Question Representing Lens Distortion coordinates in 2D I with my custom lens shader - What am I doing wrong?

Hi,

I am experimenting with something lens and UI related and I have a 'strange' problem:



Scenario:

- I have a grid/checkerboard (black/blue) in 3D space to visualize the lens distortion.
- I want to represent the distortion in 2D space (Canvas) by converting the checkerboard from world space to canvas (red grid).

The checkerboard and the red grid should match each other.

I have done this by using the same distortion algorithm with my shader and the C# script that generates the red UI grid.

The 2D representation of the camera is working great without my shader, but when I enable the shader, it works as if it is inverted (as seen in the gif above).
I have simplified the shader algorithm to show the problem easier here.

The shader logic:

Code (CSharp):

1.         float2 GetSimpleDistortion(float2 uv) {
2.             float2 center = float2(0.5, 0.5); // Center of the screen
3.             float2 d = uv - center; // Distance vector from center
4.             float r = sqrt(d.x * d.x + d.y * d.y); // Distance from center (hypothenusa)
5.             float2 newuv = float2(0.0, 0.0);
6.  
7.             newuv.x = uv.x + d.x * r * r * _simpleK; // move away from the center
8.             newuv.y = uv.y + d.y * r * r * _simpleK;
9.  
10.             return newuv;
11.         }
12.  
13.  
14.  
15.  
16.         float4 LensEffectFragmentProgram(PostProcessVaryings input) : SV_Target
17.         {
18.             UNITY_SETUP_STEREO_EYE_INDEX_POST_VERTEX(input);
19.  
20.             float2 uv = UnityStereoTransformScreenSpaceTex(input.texcoord);
21.             uv = GetSimpleDistortion(uv);
22.             float4 color = LOAD_TEXTURE2D_X(_MainTex, uv * _ScreenSize.xy);
23.  
24.             return color;
25.         }

And then in my C# script, I am distorting the red UI grid with the same algorithm:

Code (CSharp):

1.         private Vector2 GetSimpleLensDistortion(Vector3 viewPort, MQMLensEffect _lensEffect)
2.         {
3.             Vector2 uv = new Vector2(viewPort.x, viewPort.y);
4.  
5.             Vector2 center = new Vector2(0.5f, 0.5f); // Center of the screen
6.             Vector2 d = uv - center; // Distance vector from center
7.             float r = Mathf.Sqrt(d.x * d.x + d.y * d.y); // Distance from center (hypothenusa)
8.             Vector2 newuv = Vector2.zero;
9.  
10.             newuv.x = uv.x + d.x * r * r * _lensEffect.simpleK.value; // move away from the center
11.             newuv.y = uv.y + d.y * r * r * _lensEffect.simpleK.value;
12.  
13.             return newuv;
14.         }

And this is how I move the UI grid:

Code (CSharp):

1.          for (int x = 0; x < sizex; x++)
2.          {
3.              for (int y = 0; y < sizey; y++)
4.              {
5.                  Vector3 viewport = cam.WorldToViewportPoint(grid3d_points[x,y].position);
6.                  Vector2 uv = GetSimpleLensDistortion(viewport, _lensEffect);
7.                  var newViewport = new Vector3(uv.x, uv.y, viewport.z);
8.                  var canvas_pos =  Vector3.Scale(newViewport, canvasRect.sizeDelta);
9.                  screen_handles[x,y].anchoredPosition = new Vector2(canvas_pos.x, canvas_pos.y);
10.             }
11.         }

I doing this by converting the 3D grid points to viewport coordinates - which I think should correspond with the shader's UV-coordinates? - and then to canvas coordinates. But somehow they don't match.

The only variable controlling the distortion is a float 'simpleK' - if simpleK == 0, there is no distortion and the grids match perfectly.
It feels like it is working almost, but inverted - as in I am watching the effect from 'behind' or something.
And actually, if I invert the simpleK (simpleK = -simpleK) variable only in the C# script, it almost works, but with little bit strange scaling.

Here is an gif showing what happens if simpleK = -simpleK in the C# script:




So the final question is:

What am I missing in my 2D calculations? Something related to camera frustum or some simple factor or what? I am lost.

Help, please.

 

Posted this question to Unity Answers also: https://answers.unity.com/questions/1812789/representing-lens-distortion-coordinates-in-2d-i-w.html

How can I delete this thread? I can't find a delete button.

It is also a bit confusing to decide which one is better - Answers or Forums

 

Bump.