At FMX 2025, ZEISS demos a new virtual lens tool that aims to bring physically accurate lens look characteristics into VFX and compositing workflows. Basically mimicking the look of actual lenses from the real worls, applied to a digital image – and the potential seems huge. Read on to learn more about ZEISS Virtual Lens Tech. ZEISS has announced a major new addition to its CinCraft ecosystem: a virtual lens technology that allows post-production artists to apply the authentic optical behavior of real lenses to computer-generated content in a single step. First demonstrated at FMX 2025 in Stuttgart today, the new tool marks a significant step toward unifying the visual language between cinematographers and visual effects artists — a longstanding challenge in post-heavy workflows. A “digital lens” with a real-world counterpart, applicable in post Unlike typical filter-based blur or defocus effects, ZEISS’ solution is based on physically modeled lens performance. That means traits like focus falloff, cat-eye bokeh, chromatic aberration, field curvature, and geometric distortion are not approximated, but faithfully recreated frame by frame — much like they would appear when captured through real glass on set. The idea is to enable compositing artists to select a “digital lens” from a virtual shelf, echoing how DPs select optics from a rental house. “The lack of ‘ground truth’ data for lens look characteristics makes it hard for post-production professionals to talk and apply the same visual language that cinematographers and directors expect,” says Jonathan Demuth, Product Manager for CinCraft at ZEISS....
Published By: CineD - Today