How to blur (non-moving) objects in video

Question

Hi - I've been trying for 2 hours to just blur something out of a video to no avail, using rectangle mask, then 'gaussient' filter. All I see on the screen, even after increasing the "amount" of blur to maximum setting, is a red rectangle. The blur effect is barely noticeable. I can't see what I'm doing wrong? Additional questions:
1) How do I get the layer to "stick?" Just save or export the project as an mp4?
2) How do set the start and stop of the filter? (I can change the start with the 'handle bars' on the purple bar, but not the end).
OS/X 10.9.5 (although updating to Yosemite shortly!).
Thank you for any help you can provide.
Karri

Answer 1

karrifromab wrote:
Hi - I've been trying for 2 hours to just blur something out of a video to no avail, using rectangle mask, then 'gaussient' filter. All I see on the screen, even after increasing the "amount" of blur to maximum setting, is a red rectangle. The blur effect is barely noticeable. I can't see what I'm doing wrong?
If I'm understanding what you're looking to do, to blur a portion of footage:
Add your footage
Duplicate it
Add your shape mask to the duplicate footage
Add the blur filter to the duplicate footage*
*Be sure to add the filter to the footage and not the mask, otherwise you'll be blurring the shape mask (making it appear feathered, instead of blurring the footage).
Your Layers List should look like this:
     Group
          Footage copy
               Rectangle mask
               Gaussian Blur
          Footage
Not this:
     Group
          Footage copy
               Rectangle mask
                    Gaussian Blur
          Footage
Additional questions:
1) How do I get the layer to "stick?" Just save or export the project as an mp4?
2) How do set the start and stop of the filter? (I can change the start with the 'handle bars' on the purple bar, but not the end).
1) I'm not sure I follow what you're looking for here. Saving the project will allow you to open it in the future to modify or export it again. Once your project is finished, you can export it as a movie or image sequence or directly to a web service. It all depends on your delivery needs.
2) You've got it right, just like how you change the start, you can do that with the end.
It sounds like either you don't have your entire project visible so you're not seeing the end of the filter. Try zooming out of the Timeline. (lower right corner is a slider, or click the Timeline area and hit shift+z).
Or the filter is applied to an object that is bigger than your project. Set the playhead to where you want the filter to end and with it selected, hit o. This sets an outpoint for the selected object.  You can also adjust the timing for any object in the Properties tab in the Inspector. Twirl open the Timing brick and you'll see scrubbers for In, Out and Duration.
Hope that gets you going.