: A powerful free plugin specifically designed for realistic depth-of-field blurring using depth maps. It is noted for handling edges better than the native effect.
: The standard for general soft blurring, though it does not create realistic "bokeh" highlights.
Are you trying to blur a or a 3D animation scene ?
This free preset helps fix After Effects' incorrect color space processing to produce more vibrant and realistic out-of-focus highlights. 3. Troubleshooting "Missing Effect" Warnings
If you absolutely need the old effect, there is a technical workaround, although it may not work on the newest 2026 versions of macOS (due to lack of Metal support).
A user-created, open-source script called (available via aescripts.com free section) recreates the legacy Lens Blur behavior using a combination of Camera Lens Blur and Channel Blur. No cost.
Future versions of After Effects should consider adding an alias "Lens Blur" that redirects to Camera Lens Blur to reduce user confusion.
Camera Lens Blur in the Effects & Presets panel.
: If you have a backup or an older version of After Effects installed (e.g., CC 2014 or CC 2015), you can manually copy the Lens Blur.aex (Windows) or Lens Blur.plugin (Mac) file from the old Plug-ins folder into your current version's folder.
Replace "Your_Target_Layer" with the exact name of the footage layer you want to blur.