DOF in After Effects without FL

This question has probably been asked a hundred times before, so here I go :slight_smile:

I have rendered both a Z pass and a Mist pass out of Blender as OpenEXR. I am able to import them in After Effects. But as soon as I set any of them as DOF map using the Camera Lens Blur effect, I get these blurred edges. What am I doing wrong here?

Thanks in advance!

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Anyone? :#

Show what you are getting. Post DOF is a hack, there is only so far you can go with it until you run into artifacts. Show the image so we know if it is actually a fixable problem or not.

No problem!

Original:
43

With Depth-pass from Blender applied via Camera Lens Blur effect:
30

Do you see the halo around the hook?

Thanks in advance!

Post DOF Blurs pixels available to it, so if the distance is blurred but theres a foreground object laying over it, then that distant blur will affect the foreground edge. The only way to really avoid it is to render in layers.

Do you mean I have to render background and foreground seperately?

Yeah sorry, There is simply no way to make the blur function ignore the 2 adjoining pixels. Alternatively you could try cutting around the foreground object then use the infill node to patch the background with its own colors.

Just curious: does this problem come from AE or from Blender?
I mean, I used to work in Cinema 4D with the FrischLuft plugin, and I never had any problems…

Not sure how the C4D plugin works but Blender’s Post DOF effect is not renowned for being accurate. So I guess you could say its a Blender issue but I don’t think its a bug, just a poor strategy for this type of effect.

Got it, thank you so much!