Is it possible to add shallow-depth in POST

F

falves1

Member
I have some footage that I wish were shot with shallow-depth, but I have no $$ for a 35mm adapter. I have been chasing the dream of adding shallow-depth in Adpbe Premiere, either using After Effects or right in Premiere. I tested Magic Bullet Looks but not even close. Does anybody know how to do this reasonable well in POST? I net that there must be a way.
 
You can rotoscope it in, but it won't look very natural and it will be a LOT of work. I have done it before, and honestly it doesn't look very good.
 
lay a clip over itself on the timeline. blur one of them. apply a gradient mask to the other so the sharp one is revealed gradually through the blurry one. it wont be super lifelike. but its about as real as you can get.
 
How to do that using Premiere CS3

How to do that using Premiere CS3

I am inclined to follow your advice regarding the gradient mask. The question is: can do that in Premiere CS3 or I need Afereffects? Si there any other software that I can buy that may help doing this?
 
Another good cheat is the tilt-shift filter in Magic Bullet Looks. I used it on some DVX footage I shot a few years ago and it looks pretty darned cool.

Won't fool a DP, but has "the look" and is easy to apply.

Dan
 
Is there any other name for Tilt Shift

Is there any other name for Tilt Shift

I installed Magic Bullet looks in Premiere CS3 but I cannot find "tilt shift filter". maybe it has another name? I see 5 sections Subject, Matte, Lens,Camera, Post. Where would it be??
 
How to create a mask manually to apply the effect

How to create a mask manually to apply the effect

In Magic Bullet Looks, how do you create a mask with the mouse, a silluette of the person, to dmemark the limits where you need the blur to be aplied? Is that possible with Premeire CS3 or it requires After Effects? I wish not to buy AE, for it is a lot of $$$$
 
There is a vertical and horizontal adjustment in the control panel for MBL looks along with a other various parameters. When you think about it, you would not want to draw a perfect mask around a subject with a swing-shift lens effect, that's not how the effect works. It gives you a "plane of focus" which you manipulate.

If you want to draw mattes and do a more traditional shallow depth of field, that would be better accomplished in AE with the aforementioned greyscale map and drawing and tracking mattes.

The MBL is a hack and has it's own unique look and feel. It's quick and easy but not THAT adjustable although you can get some pretty cool looks with it as I have discovered.

Dan
 
Don't forget, it's simple to do if you're working with separate elements, like chromakey work. You can also twist around forced perspective to get the results you want. As an example, take a miniature object that you can put in the foreground of shots and you can make it look full-size and out of focus. Just don't move the camera. You can do the same thing with backgrounds, except you'll need a larger-than-life background and a larger distance from subject to background. I'm not suggesting building crazy sets, but if you have a location that works for that, use it. It's cheaper than rotoing focus mattes around everyone.

I think that mapping focus (like in the example) usually looks better if you map to the luma of the blue channel, since you won't get blue in skin and it will stay sharp. It depends on the colors in the shot, though.

Shoot with long lenses and open apertures and you'll be surprised what you can get.

Keeping the background underlit by a 1/2 to 1 stop and minimizing high contrast patterns can help keep it from looking sharp.
 
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