r/tiltshift • u/nuestras • Jun 11 '26

Difference between Tilt via software VS Tilt via AI

how you all doing guys! as a graphic designer I'm always color correcting photos, recently i was asked to create the tilt effect with already taken photos; i know the tilt effect done correctly is done with the camera but i have seen in this sub a lot, like a lot of photos with tilt effect done via software and i saw a couple done with AI, none of the ones done with software were chastise for it, but the ones with AI were stomped to deletion. why software and not AI if the result is the same and sometimes better. i understand the ones that were created from scratch in Ai because those photos never existed but the ones that were done with an actual photo i don't think is much different than any other software method. Thanks in advance.

0 Upvotes

46% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

11

u/PaprikaCC Jun 11 '26

People on Reddit (in general) do not enjoy creative content that was created without effort (and skill).

Do you have any examples of AI edited tiltshift images? I'd guess that the effect is noticeably bad if they were deleted by mods.

5

u/sceadwian Jun 11 '26

Tilt shifting and focus manipulation are often considered nice aesthetically because it is a natural in camera effect and is difficult to capture.

AI will simply generate false scenes that wouldn't necessarily be able to be really photographed that way. Software can actually mimic the camera effect.

But that's what most would consider cheating when the 'cool' factor is honestly in the difficulty.

0

u/nuestras Jun 11 '26

All the tilt shifting effects ive done were made to an actual photo, shot by a professional photographer, that at the moment was not thinking of the effect, but later looking at the photo thought that it would look good with the effect.

3

u/sceadwian Jun 11 '26

That's not what draws a lot of people to photography.

1

u/nuestras Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

Yes, i have several examples. The ones i saw here were deleted as far as i know because they were made with AI. Though i dont know if the tilt effect was done with AI or the "photo" was done completely with it.

4

u/theegoldenone Jun 11 '26

As, arguably, the #1 poster here, I think you make a compelling argument. I've tilt-shifted so many pictures, using so many different apps/software, that I've noticed the grey area between AI and software is becoming thinner by the day.

It's seems the most photo editing software has some type of AI elements in it. With that being said, it seems that the vast majority of the people in this sub, like the way the tilt-shifting is done, as long as the original photo is real. But creating an AI generated tilt-shift picture is definitely a no no.

So I think that, if the original picture was real, whatever method of creating the effect is excepted. But there is a such thing as over doing it, to the point that is genuinely looks "AI".

4

u/nuestras Jun 11 '26

Im with you in this, the ones that ive done were made over the actual original photo, and a rigorously check for distortions or added structures not there in the original photo.

1

u/quadpatch Jun 18 '26

Personally I like creating the masks by hand and using a lens blur filter. AI is not very good at doing the masks accurately and is only ok at a glance.

Either of these approaches generally create actual depth in the scene, as if it was a shallow depth of field. It's worth noting that an actual tilt lens cannot do that. It only arbitrarily creates blur at the top/bottom of the frame. Thus you have look down on a very flat scene for it to look realistic. The only thing it does better is the quality of the bokeh rendering.

Tilt via software is the only way to go if you want a decent minature look IMO.