I cant use the camera target bacuse the subject is off-centre.

forgive my ignrnace but I just dont understand this 'tutorial' Am I meant to approximate the 3 values shutter speed/apeture and focal distance from this flash file? In photography I'm sure shutter speed is irrelevant to DOF. DOF is derived from your 'focus plane' and apeture. Am I missing something?

Hopefully the images below clarify what I'm trying to say.

Im still concerned about the various controls governing the camera. I.E the relationship between the 'use target distance', the manual focus distance, the FStop etc. do maxwell controls override max camera controls or are both used. why is this not clear?

The camera target is the focal distance of the camera so you can place it at the same distance as your subject is from the camera. The target doesn't necessarily have to be in the same location as the object, just the same distance from the camera.

...looks promising!!

You can use the manual focus distance in this case, which are shown in your scene unit settings (I'm almost sure that's the case). It would be much easier to visualize though if you switch the camera to a Target camera. I don't know if it's possible for the plugin to add those visual cues.

and the relationship between the max camera FOV contriols and the Maxwell controls? It seems I have to select 'use target distance' under the max controls before it works. Also I cant get the manual distance to work at all!

I forgot about the Free Camera! I never use it, always the Target Camera. It's much easier to control.