You can apply visual effects to the 3D View using the Viewport Filters. These filters can enhance your sculptures and assigned materials and aid in recreating an environment that mimics how they’ll be rendered in another application. When turned on, these filters appear as a post-processing effect that is applied in real-time to everything displayed in the 3D View.
You can turn on the following filter effects to modify how the model appears in the 3D View (provided your computer graphics card supports these Cg-based effects):
The Tonemapper filter works by remapping the color values for what displays in the 3D View. Adjust the Tonemapper properties to compress, expand, or shift the tonal range of the rendered scene.
You can also simulate interesting glow effects using the Glare property. This feature is useful when you use HDRI images for environment and material maps and you need to evaluate the model with an overall level of brightness or contrast applied.
Using the Depth of Field filter
The Depth of Field filter lets you simulate the depth of field effects inherent to optical camera lenses in real time. That is, a specific near and far range from the camera can be defined where items within the specified range appear in focus and items outside the specified range appear out of focus, or blurred.
Depth of field helps to reduce the overall digital sharpness that is inherent to computer graphics and makes a model appear with characteristics inherent to an optical camera lens.
The properties appear in the Properties window.
Using the Ambient Occlusion filter
The Ambient Occlusion filter lets you simulate the occlusion effects that darken cracks, crevices, corners and points of contact on rendered surfaces.
This filter aids in evaluating the overall 3D form of a model in fine detail areas, much like moving a light across the front of the surface helps to evaluate the surface highlights and subtleties of its overall form.