Fast Bokeh: Free After Effects Plugin for Depth of Field Effects

Fast Bokeh for After Effects

Rowbyte has released Fast Bokeh, a free plugin for After Effects, designed to generate Depth of Field (DOF) and bokeh effects using a depth map. The plugin promises improved speed and reduced edge issues compared to similar options.

Fast Bokeh is a plugin for After Effects that creates a smooth Depth of Field bokeh blur effect using a Depth Map. Its key advantages include speed, proper edge handling, and ease of use.

Why Choose Another Lens Blur Plugin

Fast Bokeh distinguishes itself from other lens blur plugins by fulfilling three key requirements:

  1. High speed, independent of blur radius.
  2. Effective edge handling.
  3. Gaussian blur quality.

Blur Radius Independence

Fast Bokeh’s performance depends solely on the image size, not the extent of the applied blur, delivering consistent render times.

Edge Handling

Object boundaries are expanded, and edges are managed effectively. While limitations exist due to the plugin’s lack of information on occluded objects, it does a commendable job minimizing hard edges and halos.

Smooth and Fast Blur

This plugin generates a smooth, Gaussian-like fast blur, without dedicated aperture shapes or chromatic aberration settings, which ensures consistency across all dynamic color ranges.

32-bit Color Support

32-bit per channel color depth (32 bpc) is fully supported and recommended for top-tier quality.

Comparison with Other Lens Blur Effects

We encourage you to test it yourself, but here is a comparison rendered using After Effects’s Camera Lens Blur Effect, Frischluft’s LensCare plugin, and Fast Bokeh.

  • Camera Lens Blur Effect
  • Frischluft’s LensCare
  • Fast Bokeh

Effect Controls

Fast Bokeh Effect Controls

To apply the effect, navigate to Effects->Rowbyte->Fast Bokeh.

  • Blur Radius: Adjusts the blur’s intensity.
  • Depth Map Layer: Specifies the layer to use as a Depth Map.
  • Invert Depth Map: Reverses white and dark pixels in the depth map. By default, white represents the background, and dark represents the foreground.
  • Focus Distance: Sets the current focus distance using the Depth Map.
  • Repeat Edge Pixels: Recommended to keep this setting enabled.

Compatibility

Compatible with After Effects CS6 and Creative Cloud, and tested with CC 2017, CC 2018, and CC 2019. Supports macOS 10.8 and higher and Windows 7 and higher.

Important Note

For the best results, it is recommended to use Depth Maps without anti-aliasing.

Changelog

Fast Bokeh 1.0.1
Release Date: Jun 25 2019

  • Initial Release.

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