Week 9 · Cinematic Cameras & DOF

Project 3 · Cinematic Title Sequence — Weeks 9–11

Today's new skill: Cinematic Cameras & DOF

In class

Two-node cameras, focus distance and aperture, rack-focus pulls, and null-driven camera rigs.

In-class exercise

Exercise 7 · Rack-Focus Rig — Build a two-node, null-rigged camera with true DOF and a clean rack-focus pull.

Work through this ~60-minute drill in class to rehearse today's skill before you apply it to your project. Full step-by-step: see the Exercise 7 · Rack-Focus Rig page.

Homework this week

Camera rig + rack-focus pull test Push your Cinematic Title Sequence forward with today's skill. See the Assignment · Project 3 page for the full brief.

Helpful links

Cinematic Cameras & DOF

• New Advanced 3D DOF & Focus Pulls (2026) — YouTube
• How to Use Depth of Field — YouTube
• Pull Focus for Cinematic DOF — Creative Bloq

Key terms: see the Vocabulary page. All links: see the Tutorial Links page.