Creating DOF with a Depth Pass AOV in Redshift - Cinema 4D

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In this video we'll cover depth passes in Redshift for Cinema 4D and how to use them to create a DOF effect in post.
After you've modeled, animated, and textured your scene it's time to finalize your camera placement and AOVs.
Add a Redshift camera tag to your camera.
Make sure the focus of the camera is correct. In my scene I have a null placed where I want my camera to focus. Also, pay attention to the focal length of the camera. A lower camera focal length results in a wider shot with less depth of field while a tight or long lens with a higher camera focal length creates a stronger DOF effect.
Add a depth pass to the AOV manager, adjust it to normalized Z depth. Double check it in the render view using the bucket mode.
Open your render settings and set a destination for your render to save at. Make sure you are rendering OpenEXR, check multilayer EXR to ensure your aov and beauty pass are contained in the same file.
For more details check out the Redshift documentation.
docs.redshift3d.com/display/R...

[@kickheavy8982]

Extremely clutch tutorial! Straight forward right to the money. Thanks. Now I'm exporting depth passes like a maniac just because i can now.

[@the-astropath]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ahmedsheeraz]

great info indeed. thanks for your time

[@bm6298]

brilliant - thank you!

[@mikethehappybear]

Man, you are a savior!

[@RoloBcrra]

thanks for this, very useful.

[@guckmyman]

Awesome dude! just found your channel, straight to the point! :)

[@stupidusernameize]

Really helpful video. Thanks.

[@jonyconde]

Nice one! thanks.

[@andygagarin3725]

thanks man!

[@ssojyeti2]

dope

[@andrearusky]

To have a better result with the depth pass, in the AOV settings, you should change the Filter Type from Full to Center Sample (that way it will not use anti-aliasing on the depth pass.

[@the-astropath]

I'll have to check that out - this video feels a little dated now. I need to refresh the DOF and motion vector videos.

[@Yatidesigns]

Thank you!!!

[@guckmyman]

thanks dude, was searching for that option :)

[@Buklen]

Could you please add a link to the plugin, cheers.

[@juliuscagara]

Where is the link for the third party blur? Great tutorial btw :)

[@cretivno]

hi, any idea why am i getting grayscale comp in after effects when i have all my redshift shaders in cinema viewport?

[@henkiepenkie3372]

While my Redshift RenderView works fine with the depth pass, my eventual render result is just black and white and seems to have little to no difference in shades. Can somebody help?

[@8KGHOST]

For whatever reason when I'm in Redshift it doesn't show the Multipass tab in my Render Settings ..... can't seem to figure out why lol

[@benjaminmarkus3290]

So, please correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I can tell this shouldn't work with any DOF plugin for AE if using Redshift Z-depth passes. The reason is that Redshift seems to render Z-depth with anti-aliasing, so the edges of objects always have slightly different values. I don't know how you got your edges looking so nice in that video, because no matter what project I've ever tried using the FL DOF plugin on or the AE camera lens blur plugin on the edges always look like garbage and inverting the map does not help. And, yes I'm getting nicely contrasted Z passes out of Redshift, so that's not the issue. The guys at GSG seem to have found a solution using the C4D physical renderer to spit out a world position pass, and they isolate the blue channel which contains z depth information. This pass has no anti-aliasing on the objects making it treat the edges properly at least in FL DOF. AE camera lens blur still doesn't look great though in any case. However, there are better options to do this using Nuke, especially with the Peregrine Labs Bokeh plugin, but I think the built in options also work okay depending on where you get your z pass. Anyway, the Physical renderer option could work, but it's annoying to have to use it for this, and it seems like it should work natively in Redshift, so I'm gonna post on the Redshift forums to see if there's a way to get a z-depth pass without anti-aliasing. I'm surprised no one else who commented here is experiencing this issue, so maybe it's just me. But, if you are I'd be curious if you've found a solution or workaround. Most studios don't have Nuke and it's not always possible to take the time to render the world position pass.

