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Lens Blur (Studio Version Only)
A high-quality simulation of optical lens blurring. Adjustable parameters let you achieve different kinds of “bokeh” effects, which are similar to those produced by different combinations of aperture design and lens spherical aberration corrections that affect the “circle of confusion” that creates visible shapes in areas of the picture with pinpoint highlights.
Shape
The Shape group lets you choose what shape of aperture to simulate and affects the shape of the bokeh in this effect.
— Shape Type: Lets you choose what type of apertures you want to use. There are three options:
— Real Apertures: Lets you choose a realistic option from the Aperture Shape pop-up menu below, with which to influence the shape of the bokeh effect. Aperture Shape options include Triangle, Square, Pentagon, Hexagon, Heptagon, or Octagon shaped aperture.
— Creative: Lets you choose a more fanciful option from the Aperture Shape pop-up menu below, with which to influence the shape of the bokeh effect. These options simulate the kind of bokeh you could realistically achieve by placing a blackout filter with a custom shaped hole in the center in front of a lens. Aperture Shape options include Heart, Star, Starfish, Starburst, Petals, Lip, Eye, Droplet, and Leaf.
— External Input: Uses any arbitrary graphic with a (preferably small) white shape against a black background to influence the shape of the bokeh effect. This shape must be a graphic or matte clip that’s added to the Node Editor, then you can attach the image to the second RGB input of the Lens Blur node.
A custom shape used in a color node tree to create custom bokeh in the Lens Blur plugin
— Aperture Shape: Provides different options for aperture shapes that influence the shape of this plugin’s simulated bokeh blur effect.
— Preview Shape: This checkbox lets you see the actual shape you’ve selected to use.