Answers.Body: <p>As you may know from 3d packages <strong>depth information</strong> can be represented by a 2d <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_map" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Depth Map</a>:</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ApVl1.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ApVl1.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
  
  <p>In therory it's possible to <strong>detect the defocused area</strong> of an image via <strong>depth estimation methods</strong> and <strong>generating a depth map</strong> using this information. The algorithm splits up the image by finding all relevant edges, analizes the gradient values and compare these areas with each other. <em>I doubt that this is accurate enough for every shot, but could work in some cases.</em> One of the latest papers, you can find here:  <a href="http://www.sjzhuo.net/defocusEstimation/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.sjzhuo.net/defocusEstimation/</a></p>
  
  <p>AFAIK there is only one available plugin for After Effects at the moment: <a href="http://www.yuvsoft.com/stereo-3d-technologies/automatic-depth-estimation/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.yuvsoft.com/stereo-3d-technologies/automatic-depth-estimation/</a>, but since this process is becoming increasingly important for <strong>stereoscopic workflows</strong>, it's a matter of time when more tools will become available.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-10-10T17:57:01.077Z
Answers.Text: thanks a lot man! Really interesting topic. I will give the plugin a shot and let you know if it worked for me:) thanks @poor
Answers.UserDisplayName: Marten Zander
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-10-11T06:07:10.853Z
Answers.Text: @SlimMarten You're welcome! Ok, great - keep me posted!
Answers.UserDisplayName: p2or
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-10-10T17:15:46.140Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2015-10-10T17:15:46.140Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: p2or
Body: <p>Is there any existing filter/effect, that will <strong>automatically</strong> mask out the unsharp area of my footage?</p>
  
  <p>Let's say I have an object in focus and a lot of depth of field. How do I show only my sharp object?</p>
  
Tags: <after-effects><post-production><alpha>
Title: Is it possible to mask out unsharp areas of footage with After Effects?
UserDisplayName: Marten Zander
ThreadText: # Is it possible to mask out unsharp areas of footage with After Effects?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2015-10-07)
  
  Is there any existing filter/effect, that will **automatically** mask out the unsharp area of my footage?
  
  Let's say I have an object in focus and a lot of depth of field. How do I show only my sharp object?
  
  **Tags:** after-effects, post-production, alpha
  
  
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  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2015-10-10. Score: 1 | Accepted answer
  
  As you may know from 3d packages **depth information** can be represented by a 2d [Depth Map](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_map):
  
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/ApVl1.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/ApVl1.png)
  
  In therory it's possible to **detect the defocused area** of an image via **depth estimation methods** and **generating a depth map** using this information. The algorithm splits up the image by finding all relevant edges, analizes the gradient values and compare these areas with each other. *I doubt that this is accurate enough for every shot, but could work in some cases.* One of the latest papers, you can find here: <http://www.sjzhuo.net/defocusEstimation/>
  
  AFAIK there is only one available plugin for After Effects at the moment: <http://www.yuvsoft.com/stereo-3d-technologies/automatic-depth-estimation/>, but since this process is becoming increasingly important for **stereoscopic workflows**, it's a matter of time when more tools will become available.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: thanks a lot man! Really interesting topic. I will give the plugin a shot and let you know if it worked for me:) thanks @poor  
  > **username_1**: @SlimMarten You're welcome! Ok, great - keep me posted!  
  
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