For those who don’t know the tool: ZEISS CinCraft LensCore is a physically based lens-effects plugin for Nuke. It applies digital lens behaviour to CGI renders during compositing, including depth of field, distortion, bokeh, breathing and chromatic aberration.
Jörn Grosshans (Imdb) is Product Manager Digital Cinematography at ZEISS and a former VFX supervisor. His production background includes work on projects such as Game of Thrones, Star Trek Into Darkness, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Ms. Marvel and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
What is LensCore?
DP: For readers who have not yet had the pleasure of arguing with lens imperfections: What exactly is ZEISS CinCraft LensCore, and which problem is it meant to solve in VFX and compositing?
Joern Grosshans: ZEISS CinCraft LensCore is a plugin for Nuke that brings physically based, ray-traced lens looks directly into the compositing workflow. It is designed to solve the challenges of creating realistic lens characteristics in VFX and 3D animation. By combining lens characteristics such as distortion, shading, bokeh, chromatic aberration, and more into a single node, LensCore eliminates fragmented workflows and guesswork.
DP: LensCore is for 2D compositing in Nuke. What does the basic workflow look like from a clean render or plate to an image with a physically based lens look?
Joern Grosshans: The workflow begins with a CGI render, which can be a deep image or an RGB render with Z-depth passes. LensCore integrates seamlessly into Nuke as a dedicated node that applies lens effects based on real-world camera and optical parameters, such as focal length, focus distance, and F-stop.
Artists can load digital lens sets from the “Digital Lens Shelf” and adjust lens characteristics or presets for consistent results. For studios and artists not using deep rendering, RGB and Z-depth passes can be converted into deep images using standard Nuke nodes. LensCore also supports additional inputs, such as inpainting masks and kernel textures, for improved visual results.
Artists can either load digital lenses via LensCore Sets (LCS) or design their own physically accurate lenses with DigitalLens Pro, which exposes all important lens parameters for users to tweak.
DP: Which lens characteristics are currently modeled, and how deep does the simulation go:?
Joern Grosshans: LensCore models a wide range of lens characteristics, including distortion, aperture blades, shading/vignetting, depth of field, sharpness, bokeh including cat-eye and other shapes, chromatic aberration, spherical aberration, breathing, kernel textures, and focus falloff.
These characteristics are simulated using a GPU-accelerated ray-traced engine, ensuring physically accurate lens behaviour. Unlike plugins that approximate lens effects, LensCore provides a comprehensive solution grounded in ZEISS optical expertise. This allows artists to achieve realistic results that go far beyond what traditional tools such as generic lens simulation plugins can achieve. We are also offering a free fully functional Trial version, make sure to check it out!
DP: How does LensCore handle focus changes over time? If focus distance shifts in a shot, does the lens behaviour update continuously, or does the artist need to animate or keyframe parts of the effect manually?
Joern Grosshans: LensCore responds dynamically to changes in focus distance, T-stop, focal length, sensor size, and other parameters simply by connecting it to a virtual camera inside Nuke.
DP: The website talks about selecting a digital lens “off the shelf.” What exactly is inside that shelf at launch?
Joern Grosshans: At launch, the “Digital Lens Shelf” includes a free base set of LensCore Sets (LCS), which replicate real lens behaviour and can be matched to a real lens look with one click. These sets include a selection of ZEISS cinema lenses, such as Supreme Prime and Aatma, and will be shipped free with the software. Artists can also tweak parameters for further customisation or save presets for reuse across projects. Later this year, we will release additional LensCore Sets (LCS) for other lenses, which can be purchased separately as add-ons.
DP: Are the digital lenses based on measured physical lenses, optical design data, artistic matching, or a mix of all three?
Joern Grosshans: It is a mixture of all three. 😊
DP: There is this tool called Cincraft Mapper – how does that integrate?
Joern Grosshans: CinCraft Mapper is intended for a separate use case and is a standalone tool that only handles distortion and shading, rendering undistorted plates. We will not continue the product in its current form, as we noticed that customers did not want to be limited to ZEISS lenses only. With LensCore, we want to ensure users can replicate any lens directly within the compositing workflow to achieve convincing lens looks.
DP: ANY Lens?
Joern Grosshans: Non-ZEISS lenses can be approximated using the DigitalLens Pro module within LensCore. Artists can manually create presets that match the behaviour of third-party lenses by adjusting all important lens parameters. While ZEISS lenses benefit from precisely measured profiles, the flexibility of LensCore allows for high fidelity even with custom or third-party lenses.
DP: So users can add their own lenses?
Joern Grosshans: Yes, users can add their own lenses by creating custom presets in DigitalLens Pro.
DP: How does LensCore deal with different sensor formats, crops, overscan, and plates that do not match the original lens/camera combination?
Joern Grosshans: LensCore adapts digital lenses to various camera formats. Artists simply need to make sure the correct sensor size is selected in the virtual camera in Nuke.
DP: What metadata does LensCore use from production?
Joern Grosshans: At the moment, we do not use lens metadata, but we are looking into how we can support it.
DP: Lens effects can get expensive fast. What are the current performance expectations in Nuke, especially for 4K/6K shots, deep comps, multiple layers, and GPU rendering?
Joern Grosshans: LensCore leverages GPU acceleration for efficient rendering, even for 4K/6K shots. While performance depends on bokeh size, quality settings, and hardware specifications, LensCore is designed to minimise computational overhead and support demanding VFX workflows. We also offer users a way to preview results with different quality settings, so they can be judged and tweaked in a fraction of a second. For the final render, the samples can then be increased and sent to the render farm.
DP: Will there be an OFX version?
Joern Grosshans: An OFX version is planned for future releases, expanding LensCore compatibility to hosts like DaVinci Resolve, Fusion, and Flame. Currently, the focus is on Nuke, but the roadmap includes broader host support to cater to more studios and artists. We are also looking into supporting Adobe After Effects in upcoming releases.
DP: What will LensCore cost at launch?
Joern Grosshans: LensCore will be available via subscription-based licensing, including node-locked and floating options. Pricing starts at €34/month for node-locked licenses and €39/month for floating licenses, with annual subscriptions starting at €349.
Educational licenses and render-only options are also offered, ensuring accessibility for various user groups. For studios, we also offer special deals upon request. Please check our web shop for detailed information.
DP: What are the next development steps for LensCore after launch?
Joern Grosshans: The roadmap includes adding more lenses via LCS and introducing OFX and After Effects compatibility. We are also looking into additional features that I cannot talk about right now. We are also very keen to receive user feedback and respond to it!
https://www.zeiss.com/photonics-and-optics/en/cinematography/cincraft/lenscore.html
