Does anyone know of an editing tool or filter that can be used to create fake slider shots? I'm looking for something that can composite a layer of foreground objects such as fences, flowers and plants etc. These could be defocused and made to look like a slider shot.

I've never tried doing slider shots but it looks like After Effects would be an appropriate tool to use or Photoshop if it's a still image.
Judicious use of masking in Vegas might work but I forsee a lot of keyframe work and that can be tedious.

Thanks Mike, I just posted the question in the Adobe Creative Suite forum.

Jim, be sure to let us know what you find out.
Better yet, if you create anything, be sure to post examples.

Jim,
You should be able to do this entirely within Vegas Pro.
Put the background in one video track, and the green-screen foreground in a track above the background track. Then move the foreground track faster than the background track.
And you can defocus individual video tracks.
Ken

edit: Of course this presumes you can shoot the foreground material with a green or blue background. Might be able to fake a foreground in a paint program.

Thanks Ken, I know how to it the hard way as you suggested. I'm hoping there is an easier way with an assortment of foreground elements that are already masked and ready to use. That would be a straightforward approach. To shoot a green screen or mask the foreground image is a much bigger job. Since it would be generally defocused, it normally isn't important that the fence (or whatever) be your own fence shot for example.