ENDA Episode 110→ The time when ENDA shares the importance of depth of field (Part 3)
Get your subject-distance blur wrong, and even perfect tracking and color feel glued on.
Last time, we dug into how focal length and aperture shape your focus band. Today, let’s examine our third lever: subject distance.
Closer subject → shallower DoF. When your subject moves nearer to the lens, the depth of field collapses, your hero stays razor-sharp, while the background melts away. Anything outside that band softens quickly.
Farther subject → deeper DoF. Stepping back thickens the in-focus range, so more of the scene stays crisp.
Take a look at the GIF below: in the first moments, the character fills the frame and the world behind them is a soft blur. As the camera pulls back, that blur recedes, suddenly you can read texture in the foreground soil and still see the character crisply.
Why does this matter for comp? Whether you’re placing a keyed actor into CG scenery or doing a set extension matching that focus shift is vital. Get your subject-distance blur wrong, and even perfect tracking and color feel glued on.
However, it is also important how sensor size quietly tugs on your DoF, but that’s for another episode.
The journey continues…
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