[@the-astropath]

Hey Benjamin, I've experienced a similar issue before but it's been awhile. I don't have an answer for you at the moment other than what's in this video but I'll think about it and see if I come up with a solution.

[@benjaminmarkus3290]

@@the-astropath I just went ahead and rendered Motion Vectors and World Position from Physical. It's actually surprisingly fast - about 45 minutes for a 288 frame sequence. I think this is Redshift's bad. They should have a clear option to render all these utility passes with or without anti-aliasing depending on which compositing package you need to use. Anyway I'm gonna continue doing it the GSG method for now, but meanwhile I'm gonna post on the Redshift forums and complain. My experience is that they've been really helpful and quick to respond, so hopefully they do something about it.

[@benjaminmarkus3290]

@@the-astropath Here's a link to that other method BTW kzbin.info/www/bejne/npbNapqJpb1-p7M

[@photoindra]

I has same problem. Solution is in the official manual of Redshift. In Zdepth pass settings set filter to center sample. Here is what they tell in manual: Due to effects like antialiasing, depth of field, and motion blur, Redshift has to generate multiple samples per pixels ('subsamples'). The filter option allows the user to define how these sub-samples are combined to generate the final per-pixel depth. The 'full' filter option will average the depths together for the pixel using the same filter used for unified sampling. The 'min depth' option returns the depth of the closest-to-the-camera pixel sub-sample. The 'max depth' returns the farthest-from-the-camera depth. The 'center sample' option picks the depth from the middle of the pixel using a single sample. Choosing the correct filter option depends on how you plan on using the Depth AOV. If you need antialiased results, you should select 'full' filtering. If, on the other hand, you need non-antialiased results the 'center sample' option will provide the best results.

[@andrearusky]

About the anti-aliasing of the depth pass, you need to go the AOV settings, and in the Filter Type, change it from "Full" (the default) to "Center Sample". That's what I've been told to use for better results (aka, no anti-aliasing)

[@sabariramiro2683]

How do you get the foreground blur when selecting an object behind?? I'm not getting any blur in the foreground

[@the-astropath]

Are you using the Frischluft DOF plugin? Make sure you have your depth pass selected in the plugin. Hard to troubleshoot without more information.

[@sabariramiro2683]

Thanks for replying and yes i'm using the FL DOF plugin with the depth.alpha layer linked to the depth layer. Still i'm getting the blur only behind the focus point

[@TaylorKenny]

@@sabariramiro2683 What does you depth pass look like? Is there a difference in the grey value of your focal point vs. the foreground? You may want to go back to C4D and adjust your focal length or focal point of the camera.

[@squaretomato]

Thank you for this excellent video. But this workflow seems incredibly complicated, compared to a C4D physical render with DOF. I can't believe there's not an easier way to render Redshift DOF without going into AE. Am I the only one feeling exasperated?

[@weclome]

You assumed wrong. Exporting dof straight from RS is possible. This method is for the peeps who like flexibility in post.

[@squaretomato]

@@weclome Ah, thanks for clarifying. Good to know both of these points.

[@Buklen]

great tutorial. But the depth pass doesn't not change based on my focal point

[@the-astropath]

Yup I learned about this after I made this video unfortunately. I suggest checking out WorkbenchTVs Channel he's got a tutorial on RS Depth passes and how to correct for this.

[@Buklen]

@@the-astropath Thanks for your speedy reply :) I came up with a work around by creating a near and a far depth pass in redshift and using add blending mode to composite them together

[@Buklen]

@@the-astropath Also found out when using FL depth of feild it's best to set the redshift depth minimum to 0 and the max to just past my most distance object. as I can choose the focal point in the plugin.

[@dmitryflow7948]

Whats the full name of first DOF AE effect? I cant find it

[@the-astropath]

Camera Lens Blur

[@dmitryflow7948]

@@the-astropath Another one, i cant find where I can buy/download it

[@the-astropath]

@@dmitryflow7948 Camera Lens Blur comes with AE. Frischluft is a plugin you'll need to buy for AE.

[@dmitryflow7948]

@@the-astropath Thanks alot!