Gary Rosenzweig attempts to using iMovie 08 to blur out an area in a video. You can use this to blur a license plate, face or something else you want to remove.
Want to know more about how to use iMovie on your Mac? Check out this MacMost course!
It does work in iMovie 09, but things are a little different. But the basic concept is the same. You can actually use Picture-in-picture to just grab a small blurry graphic and place it where you want over the video.
ron gantt
15 years ago
i tried to do this in imovie 09, well the problem isn't putting the blur in, its making the blur work PS cs4, i dont see the oval crop, and then when i try with a square crop, and i invert, you say hit delete when i do that nothing happens, and if i command x to cut it out, when i save it there is a WHITE background, and even if i open with a transparent window still the same, can you help me out???
It does take some Photoshop skills, yes. And explaining all the details of how to do this in Photoshop would take far more than a comment. Maybe find a friend that knows photoshop to help?
HMastersen
14 years ago
Awesome clip Gary, you really helped me. I have enjoyed iMovie 08 but was amazed at the end when I couldn't blur a few things. Great workaround. Here is my expanded actions for what Gary does:
On my Mac, this is how it went:
- image is created as Gary does, then saved as .tiff file
- image must then be saved as JPEG for use in GIMP (image editor I use, which is free!!)
- Open JPEG in GIMP, then use oval or square to select area to blur
- Then select Filter/Blur as Gary does
- Then hit "control I" to invert the selection
- Then select Edit/Clear
- Then select Layer/Transparency/Add Alpha Channel
- Then select Edit/Clear again
- Then Save As a png file
- Then do the rest as per Gary's vid
I found absolutely nothing else on the web for blurring, Gary is the man
PJae
14 years ago
Everything seems to work except for the whole dropping the inverted pic onto the clip. Our iMovie 08 only gives the option to REPLACE or INSERT the blur pic. Gary's video shows the blur being superimposed...that's not happening! Please help!
Cory
14 years ago
Gary, you say it works in iMovie 09, but -- as PJae notes -- I can't put the .png file "over" the clip. Any tips?
It sounds to me like you don't have "show advanced tools" turned on in the iMovie prefs. Then, use the picture-in-picture option to do this in iMovie 09.
Ryan
14 years ago
Gary, When I blur the face in photoshop like the video mentions and then drag it into imovie 09 with picture in picture I get a black ring around the image. My image is saved as a png but every way I have tried it it leaves this black ring around the edge of the image. Any ideas.
You've got to make sure you save it as a 32-bit png with an alpha channel. And you've got to make sure it is transparent (no background). Perhaps find a friend who is a Photoshop expert to help?
Juangcastro
14 years ago
Gary, instead of the trimming procedure, you just can insert a White or Black miniclip before and after your main clip, so the blur will fade in/out during the blank clip.
cheers.
Which version of iMovie? And have you turned on advanced tools?
...E
13 years ago
How can you do this if an object is moving? Say a license plate on a car that is driving? Your blur would stay stationary, but the object you want blurred moves.
Looks great. Thanks for linking me there. One last question, though. How about blurring everything but the face in your tutorial vid (background). Can you do that with either iMovie or Premiere Elements?
I haven't tried that. Same technique, just different overlay graphic. But some of the tools in Premiere might make it even easier.
E...
13 years ago
So would you create many shapes and have multiple title slides, with each one only lasting a second or two (to account for movement of arms and feet, possibly)? Could you make a video for this? Thanks.
That would be painful. If it can't be done with one overlay graphic, then I wouldn't do it this way. I'd move to pro editing software, or perhaps animation software.
E...
13 years ago
Thanks for the advice. I have been looking at editing software for a while and comparing their abilities. Do you have a suggestion about which one to get?
You should ask in some video editing forums. My experience is limited.
Lincoln
13 years ago
Hi Gary! Thanks for the video!
I have one question. I need blur a really small area, but even if a create a 10x10 pixel PNG file, iMovie (11) import the PIP with a bigger image. Do you know if there is any "minimum image size" for PIP?
Instead of going through all that trouble, couldn't you just put a 0.25 sec black slide at the beginning and end?
Mikel Estes
12 years ago
Great, great stuff, but had to stop and think on an even easier way, in shorter time, to try and edit those bits at the beg/end. Here's what I would try:
Cropping those 'unwanted bits' to probably the smallest square possible, making it a close up of yourself(Gary), maybe even hold that crop for a better moment to begin or end on in the dialogue(so choose a longer clip, it'll be fixed in a sec.).
At the end of the cropped clip, it then goes to your wide shot again. If you want to back up or move your wide shot then just select that part, separate it(click "Split Clip"), then choose the main wide shot, click "Join" and it sucks it back into the mother ship...so to speak.
If the crop didn't look right,THEN export and all that info you provide in the video.
Thanks again for a great idea!
bonus prize: During the cropped parts, run a 'title' under the person name/position for 2-4 seconds.Even neater if you make it crosse over into a bit of the wide shot.This helps in "jump shots" a little as well.
Want to know more about how to use iMovie on your Mac?
Thanks for the tutorial. It was a big help. Couldn't agree more about Apple needing to open it for plug-ins.
Excellent tip... Doesn't work in iMovie 09 though. Any idea how to get around this?
