Depth map support

[AndrewJJP]

Hi there,

I use 3D software that produces a depth map. This is a greyscale image that in Photoshop, you can pass to the lens blur filter and the level of blur is controlled by the map.

Basically, the image is darker where objects are closer to the camera. According to the tutorial, "Now it is a simple matter of using the image as a depth map for Photoshop’s Lens blur filter."

I cannot see anything like this in Affinity. The closest I can see is the depth of field blur, but that's quite primitive.

The best I came up with was...

1.  Blur the image uniformly
2.  Use the depth map as a mask to blend in the blurred image.

It doesn't produce realistic results. I would imagine that's because the level of blur is constant, and blending in a constant blur is not the same thing as varying the level of blur.

What's important is controlling the level of blur using a "Depth Map" and that doesn't appear to be a supported feature as far as I can see.

Is this feature available and I'm just not seeing it, or is there a better workaround that I could use, or maybe even a third-party plugin?

Thanks very much.

Edited July 4, 2021 by AndrewJJP

[thomaso]

Hi AndrewJJP,
Welcome the the Affinity Forums!

How about this: A blur live filter + a mask (e.g. your depths grayscale) + (optionally) refined blend range of the mask curve.

Is there a compelling reason that forced you to choose such a sexist motif - or are you limited in your view of people?

EDIT: A masked filter doesn't work this way. See below.

Edited July 4, 2021 by thomaso

[AndrewJJP]

Thanks Thomas

I think that's very similar to what I was doing, although you added the curves so I will give it a try. If I understand correctly, it will still blend in a uniform blur rather than apply depth-dependent blur, but it's the result that counts in the end of course.

The compelling reason is that that's the tutorial I was following. It's gone now. I'd hate to think I upset anyone. I have just had a hunt around and I have failed to find a better example.

Edited July 4, 2021 by AndrewJJP

[firstdefence]

@AndrewJJPWhich 3D app is it?

[iconoclast]

 

Hi, I'm not a 3D-Modeller, so I can't garantue to be helpfull, but possibly the free G'MIC plugin may help you. There is a filter called "Depth Map Construction" in the category "Stereoscopic 3D".

Maybe even this older thread may help you:

 

[AndrewJJP]

13 minutes ago, firstdefence said:

@AndrewJJPWhich 3D app is it?

Hi @firstdefence

I'm using Daz3d.

[AndrewJJP]

43 minutes ago, iconoclast said:

 

Hi, I'm not a 3D-Modeller, so I can't garantue to be helpfull, but possibly the free G'MIC plugin may help you. There is a filter called "Depth Map Construction" in the category "Stereoscopic 3D".

Maybe even this older thread may help you:

 

Thanks so much for your help, I took a good look at both suggestions, hence the slight delay in replying.

Unfortunately, I think the plug in may be something slightly different, more to do with extracting depth information from an image to make something that you'd look at with 3D glasses (or that was my understanding).

The forum thread is the workaround I came up with as a workaround but unfortunately, it's not doing quite the same thing as the Photoshop blur is doing.

Thanks so much for replying, I really do appreciate it.

Edited July 4, 2021 by AndrewJJP

[thomaso]

2 hours ago, thomaso said:

How about this: A blur live filter + a mask (e.g. your depths grayscale) + (optionally) refined blend range of the mask curve.

Sorry, I just tried this idea and it appears a filter mask does not work to set the intensity of the filter but its opacity only. This makes gray parts in the mask rather result visually in a blurred, transparent copy of the image on the non-blurred original.

This feels like a bug to me. Can someone shed some light on my (mis-)understanding?

A blur filter mask with a gradient from black to white shows sharpness behind a blurred overlay:

[AndrewJJP]

25 minutes ago, thomaso said:

Sorry, I just tried this idea and it appears a filter mask does not work to set the intensity of the filter but its opacity only. This makes gray parts in the mask rather result visually in a blurred, transparent copy of the image on the non-blurred original.

This feels like a bug to me. Can someone shed some light on my (mis-)understanding?

A blur filter mask with a gradient from black to white shows sharpness behind a blurred overlay:

Thanks for trying it Thomas. That's quite similar to the result I saw. I thought that was behaving as expected (setting the opacity rather than the intensity), but maybe it's not? I'd also be very interested to know if it's actually a bug might could be fixed one day.

[Dan C]

 Hi @AndrewJJP,

Welcome to the Affinity Forums

I can confirm we've received your email regarding the same questions and we'll continue to support you there!

On 7/4/2021 at 12:38 PM, thomaso said:

Is there a compelling reason that forced you to choose such a sexist motif - or are you limited in your view of people?

I can see the image that the OP originally included and has since removed - this is the same example image used in the website linked, which was the tutorial the user was following when Photoshop is discussed (https://nabesaka.com/using-iray-canvas-for-depth-of-field-in-daz-studio-3d/).

We sincerely appreciate the help and assistance you provide, both here and in other threads, but please be mindful of the language used - especially to new users as this could easily be construed as a "personal criticism or attack" - however I also understand you wanting to keep the forums a clean and respectful place.

On 7/4/2021 at 3:21 PM, thomaso said:

This feels like a bug to me. Can someone shed some light on my (mis-)understanding?

A blur filter mask with a gradient from black to white shows sharpness behind a blurred overlay:

As I understand it, this is simply how the Gaussian Blur is applied to the image. I created a test document with gaussian blur applied to the full image and exported this to JPEG, I then added a Gradient Mask to the Gaussian Blur layer and exported to JPEG once again. In a new document, I opened both images and aligned them, then changed the top layer to the Difference blend mode. This shows the area where the changes begin, which match exactly with the mask applied to the adjustment and therefore I do not see a bug here - unless I've missed something in your report!

[MEB]

Hi @AndrewJJP,
Affinity Photo doesn't have support for depth maps with (lens) blur filters, sorry.

[PixelPest]

2 hours ago, Dan C said:

As I understand it, this is simply how the Gaussian Blur is applied to the image.

Depth maps are usually stored in 16bit exr or hdr files. I attached one for you to poke around.

DepthMap.exr

[Tim Parsons]

On 7/6/2021 at 9:37 AM, MEB said:

Hi @AndrewJJP,
Affinity Photo doesn't have support for depth maps with (lens) blur filters, sorry.

When will it?