| The Art of the Screen
Shot - Part 2 Techniques, tricks and
processes for producing great screen shot imagery
By Tony Gondola |
| Using FOV.....
Just as with conventional photography, using
different lenses can have a dramatic effect on your images. Changing your
field of view (FOV) setting in any sim is analogous to using different focal
lengths or zooming in and out on a conventional camera. The major change
this causes is
one of perspective. While the human eye has a wide field of vision the
actual angle that's used for detailed vision is rather narrow, roughly equal
to what you'd get with a 50mm lens on a 35mm camera or about 45 degrees. In MSFS a zoom setting
of 1.0x equals that same perspective and FOV.
Very wide FOV images will have the effect
of diminishing the apparent size of distant objects while emphasizing the
size of near ones. Narrow FOVs give the opposite effect and tend to give the
feeling of compressed distance, making a far off object look as though it's
much closer to near objects then it really is. Here are some examples of
these effects in action: |
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| This was taken at the widest MSFS
setting of 0.30X at a distance of 25 feet. It's a good shot with a natural
feeling of motion but the hills
and peaks in the distance have been minimized to the point that they are
hardly noticeable. |
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| At an FOV setting narrow
enough to size the aircraft and at a
distance of 150 feet, the scene is dramatically different. While the aircraft
appears to be the same size and at the same distance from the viewer (it
isn't), the hills and peaks in the background appear to be much closer. |
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| It's worth keeping in mind the
fact that photographs of aircraft in flight are normally taken at longer
distances with telephoto lenses. If that's the kind of image you're going
for then simply replicating those conditions by going with a narrow FOV and
long shooting distance will go a long way towards replicating that kind of
image. |
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| This shot taken from 1/3 of a
mile away using a narrow FOV nicely replicates the typical sort of air to
air image you might get when shooting from another aircraft with a moderate
focal length telephoto lens.. |
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| How many times have we seen
this shot on TV and in magazine ads? Closer this time but some distance
compression is still evident. |
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| Backing off and using a narrow
FOV is a great way to get realistic looking shots. For the most part you
don't want to shoot close with a wide FOV because the wide angle perspective
can really distort the appearance of an aircraft. The other thing to keep in
mind is that the detail found on our 3D models is limited. Get too close and
the details will break down, ruining the illusion of reality.
That said, there are times when you can make the
distortion effects work for you so it always pays to experiment. Sometimes
there is simply no other way to get the shot. |
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| This shot of an SF 260 coming
over the top was made at the widest available FOV. It was the only way to
get a lot of ground detail while capturing enough of the smoke trail to make
the image interesting. |
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| Another example of the
compression effect giving a real sense of being there. The tail has been
intentionally cropped to increase visual tension. If that background just
had a little bit of motion blur we'd really have something but overall, it's
still an effective image. |
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