Blur Layer

About Blur Layer

Blur is a graphical effect that aims to imitate an unfocused image. In a photography context blur can occur when the focal point of the lens is not at the right position of the target of the photograph. Also blur can have other origins. Blurs can happen as the result of a poor exposure during its recording (too long exposure time for a large movement of the object or a high movement of the recorder). Also blurring occurs when you use a very wide aperture (f4). In that case the objects that are out of focus are very blurred compared to the situation where the aperture is fully closed (f22).

In a graphical context, blurs are effects that imitate those situations (with more or less success).

Parameters of the Blur Layer

The parameters of the Blur Layer are:

Name	Value	Type
Z Depth Parameter	0.000000	real
Opacity	1.000000	real
Blend Method	Composite	integer
Size	6.000000pt,6.000000pt	vector
Type	Fast Gaussian Blur	integer

Size

The Size parameter controls the size of the blur. Depending on that value the blur can have different effects. Note that rendering time quickly increases as you increase the size parameter, so be careful.

This parameter is a compound value of two real numbers, x and y. Each of them indicates the size of the blur along that direction.

Type

There are 5 types of blur:

Fast Gaussian Blur
Box Blur (More info)
Cross Hatch Blur
Disc Blur
Gaussian Blur (More info)

Samples

Star animation

If you wonder how the animations were made (sample file):

a Star Layer is positioned at the center of the Frame, with an Outline Layer of width 0.05u
the animations have 120 frames, and the Size parameter of the blur goes from 0u,0u to 1u,1u
the Render Dialog settings are set to Quality 9 and Anti-Aliasing 1