ZEISS Opens Applications for CinCraft Virtual Lens Technology Closed Beta

We liked the look of ZEISS' CinCraft Virtual Lens Technology when it was first announced in May, and applications to join its closed beta have just opened.

ZEISS' virtual lens tech has been designed to replicate the visual characteristics and animated behaviour of actual lenses on computer-generated content.

As we explained back in May when it was first unveiled at FMX, compared to traditional lens and defocus effects tools which follow a filter-based approach, CinCraft Virtual Lens Technology leverages physically-based lens performance to deliver real optics characteristics throughout each frame in a sequence. As you would expect from a CinCraft extension, it captures genuine lens characteristics such as sharpness, focus falloff, cat eye bokeh, chromatic aberration, distortion, and more from the original glass.

Shaped as a plugin for 2D compositing in Nuke, you can see what this is capable of in the two images below.

Original compositing of a pinhole camera rendering.

The same image post-processed through a ZEISS Supreme Prime 50mm virtual lens.

The tech has been in closed beta with selected testers since being unveiled. And while we had hoped to see it move into open beta by around now, closed beta invites are the next best thing. 

"As we refine and perfect CinCraft Virtual Lens Tech, we are offering a limited number of slots for this closed beta," writes the company, "mainly because we want to process your valuable feedback and take every detail into consideration. Don't miss the opportunity to be part of this exclusive group and help us create a tool for visual effects that truly stands out."