A question for CCIP and Camera Mod

[Type941]

I noticed a notable visual difference when it comes to water/horizon line when using this mod on a 10 camera (best one for dramatic shots).

This is standard shot:
http://img312.imageshack.us/img312/7619/a2jsh32005071514480859medium6l.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)


This is with modded camera:
http://img324.imageshack.us/img324/2931/a2jsh32005071514483967medium9e.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

Can you tell me if it's possible to achieve the same water/horizon/reflections with your camera mod? Is there some setting responsible for this?

[CCIP]

No, I'm not quite sure how to adjust it, but I can tell you why it happens.

The reason is, even though the two shots show the same object as being the same size, there is actually a massive difference (7.5 times, I think) in terms of the distance at which the camera is relative to the object. In the game, reflections, water effects, and so on, are distributed based on the LOD (level of detail) engine, which drops certain detail (like reflections etc) at certain distances.

I certainly have no access to the game's LOD engine, so I can't really do anything about it. My only suggestion would be using a higher-angle camera for when you want medium-distance shots like this - even 40 or 50 would do. 10 is really for some of the extreme shots, when you either want a massive sense of scale from up close, or you want two objects seem closer to each other than they actually are. There's always some tradeoff, I suppose... :(

[Type941]

I'm not familiar with photography lens settings, so I'll have to experiement. SO you are saying if I slowly increase to 70 (default) I'll have a gradual increase in detail level? :) That can work.

And one more question - how come the sound is also affected by this? I gotta be REALLY close to hear explosions with new camera.

[KodiakPA]

From what I understand, CCIP tell me if I'm wrong, the numbers reflect the field of view of the lens. So if you want to get real close and see a large area you would use 120 or 120-degree view, i.e. a wide angle lens. If you want to compress things and get a sense of scale you need a shorter field of view, 20 or so. This gives you the effect of a telephoto lens.

I gotta be REALLY close to hear explosions with new camera.

The reason for this is if you are using a narrow field of view, i.e. 10, you are actually looking at the object from a greater distance than if you were using a larger field of view, i.e. 110. Think of it this way, with 75 (default) you see a 75 degree view of things from a medium close distance. If you bump it up to a 10 you are now looking through a telescope. You can see the object much larger but you are still just as far away. If you bump it down to 110, the object is just a speck on the horizon because now you are looking at it without the aid of any magnification.

"I'm not familiar with photography lens settings, so I'll have to experiment."

I am a photographer so I understand what is going on. This same understanding is available to anyone. Check out http://www.photo.net/learn/

[Type941]

Ok, that explains it better, thank you. :up:

[KodiakPA]

Glad I could help.