Does anyone know how you could preform a dolly zoom in blender? Here is a link to a video showing the effect:
That is actually a very un-natural effect: in fact, (IMHO) it is photographically wrong, because it appears to stretch the distance between the net and the ball when the ball, itself, does not change. No lens can do that.
It certainly adds to the realism of any scene when you mimic the actual rigging and therefore movements of a real camera, and constrain your moves to those actually achievable in this way. (Hand-held “steady-cam” shots are, IMHO, highly overrated and overused.) You can do this by parenting the camera to various things that correspond to booms, trucks, and so forth. Then, use a “track to” constraint to cause the camera to follow whatever you want: either a real object, or an empty.
Other camera effects such as focus-pulls can be similarly animated. Blender cameras provide the equivalent of photographically correct zoom and wide-angle lenses, and so forth. (The default setting is “normal.”) But it is crucial that you be realistic. I strongly suggest that you go to a physical location, with a 35mm (digital) camera, various lenses, and a long measuring tape. Decide for yourself how many feet, or how many meters, “one blender-unit” shall correspond to, and pay close attention to those real-world physical distances and sizes.
CG will happily do the impossible, and to the viewer’s eyes it will not “ring true,” even though the audience might not be able to put their finger on it, as to why [not].
hey guys I found a great .blend that does all this for me. thanks for all the responses and I found the answer here. Oops aaaaand I can’t find the link I got it from, so I’m reuploading it and here’s the link: https://mega.nz/#!QJoX2bwZ!3GioTZXWQXRin-idOQuX5LaIqhq0HgbuNf8DgjvM-PQ
It’s a bit tricky to work out how to use it, but it does work. Just move the manipulators not the camera. Place the empty focus point on your subject then animate the move camera thingy. Really a great rig.