Add depth blur effect

[olibclarke@…]

Blur distant objects in the scene to create a sense of depth. This is like an optical camera which focuses at the focal plane but gives a blurry image far from the focal plane.

Begin forwarded message:

From: Oliver Clarke
Subject: [Chimera-users] Gaussian blur depth cueing? (ChimeraX)
Date: May 5, 2017 at 6:42:32 AM PDT
To: UCSF Chimera Mailing List <chimera-users@…>

Hi,

I was wondering if you have thought about implementing depth-dependent gaussian blur as a depth cueing mechanism in ChimeraX?

The idea would be to blur the image in a manner dependent on the distance from the plane intersecting with the center of rotation, to mimick depth of field in a camera.

Mocked up in the attached using a tilt/shift effect, but without access to real depth information - I wonder if it might better convey depth information than distance-dependent changes in brightness/contrast under some circumstances?

Cheers
Oli

[Tom Goddard]

Example of depth blur made by exporting 10 slab images and blurring in photo editor.

[Tom Goddard]

Same image as previous one without blur.

[Tom Goddard]

Depth blur example with opaque surface.