Originally Posted by DeanCapture

The T3i does have an auto-focus feature but it's nothing like you're used to using on a typical video camera. Basically, you compose your image looking at the LCD screen on the back. On the LCD screen there is a little box that you can move around the frame. You move that box to what you want to focus on, then push a button and the camera will focus on that spot. It'll hunt around a bit before it locks down on focus. To focus on another area, move the box to that area, push down the button and the camera will re-focus to that spot. It's not smooth and it's not pretty. You'll definitely have to cut out that part of your footage. I've found it faster to just focus manually.

As I mentioned before, shooting with DSLR is nothing like shooting with a traditional video camera