Adobe After Effects CS4 - Manual (Page 439)

433 USING AFTER EFFECTS CS4
Effects and animation presets
Last updated 12/21/2009
To determine the depth of an object, click it in the Composition panel or Layer panel using the Selection tool while the
effect is selected.
Feather The amount of feather along the edges of the matte.
Invert Select to matte out everything with a depth greater than the Depth value. Deselect to matte out everything with
a depth less than the Depth value.
More Help topics
“ About 3D Channel effects ” on page 430
“ Preparing and importing 3D image files ” on page 98
“ 3D layers ” on page 179
Depth Of Field effect
The Depth Of Field effect simulates a camera that’s focusing at one depth (focal plane) in a 3D scene, blurring objects
at other depths. This effect uses the depth information from the auxiliary channel of an imported file representing a
3D scene. To use the depth information that After Effects calculates for a camera layer, see “
Create a camera layer and
change camera settings ” on page 186.
This effect works with 8-bpc, 16-bpc, and 32-bpc color.
Original (upper-left), and with Depth Of Field applied using different Focal Plane values (lower-left and lower-right)
Focal Plane The distance along the z axis of the focal plane from the camera.
To show the depth of an object in the Info panel, click the object in the Composition panel or Layer panel using the
Selection tool while the effect is selected.
Maximum Radius How much blur is applied to objects outside the focal plane.
Focal Plane Thickness Determines what depths are in focus on either side of the focal plane.
Focal Bias The higher the value, the more quickly elements drop out of focus with increasing distance from the focal
plane.
Dave Scotland provides a video tutorial on the CG Swot website in which he shows how to use the Depth Of Field
effect, even with a 3D file that has been rendered without optimal depth settings.