Maya 2011Basic Depth of Field Tutorial by Stuart Christensen

This super simple tutorial about camera Depth of Field (or, DOF) is a general explanation of the depth of field controls for any camera. This video is also a response to many questions I have received about the DOF settings. It is best to create a special "depth of field" camera to control specific parts of your scene if you need to rack focus or create a specific DOF camera effect.This tutorial by Stuart Christensen will introduce you to the "concept" of DOF, and show you some simple controls to create cool DOF renders! In a later tutorial, we will explore some various ways to better control this effect! So for now, just play around with the controls. Enjoy!

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Maya
• 2011
• depth
• of
• field
• DOF
• Stuart
• Christensen
• Tutorial

[ibedraw]

hey is there a way to make paint fx show up with mentalray

[deepfriedectoplasm]

@ibedraw Check out my tutorial called Convert Paint Effects to Strokes for Mental Ray and that should send you on the right path. Hope that helps.

[AssJuicenNowa]

Is there any way to mess with the dof in post...? I've struggled with dof in maya for weeks now, and it really bugs me that I cant figure it out... When I use dof within maya, I get some really jagged edges, almost dissolved edges on my objects... And I've seen a couple of vids here on YT where people say they did all the dof in post... But no one seems to clarify exactly how they did it... :(

[deepfriedectoplasm]

@AssJuicenNowa Yes, DOF is "usually" best done in post (AE or other) and is a rather slippery subject due to so many variables. Don't get frustrated! I've been looking into creating good DOF post tutorial for a general "all purpose" style use, but it's hard to keep is short and simple. For now, just keep trolling the net for info and keep us updated if you find interesting info. And, stay tuned because DE is working on it for future posts! OK, sorry I can't be of more help at the moment!

[joewakerley]

Nice tutorial :)

I need to cut my render times for my animation, but for some shots I do want to use depth of field effects. Using this method, although effective, can take a long time to render. I've tried looking at ways in which to render a z-depth/luminance depth pass and using that in After Effects/Photoshop with some mixed results, I tend to get blurry edges on objects. Any advice from anyone on how to properly use the luminance depth pass would be much appreciated.

[deepfriedectoplasm]

@joewakerley Just a thought....by any chance do you have an ambient light in your scene...because the ambient light does not have a discrete position or rotation, it is nearly impossible for Maya to calculate Z-depth if there is an ambient light in the scene, or if the lighting is mixed, the ambient light causes problems for a Z-depth render pass. Just a thought! Hope that helps. Stu

[corvette274]

2:28 to skip to the tutorial.

[john8w]

I cant find robot rigging tutorial on lester banks

[55566699933]

effective video. straightforward.

[Regna]

You are now my go to person when i cant figure something out, you got everything =) your like a maya guru

[hIROsAKURABA]

Your tutorials are the reason youtube exists

[joewakerley]

@deepfriedectoplasm Thank you, I look forward to your tutorial and update.

I don't have an ambient light, I've tried it several times, both within my animated scenes and some very basic tests with cubes using various types of lighting. Point lights being the most common, although I am using a singular area light for my current work. I may post a series of tests soon, I'll send you the link if I do :) Cheers!