[pBarrelas]

Ok guys, do you know any tutorial which explains the camera setup? I'm having some problems to maintain a subject in focus or to focus it 'til the infinite.

THX

[Tim Ellis]

iirc it's in the user manual pdf. Scale & focal point need to be considered.

Tim.

[pBarrelas]

Thanks Tim, you mean the PDF Manual for download in the main site?

[Tim Ellis]

Yes, but I can't remember if it's relevant to Maya as well as Max. I don't have Maya, so I didn't download the plugin or any relevant documents.


Tim.

[pBarrelas]

Thanks again Tim, yeah the Manual try to explain what a Maxwell camera can do. It's a litle hard to work with it, since we're used to work with standard 3D cameras.

[Tim Ellis]

From what I have found out through trial and error with 3DSM7, the closer a Maxwell camera is to it's target, with a smaller camera lens, the more focal blur you get. (Using default camera parameters.)

So the further away a camera is and with a higher lens value, you get less focal blur.

Without changing the standard Maxwell camera settings, (appeture, segments of iris, film iso etc) you can quickly set up for lots of focal depth or infinite.

Scale is the most important thing. Say you have several objects, eg cubes, that are 10cm x 10cm x 10cm. These are laid out in a grid 20cm apart from each other.

If you want the forground and background cubes out of focus and the center cubes in focus, you need to add a Maxwell camera say 5-10cm away from the foremost cubes.

Now position the Maxwell target at the center cubes which you want in focus. Change the lens size to increase the viewing area, eg 15mm lens.

In 3DSMax, the Maxwell camera modifier tab tells you the focal distance, which happens to be the same distance between the target and the camera. I'm unsure of the equivalent in Maya.

Do the inverse for infinite focal depth. Move the camera further away from the object and increase the camera lens value.

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Now the following is how it's explained in the manual, so I guess this is the correct method, although I've used my method above so far.

If you want to change the camera parameters but maintain a lens value, here are a few focal settings. (Use the interactive DOF content in the pdf manual to see the results.)

Lens=35mm, Focal distance=2meters, F-Stop=11, Shutter speed=60/s, DOF result=Very distant & sublte beyond camera focal point.

Lens=35mm, Focal distance=2meters, F-Stop=1, Shutter speed=8000/s, DOF result=Very close & heavy and similar beyond camera focal point.

Lens=35mm, Focal distance=13meters, F-Stop=11, Shutter speed=60/s, DOF result=Very distant & sublte beyond camera focal point. Not much between camera & focal point.

Lens=35mm, Focal distance=13meters, F-Stop=1, Shutter speed=8000/s, DOF result=Very close & heavy between focal point & camera and past focal point.

(These results were transcribed from the DOF interactive content in the pdf manual.)

Forgive me if I'm incorrect on any aspect, but I hope it makes sense and helps. I've learnt a bit more in writing this anyway.

Tim.

[pBarrelas]

Hey Tim, thanks a lot for your explanaition. Of course i've learned with it. I have to verify if in Maya i can use your method though!!
Thanks again!!

[Tim Ellis]

You're welcome, let me know how you get on as it might be worth converting it to a tutorial. (All aspects being correct of course.)


Tim.