Motion 5 - Depth of Field Controls

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Depth of Field Controls

Depth of Field settings are found in the Camera pane of the Inspector. The Depth of Field
controls allow you to set a range of focus by changing the Near Focus and Far Focus
parameters. Objects outside that range are blurred. You can also modify the type and
amount of blur used to render the out-of-focus effect.

DOF Blur Amount:

A slider to control the maximum amount of blur applied to out-of-focus

objects.

Focus Offset:

A slider to set the distance from the camera where objects are in perfect

focus.

Near Focus:

A slider to set the nearest point of focus, measured in pixels as an offset

from the focal distance.

Far Focus:

A slider to set the farthest point of focus, measured in pixels as an offset from

the focal distance.

Infinite Focus:

A checkbox that sets the far focus to infinity, overriding the setting chosen

in the Far Focus slider.

Filter:

A pop-up menu to set the type of blur algorithm used to render the out-of-focus

areas. Choices include Gaussian or Defocus. The Defocus setting renders a more realistic
effect, but may impact performance.

Tip: For best results, use Gaussian when setting up a scene, and Defocus for final output.

Filter Shape:

When the Filter pop-up menu is set to Defocus, this pop-up menu lets you

choose between a disk-shaped, or polygon-shaped render kernel. Different shapes produce
subtly different blur patterns simulating different types of camera lenses.

Sides:

When the Filter Shape pop-up menu is set to Polygon, this slider sets the number

of sides in the polygon.

Depth:

A pop-up menu that sets the depth to Radial or Planar. Although radial typically

exhibits more realistic results, there are some cases where it may look artificial. These
include cases where the camera is set to a high DOF Blur Amount and/or the object is
close to the edge of the frame, the object is very large, the object is rotated, and other
similar instances. In these cases, switching to Planar may produce improved results.