actually, this is quite easy, with generated media.
Send me a still of the shot, I'll send you back a veg.
If you are trying to change the SIZE and perspective of something farther away, that's a challenge. But to create fog/fuzziness on something in the depth of field, it's very fast and simple. I'llb e showing this at DVExpo tomorrow.

To SPOT: Sorry to butt in (well really no I'm not) with this question, but does the same principle you mention for generated media, also apply to creating a falling snow effect? Is there some way to do that in VV4 other than creating 250 masks of one snowflake moving down?

Hi Spot!
Even though I have your book, like it and use it, I still don't know how to actually make a still to send you. :-(
So you could just send me the -veg and I will figure it out from there - OK?
Where is the DVExpo being held? BTW, I bought your book on Bow and arrow making and have made some Scandinavian bows earlier.

Thanks, Gerrie

Do a search for "snapshot" on this forum. Or look at Issue #5 of my Newsletter

I can't send the veg til I have the stil to see what you are trying to accomplish. It's like saying to shoot the arrow and then we'll determine the target.
To make a snapshot, set your preview window to Best/Full
Click the icon in the preview window that looks like a floppy disk.
Save as a png file.
Email it to me.

Actualy the out of focus effect can be easly done at shuting time. Depend what camera you have. With my JVC I can set to have sharp image in foreground and fuzzy background.. If you have "fish eye" lenses then you can have effect of object being smoler in background and with focus to foreground- the background will be fuzzy. Final touch in Vegas and you are done.

Never mind my above inquiry about whether the "fog" process could be used for a snow effect--did the search I should have done in the first place and found some good references (by Spot, of course) to how it might be done. Just search "snow," duh.

Please read what SPOT had to say carefully!
Serious Sam has a great demo of what graphics cards can do today in real time. The fog and water demos are amazing but there the program is working in 3D so it know the distance from the camera to the subject.

To get convincing looking fog / smoke in post is nigh impossible. Smog and fog has a life of its own, it's like another actor, it clings to things, it moves in air currents. Fog machines are pretty damn cheap and the results are far more convincing. If you need a whole city filled with fog, well depending where you live be patient and wait for mother nature to do its thing.
But even then you need to hone your craft. I'd say even with real fog it'd be hard to shoot so that whats on the tape looks like what your eyes saw.

The other thing I also notice about fog in nature is it has it's own ambience, same goes for snow, you can hear it fall. If you can capture that on camera you're better than I'll ever be so please don't take this as a put down it's just that nothing is more convincing than reality, trying to capture that reality is what we should be aiming for.

Actually that's something I'd love to do, just go out into the deolate reaches of the planet and not just record the images but also the sound, or the lack of it. I'd imagine audio wise I;d be working at the bleeding edge of the technology trying to record sound that is barely audible.

Hi SPOT !
- what is your email address?
Here is the URL to the snapshot in the video: http://www.algonet.se/~gwarner/singer.jpg
- if this would help
TIA! Gerrie

I still am wondering about this effect - SPOT what is you amail address?

much thanks, Gerrie

Garo - checked out your still - it's pretty straight forward -
Spot, could you mount your solution, as described above? I'd be interested to see your take on this.
v.