ABSTRACT
Graphics programmers work hard to spend their per-frame millisecond budget wisely-by ensuring the color buffer gamma is correct, using a true high dynamic range pipeline, or trying to have the best antialiasing technique possible. Therefore it can be surprising to actually spend more milliseconds to produce a blurred image! Many games use depth of field (DOF) to focus the player’s attention on a particular part of the frame, as well as to reinforce the depth illusion in the rendered image. Depth of field has a natural home in cutscenes, which typically have a more cinematographic feel, using framing and focus on a particular character or object to deliver a critical plot line for the game.
