[Half Life]

Once you edit your focal length to be something like 35mm in SU, from then on it should display in mm. Are you saying that isn't the case?

-Brodie

No, I think he's trying not to lose his camera position/view.

Best,
Jason.

[Half Life]

If you just want the answer without doing any math you can use this Dynamic Component I made for calculating... make sure to bring it in as a component rather than opening it.

AOV calculator.zip

Best,
Jason.

[JDHill]

Try dropping this into the Ruby Console

Code: Select all

Sketchup.send_action(10624)

I have to say, you're on your own if you use this (it is undocumented, and afaik, Windows-only). If he just wants to know the focal length, here is the code to get it:

Code: Select all

Sketchup.active_model.active_view.camera.focal_length

[JPMays]

Brodie, it is true that inputting in mm will change my view accordingly. However, I was simply trying to determine what my current FL is (not change it). [edit: thanks JD for that code. Just what I was looking for].

What FL would you recommend for a shot like this?

[ETA again: FL currently at ~43.5 according to JD's code.]

[Half Life]

The reason I created the calculator in the first place was to know what the "normal" focal length (and the 35mm equivalent) was for any given aspect ratio -- because IMO it's best to stay in that range.

But more than that there is the issue of vignetting (darkening around the edges) which comes on stronger at small focal lengths.

Best,
Jason.

[rusteberg]

It's just a matter of balancing out your light. Here's some quick examples (Screen shots/setups are shown in Max, but you should get the just of it)

Daylight:

Here's the physical sky setup:



Here's the emitters (lights) placed in the scene:



Here's the render with iso settings and what not to show how light is balanced:



as well as some different versions:



IBL (Image Based Lighting):

Here's the IBL setup:



Here's the render with iso settings and what not to show how light is balanced:



as well as some different versions:



hope this helps!

[JPMays]

That was super helpful, thanks! How long did it take you to do that?

[rusteberg]

glad it helped.... it took less time to do that than it did trying to confuse you with words... less talk, more do....