blur based on mask

aldred wrote on 6/10/2003, 10:07 AM

Hi
I have a sequence of rendered images and corresponding z-buffer images that I'd like to use as masks to create a kind of depth of field effect in Vegas. Is this possible? To mask one of the blur filters with the z-buffer images and have the background more blurred?
Thanks
Mark

Comments

SonyDennis wrote on 6/11/2003, 10:31 PM

Mark:

You could use the grayscale image as a mask to key the blurred image over the non-blurred image (or vice versa, depending on the z-to-gray correspondence), but that's not really a variable blur based on grayscale. You could do a few layers (no blur, some blur, full blur) that get blended together, which would be closer. Sounds like an excellent oppurtunity for a parent track compositing plug-in (like displacement map and height map).

///d@

aldred wrote on 6/12/2003, 5:43 AM

Yes, PLEASE someone make it.
I work in CG usually making the raw animated data, but I had to do some compositing a month or two ago and was looking around at software. I tried Combustion, as it had just fallen dramatically in price, and of course it's an incredible piece of software. BUT as soon as I started up Vegas and got used to the real-time preview there was no going back, especially when the update allowing hi-res output was released. Now I do post production in Vegas and am very happy with it. Sometimes though, stuff comes along that's impossible, stuff like defining a greyscale image as a mask for effects for a single track. So if anyone does have the know-how to start creating plugins that bring Vegas closer to compositing software, please get stuck in.
Mark

sdmoore wrote on 6/12/2003, 7:51 AM

Oooh! Well, I might have a go.

Scott

aldred wrote on 6/12/2003, 9:04 AM

Go on. I selflessly dare you then (and could you please put in a function where you can choose a grey value to define the 'focus point'?).
Mark

sdmoore wrote on 6/12/2003, 9:31 AM

Ok then. I'll see what I can do.

aldred wrote on 6/12/2003, 10:17 AM

Excellent! Please mail me if you get somewhere - aldred@digikoku.com.
Thanks
Mark

philfort wrote on 6/12/2003, 11:14 AM

Have you tried SonicDennis's suggestion? It might work well enough for you... I did something similar in VV3 that I guess would now (in VV4) be served by the displacement map plugin.

I wanted to have a "predator"-style effect with a camouflaged object that passes over the scene, slightly distorting the imagery. I just made a copy of the imagert on another track, shifted it over and down by a small amount, and used the "object passing through" video as a mask to determine the opacity of the shifted track. I thought I would end up needing several tracks with the imagery shifted different amounts, but in the end, just one looked pretty realistic.

aldred wrote on 6/12/2003, 9:39 PM

What a great idea. Much easier than doing it all in 3D. I was looking at the composite plugins after SonicDennis mentioned them in this thread and wondering how I could use them. I'm sure there are a lot of ways vegas could be used to compliment CG output. Can anybody else think of anything?
Mark