Camera, size and depth of field

The camera

The Pathtracer renders through the Camera COMP in its Camera parameter: its position, orientation and field of view. Move and animate the camera as usual.

Render size and the panel

The Panel is the panel that shows the render, by default the project's main panel. With Use Panel Resolution on, the render has the panel's size, so it always fills it. Turn it off to set the size yourself with Resolution.

Render size costs time directly: half the width and height is a quarter of the work. With the DLSS method, the Pathtracer renders smaller than the output and DLSS fills in the detail (see Denoising).

Picking materials in the panel

Show the Pathtracer's Color output in the Panel, for example as the Background TOP of a Container COMP, and point Panel at that container. Then:

• Right-click a surface (without dragging) to open the parameters of its material.
• Ctrl + right-click to open its PT GEO or PT LIGHT.

This is the quickest way to find and adjust the material of what you see.

Depth of field

Aperture is the size of the lens. At 0, everything is sharp. Above 0, everything nearer or farther than Focus Distance blurs, more strongly the larger the aperture. Focus Distance is measured from the camera in scene units: measure the distance to your subject and enter it there.

Depth of field is part of the rendering itself, so it is correct everywhere, in reflections and behind glass included. Blurred areas take a little longer to become clean.