ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 37 BLUR SPECIFIC AREAS OF PICTURE
From: lightxx (t-h@no-spam)
Subject: Blur specific areas of picture
Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 04:04:53 -0700


hi guys,

I'm all new to Premiere and After Effects, so my problem might seem easy for you, but in fact, I just can't figure it out how to do it...


I want to blur / pixelize certain areas of my video, for example the tags of a car I taped, or a person's face that I interviewed ...

I tried a search on the forums but haven't found anything so far!

Thanxs for your help!


















From: "Navarro Parker" (nparker@no-spam)
Subject: Re: Blur specific areas of picture
Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 05:49:05 -0700

There are several ways to accomplish this. Here is one way.

Make a duplicate of the layer you want to blur. Use the Pen or Shape tool to draw the area you want to blur. Then apply a blur filter to your masked layer.



From: "Fredo Viola" (aviola@no-spam)
Subject: Re: Blur specific areas of picture
Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 05:52:19 -0700

Or you could create an adjustment layer above the layer you want to effect. Apply the masks and effect on this layer. Totally similar to Parker's solution. I'm not sure if it's easier on the cpu, since it's one less layer of complex data. What do you think, Parker?



From: "Jim Howells" (jhowells@no-spam)
Subject: Re: Blur specific areas of picture
Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 08:45:00 -0700

Or you could do a compound blur with a gray scale image acting as the blur map.


From: lightxx (t-h@no-spam)
Subject: Re: Blur specific areas of picture
Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 14:39:44 -0700

Guys, thanks alot for your help!

The thing is that I'm not talking about static pictures here but moving objects, which means that I have to find a way to "move" my mask or whatever acording to the movement of the object I want to blur! Any ideas?


Thanks!!!!


From: "Aaron Cobb" (gromit59@no-spam)
Subject: Re: Blur specific areas of picture
Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 16:03:55 -0700

Masks can be animated. So can track mattes, and they will give you better control than masks alone.


If you are looking for something more automated, you might give the motion tracker a try, but probably not before you've developed a reasonable understanding of animating mattes in After Effects.


Aaron

From: "Bill Marcellus" (bulletedge@no-spam)
Subject: Re: Blur specific areas of picture
Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2003 08:14:12 -0700

In order to achieve your objective you need to use an animated mask. Place your mask on the first frame of your video then twirl down in mask properties for the layer being treated and find the property labeled "mask shape". Next to each property you will find a stopwatch icon. Click on this icon to add a keyframe. Then move to the next frame and you will see that the yellow mask outline has become dotted instead of solid. Grab one of the handles and drag the mask to its new position in the second frame. You can also modify the entire shape of the mask and it will automatically add a keyframe to your current frame as well as morph to the new position.


Spend a little time with the manual and this process will be explained in detail. It is much simpler than it sounds. You might also want to invest in the Trish & Chris Meyer books as well as the one written by Angie Taylor. Masks are covered extensively in all of these books.


Bill