Differential Sharpening/Softening in V7

[davegee]

A little while ago I asked Igor whether Differential Sharpening was going to be possible in V7 to which he replied that it wasn't going to be possible.

The good news is that IS possible and I offer a method below. Whether you want to use it or not is another matter!

In its simplest form imagine that you have a landscape shot to which you want to apply sharpening to the foreground and softening to the sky during a Pan.

Add your image to the Slide list and, in O&A, use the Sharper/Smoother Slider (in properties) to sharpen the image (-128).

Now, add a rectangular (slightly) blurred mask to the top of the slide with a second copy of the same image in perfect sync with the original. Set the Sharper/Smoother slider for the Mask Image to make the top of the image smoother (128).

Adjust the mask to suit the horizon and you have Differential Sharpening/Smoothing of the Image.

If the whole package is added to a FRAME then PZR can be applied to the frame quite easily.

Keyframes applied to the Mask can be made to adjust the mask to reveal the whole of the "sharper" version at the end of the PZR.

A custom made Mask (made in Photoshop etc) would allow for a horizon which isn't "level" or for trees etc.

Better still - if we were able to paint our own mask in PTE...........

Are you listening, Igor?

DG