Faking DOF

[Dan_Lahav]

I noticed in Matt's video he faked a lot of DOF. To some this looks cheesy but i kind of like the effect strictly for music videos. How was this achieved?

[Zoomforce]

selective blur using a mask.. pretty easy to do as long as your selection isnt moving alot, or if you just want a center sharp effect.

[Dan_Lahav]

jesus that was a quick response. Thanks j-man ;D

[Zoomforce]

hey nice MV you did... btw.

[Dan_Lahav]

thanks Jarred. We had a good team (John, Kevin, Shawn, etc.) so im not surprised it came out like it did ;D

Anywho, I seem to be retarted at AE and need some more detailed explanation of how to do this. Anyone?

[Neil Rowe]

um.. let me take a stab at it...

you would want to create an adjustment layer (right click in the project bun area, and select new then adjustment layer, then put it in the timeline above your video layer)*which is on top of your video layer. then using the matte tool (pen tool), you would want to *create a matte around the outline of your subject, or the area that you want to keep in focus. you would use jkeyframes to change the matte position *to keep it on the area you want matted if it is moving, or if its a rough area, you could use a simpler tracking matte and *keyfram the tracke matte to the area. then you would apply the blur effect * of your choice to the adjustment layer, you can invert the matte if its blurred inside instead of out. then using the *softness of the matte. you can make the blur effect gently blur in and out from the matte instead of being so sharp if you need to. thats pretty much it, unless your going to get really complex in your matting, or effects, in which case you could use additional adjustment layers with effects, which would affect all layers beneath. AE help has the info on using or finding any of the tools , or creating the layer. .. hope this helps.

[Dan_Lahav]

Awsome. Yes that does help. Thanks so much IAL ;D

[kai]

Well said IAL ;)