Hi everyone :) I have a two part question. I've been experimenting with building props and characters for a bit and found I've moved everything around so much and spun dials so often that I can't tell what camera is where. Is there a way to take all the cameras back to their default positions fairly easily? I need to get back to where I started from and give this another go.

I've been playing with seedydeedee's tut on depth of field this morning but it was made with Poser Pro - Poser 7 doesn't seem to have the little black targeting thing that lets you figure out exactly where the camera is pointed - either that or I am doing something very wrong. The first render I did came out perfect except for one little bitty issue - the building was perfectly sharp and the character was nicely blurred, lol.

I've looked for tuts on line specifically for Poser 7 and depth of field but I came across old broken links mostly or just vague instructions so any hints, tips or instructions would be great just now.

thanks,

mystmaiden

Thanks so much! Very helpful. I wonder, too, if maybe the other thing I need to do to start back over from scratch is to change the x,y, and z trans on everything in the scene back to 0. That'll be the next thing I try after repositioning the cameras

Yes, you must set each camera individually as Mysticeagle has illustrated.  In P7, your DoF marker is, IIRC, located under display.  Dr. Geep has a tute on how to use it on his site.

http://www.drgeep.com/p6/guides/guides.htm

Keep in mind, using DoF does require using higher pixel sampling for lower F-Stops which will increase your render time significantly.

You can also save your camera settings using the Camera Dots.  Also, there is a handy Depth of Field python script in the Python menu: Windows > Python Scripts > Render/IO > Calc DoF Focal Distance.

Looking through the camera you are going to use, click the object of your focus.  Stewer's script spits out the factor to use.

Nice thread here too: http://market.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2014883

Best Wishes,
Rªnce

Should add, Under Edit menu, General Preferences, you can Launch to factory state.  That would be a good start to using a Camera Dot.  That way you have the default cameras saved in a Dot.

Modify the studio anyway you want, use Edit menu GP, to set your Preferred State, and then Launch to Preferred State.  You can use the UI Dots to save up to nine User Interface settings.  Same with Camera sets.  You can use the Poser Library to save cameras too, and Select Subset to save individual camera settings.

Be Well,

Bill

One other thing to remember when using Depth of Field is to raise Pixel sampling.  And, have patients.  It seriously increases render times.

0¿O
-O-

http://www.ranquist.net/junk2012/AntonAnts.htm

You should I think be able to save a camera pose. It might be a bit tedious to open a new scene , and then save all the cameras to a pose library, but you only have to do it once.

Rance01 - I read through the forum post but honestly, I know nothing about cameras and it was so far over my head. I checked out the ants image. The fog was a very neat effect. How did you do that? My desire to play with dof came along ages back when an amazing image was posted to the gallery, there's fog in it too. (Riders in the Mist by Sabotssnake).

markschum - being able to save camera poses would be great, I'm going to experiment because for me the hardest part of Poser is getting the camera angles just right and keeping them that way.

Attached is my image before any postwork - just slapped some grey in the background. Be honest and say what you think. I'm not sure how effective the dof is in a semi indoor scene really.

Most excellent render.  Very nice.

The ants picture features DoF and Atmosphere Volume: focus_Distance 6.68; Depth Cue Start Dist 6, End Dist 24

The Depth Cue settings make the 'fog'.  The Atmosphere settings are found in the Material Room.  I changed the DepthCue_Color from  black to white and used the above start and end distances.  I'm not sure about Volume_Density, Stepsize and Noise, but I can check if you like ...

I used the same Python script I mentioned above to figure the focus_Distance.  I made certain I was 'looking through' the Main Camera, clicked on the leading ant's head, went to Window, Python Script, Render/IO, Calc DoF Focal Distance.  The script provided a factor to Copy and Paste into the Main Camera focus_Distance Parameter.

The script also provides a starting point for figuring where the Depth Cue should start and stop.  As I said above, I also raised the Pixel sampling AND lowered the Min Shading Rate to values higher and lower than anything I normally use.

Saving cameras shouldn't be a problem for you.  As above, use your Dots or save Cameras directly to the Library. 

The Ants file is on another computer, and I will have to look there to see what Density, Stepsize and Noise I used.  Also, having more that bit of trouble typing right now ....

Thanks for the great reply. I'm sorry I made you type all that. No need to look it up just now - maybe we can revisit it later when I get brave enough to try for some fog! Its a wonderful effect. I'm still playing with my image, not at all sure about the color of the lighting and the dress. I snagged her a new dress texture at daz last night and will re-render it today and see. This is definitely the most complicated render I ever attempted. Couldn't have accomplished it without the help I got right here.

Finding the settings is a snap.  The file is just saved to another computer than I was using this morning.  And it's not your fault I blathered on so much.  Just sometimes the fingers won't follow what the head is telling them to do.  I was having a rough time this morning ...

I posted the full Atmopshere settings on the Ants page - Depth Cue Start Dist 6, End Dist 24, Volume_Density 0.025, _SetSize 0.833333, _Noise 0.

I'm glad to be any help at all.  I've had plenty advice from wiser members of this forum.  It's a pleasure to post.

I think you have a great start to the project you are working on.

Be Well,

Quote - Attached is my image before any postwork - just slapped some grey in the background. Be honest and say what you think. I'm not sure how effective the dof is in a semi indoor scene really.

I love it.  That's very similar to the look I am going for (only more sci-fi).  I don't care if anything I do looks "right" if I think it looks good.