It does work in iMovie 09, but things are a little different. But the basic concept is the same. You can actually use Picture-in-picture to just grab a small blurry graphic and place it where you want over the video.
i tried to do this in imovie 09, well the problem isn't putting the blur in, its making the blur work PS cs4, i dont see the oval crop, and then when i try with a square crop, and i invert, you say hit delete when i do that nothing happens, and if i command x to cut it out, when i save it there is a WHITE background, and even if i open with a transparent window still the same, can you help me out???
It does take some Photoshop skills, yes. And explaining all the details of how to do this in Photoshop would take far more than a comment. Maybe find a friend that knows photoshop to help?
Awesome clip Gary, you really helped me. I have enjoyed iMovie 08 but was amazed at the end when I couldn't blur a few things. Great workaround. Here is my expanded actions for what Gary does:
On my Mac, this is how it went:
- image is created as Gary does, then saved as .tiff file
- image must then be saved as JPEG for use in GIMP (image editor I use, which is free!!)
- Open JPEG in GIMP, then use oval or square to select area to blur
- Then select Filter/Blur as Gary does
- Then hit "control I" to invert the selection
- Then select Edit/Clear
- Then select Layer/Transparency/Add Alpha Channel
- Then select Edit/Clear again
- Then Save As a png file
- Then do the rest as per Gary's vid
I found absolutely nothing else on the web for blurring, Gary is the man
Everything seems to work except for the whole dropping the inverted pic onto the clip. Our iMovie 08 only gives the option to REPLACE or INSERT the blur pic. Gary's video shows the blur being superimposed...that's not happening! Please help!
Gary, you say it works in iMovie 09, but -- as PJae notes -- I can't put the .png file "over" the clip. Any tips?
It sounds to me like you don't have "show advanced tools" turned on in the iMovie prefs. Then, use the picture-in-picture option to do this in iMovie 09.
Gary, When I blur the face in photoshop like the video mentions and then drag it into imovie 09 with picture in picture I get a black ring around the image. My image is saved as a png but every way I have tried it it leaves this black ring around the edge of the image. Any ideas.
THANKS
You've got to make sure you save it as a 32-bit png with an alpha channel. And you've got to make sure it is transparent (no background). Perhaps find a friend who is a Photoshop expert to help?
Gary, instead of the trimming procedure, you just can insert a White or Black miniclip before and after your main clip, so the blur will fade in/out during the blank clip.
cheers.
You could, but then you would have that small blank spot in your video that you may not want.
i do everything but it wont let put the photo/picture in the movie... only before and sfter
Which version of iMovie? And have you turned on advanced tools?
How can you do this if an object is moving? Say a license plate on a car that is driving? Your blur would stay stationary, but the object you want blurred moves.
You can't do that easily in iMovie. But see episode 481: http://macmost.com/blur-a-moving-face-in-adobe-premiere-elements-for-mac.html for a way to do it in Premiere Elements.
Looks great. Thanks for linking me there. One last question, though. How about blurring everything but the face in your tutorial vid (background). Can you do that with either iMovie or Premiere Elements?
I haven't tried that. Same technique, just different overlay graphic. But some of the tools in Premiere might make it even easier.
So would you create many shapes and have multiple title slides, with each one only lasting a second or two (to account for movement of arms and feet, possibly)? Could you make a video for this? Thanks.
That would be painful. If it can't be done with one overlay graphic, then I wouldn't do it this way. I'd move to pro editing software, or perhaps animation software.
Thanks for the advice. I have been looking at editing software for a while and comparing their abilities. Do you have a suggestion about which one to get?
You should ask in some video editing forums. My experience is limited.
Hi Gary! Thanks for the video!
I have one question. I need blur a really small area, but even if a create a 10x10 pixel PNG file, iMovie (11) import the PIP with a bigger image. Do you know if there is any "minimum image size" for PIP?
Regards...
You want to use an image that is the same size as the video (1280x720, for instance). And only put the blurred area in one spot of that.
Gary,
Thanks for the reply. I will try that!
Regards!
Gary
This worked like a charm, thank you very much. Took no time at all.
Hoto
Does this blur effect work for Photoshop Elements?
Photoshop Elements? Do you mean Premiere Elements? That's episode 481: http://macmost.com/blur-a-moving-face-in-adobe-premiere-elements-for-mac.html
Instead of going through all that trouble, couldn't you just put a 0.25 sec black slide at the beginning and end?
Great, great stuff, but had to stop and think on an even easier way, in shorter time, to try and edit those bits at the beg/end. Here's what I would try:
Cropping those 'unwanted bits' to probably the smallest square possible, making it a close up of yourself(Gary), maybe even hold that crop for a better moment to begin or end on in the dialogue(so choose a longer clip, it'll be fixed in a sec.).
At the end of the cropped clip, it then goes to your wide shot again. If you want to back up or move your wide shot then just select that part, separate it(click "Split Clip"), then choose the main wide shot, click "Join" and it sucks it back into the mother ship...so to speak.
If the crop didn't look right,THEN export and all that info you provide in the video.
Thanks again for a great idea!
bonus prize: During the cropped parts, run a 'title' under the person name/position for 2-4 seconds.Even neater if you make it crosse over into a bit of the wide shot.This helps in "jump shots" a little as well.