Depth effects in Nodespell turn a depth map, a grayscale image where brightness means distance, into lens blur and atmosphere. You create the depth map with a depth model node, then use ZDefocus to refocus the shot, Defocus for uniform lens blur, and Depth Atmosphere for haze, fog and diffusion that grow with distance.
Create depth maps and normals
Section titled “Create depth maps and normals”Depth and normal model nodes run as tasks on Nodespell and return images you can feed into effects.
| Node | Input | Outputs | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depth Anything V3 Image | Image | Result | Grayscale depth: near is white, far is black. Output format PNG (default), JPEG or WebP; use PNG to avoid compression |
| Depth Anything V3 Video | Video | Result | Temporally consistent depth video at the source resolution, keeping the audio, up to 30 fps; clips up to 10 minutes |
| Facet Depth V1 | Image | Depth map (PNG), Depth (EXR), Raw depth (NPY) | EXR and NPY keep floating-point depth. Scale (0.2–2) resizes the input, up to 12 megapixels. Ignore transparent objects estimates depth behind glass |
| Facet Normals V1 | Image | Normal map (PNG), Normals (EXR), Raw normals (NPY) | Camera-space normals, not tangent-space texture maps |
All of these give relative depth, not distance in metres. When you bring depth or normals into a colour-managed compositor, assign them Raw / data in its Inputs so no colour transform changes the values. See Color management.
Defocus or ZDefocus?
Section titled “Defocus or ZDefocus?”| Defocus | ZDefocus | |
|---|---|---|
| Blur amount | The same everywhere (Radius, default 16 px) | Varies with depth from the Depth input |
| Use for | Out-of-focus elements, backgrounds, bokeh looks | Refocusing a shot, rack-focus, depth of field |
| Extra input | Kernel (custom aperture) | Depth and Kernel |
Both share the same apertures, quality setting and highlight controls, and both work in the Graph and in compositors.
Refocus a shot with ZDefocus
Section titled “Refocus a shot with ZDefocus”- Connect the image to ZDefocus and the depth map to its Depth input.
- In the Depth tab, set Depth Channel (default Luminance) and Depth Encoding: White Near (default, as Depth Anything and Facet output) or Black Near. Use Depth Min and Depth Max to map your values to the 0–1 range.
- Set Output to Depth View to check the normalised depth, then False Colour Focus to see what is in focus.
- Set Focus Depth (0–1, default 0.5) to the depth that should stay sharp, and Focus Range (default 0.04) for how much depth around it stays sharp.
- In the Defocus tab, set Max Radius (default 24 px) and the Near Blur and Far Blur strengths (default 1).
- Set Output back to Result.
| Output | Shows |
|---|---|
| Result | The refocused image |
| Depth View | Normalised depth |
| Blur View | Blur amount per pixel |
| False Colour Focus | Near, focused and far areas in colour |
| Kernel | The aperture shape at its size on the picture |
| Layer Setup | How depth is split into blur layers |
ZDefocus renders depth in layers. Automatic Layers (on) chooses spacing from the radius and quality; turn it off to set Layers Per Side (default 20) and Layer Curve (0 is even; positive packs layers near focus). Foreground blur spreads beyond object edges. Edge Anti-aliasing smooths the silhouettes of focused objects against the depth map, with Strength.
Choose a bokeh shape
Section titled “Choose a bokeh shape”Aperture sets the lens shape for both nodes. New nodes use Disc; nodes saved earlier keep their blade aperture.
| Aperture | Extra controls |
|---|---|
| Disc | Edge softness, Rim strength, Rim width |
| Blades | Bokeh Sides (3–16, default 7), plus the Disc controls |
| Star | Bokeh Sides |
| Heart | None |
| Ring | Hole size (default 0.5) |
| Image | Uses the picture on the Kernel input: Kernel from (Auto, Brightness, Alpha), Kernel centre (Shape bounds or Image frame), Noise floor |
Aspect stretches the aperture, for an anamorphic look, and Rotation turns it. For an image kernel, connect a white shape on black, or a shape cut out of transparency; raise Noise floor to clean a photographed kernel. Set Output to Kernel to see the shape the blur uses.
Highlight Threshold and Highlight Gain (default 0, off) boost bright areas before blurring so bokeh balls bloom. This is a creative adjustment for SDR footage; HDR values above 1 already produce bright bokeh. Quality is Fast (default, smaller working resolution) or High quality; preview and export use the same setting. During playback in a compositor, heavy defocus may show a half-resolution preview that is replaced by full quality when you pause.
Add haze and fog with Depth Atmosphere
Section titled “Add haze and fog with Depth Atmosphere”Depth Atmosphere builds haze, dense fog and diffusion from a depth map. Connect Image and an aligned Depth; Mask is optional. It is a screen-space approximation: it cannot see hidden geometry, cast volumetric shadows or handle several depth layers per pixel.
| Tab | Controls |
|---|---|
| Atmosphere | Start (0.05) and End (1) distances, Air Density (0.35, up to 20), Maximum Opacity (0.9), Air Colour, Falloff, Falloff Power and Falloff Curve |
| Grade | Exposure (stops), Contrast and Saturation, applied more with distance |
| Diffusion | Image Diffusion softens all distant detail; Highlight Bloom (0.35) spreads light from bright areas, with Highlight Threshold, Soft Knee, Radius (80 px), Blur Layers, Layer Growth and Tail Falloff |
| Depth | Depth Channel, Depth Encoding (White Near default), Decode sRGB Depth, Depth Min, Depth Max, Mask Softness (1 px) and Edge Anti-aliasing (1) |
Falloff is Exponential (default), Linear or Custom. With Custom, draw the distance ramp as a curve: its endpoints are fixed, points can be smooth or linear, and you can open a larger editor. Falloff Power shapes the ramp before the falloff is applied. Turn on Decode sRGB Depth only for a depth map stored as an sRGB image; leave it off for numeric depth.
Set Output to inspect parts of the effect: Result, Atmosphere Only, Distance Influence, Transmission, Highlight Bloom, Diffused Image, Fog Mask or Diffusion Mask.
Frequently asked questions
Section titled “Frequently asked questions”Which depth model should I use?
Section titled “Which depth model should I use?”Use Depth Anything V3 Image for a quick grayscale map and the Video node for moving shots. Use Facet Depth V1 when you need floating-point depth in EXR or NPY.
Why is my focus inverted?
Section titled “Why is my focus inverted?”Your depth map may use black for near. Set Depth Encoding to Black Near.
Are depth values in real-world units?
Section titled “Are depth values in real-world units?”No. These models produce relative depth. Use Focus Depth, Depth Min and Depth Max to work in the normalised 0–1 range.
Can I animate the focus?
Section titled “Can I animate the focus?”Yes, inside a video Compositor. Key Focus Depth for a rack focus; see Keyframes.
Do Defocus and Depth Atmosphere use credits?
Section titled “Do Defocus and Depth Atmosphere use credits?”They run on your GPU in the browser. The depth and normal model nodes run as tasks on Nodespell.
Related
Section titled “Related”- Recipe: depth refocus and atmosphere: a worked example.
- Filters and effects: other blurs and filters.
- Masks and keying: depth maps as mattes.
- Color management: keep depth data raw.
- Keyframes: animate focus.