Blur Plugin for FCP

I will need to do a lot of blurring out of brandnames etc for a documentary.

Does anyone know if there is a good filter that allows you to create a keyframable blur shape that you can move, change in perspective etc.

Otherwise the only way I can see to do it is to copy the layer you are working on, place it above the original layer, crop the top layer using the motion tap and apply the filter to the new top layer. However moving the filter seems tricky.....because you don't want to move the whole layer - you have to move the crop parameters - which will be very laborious. Maybe someone has a better work around if there is no good plugin available.

Thanks
A

DO your second workflow, but don't crop...use the 8-point garbage matte.

Hey Shane,

Thanks.....this kinda works....but is still a bit clumsy.....surely someone has developed a filter which makes this kind of thing easy to manipulate over time.....watch any reality show and sometimes every second shot will have blurs on it.....?

Those reality shows edit on Avid and use something called an Animatte, which is a fancy garbage matte. And yes, they have to keyframe changes over time.

I edited reality TV...I know. BOY do I know.

Answered your post on Ken Stone. But you didn't ask the second part.

The way a lot of this blurring is done easily is through the use of motion tracking (which automatically adds keyframes) a mask shape. I usually use Boris RED for this because the pixel chooser allows a really easy way to auto-track the mask. So it's difficult to do this in FCP. There is a tracking plug in from lyric.com. Might work for this. Otherwise it's RED, or AE.



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Without those plugins, a Mask Shape added to a Mask Feather works just fine for me most of the time. The "Center" button in the Mask Shape filter allows you to move the blurred area without moving the whole shot, and the Horizontal/Vertical parameters allow for quick resizing.

Thanks all.....

Gives me a good idea of the options....

A

Shane,

Oops. You forgot that many "reality shows" DO edit on FCP AND still have to blur.

Like Kevin mentions above, we use a variety of techniques depending on the shot. Worst case scenario: everyone in a crowded bar. Best case: bottle of beer in a static shot. There is NO quick and easy way to do this. We allocate a fair amount of time to this process.

Sometimes I think spending a couple of hundred bucks "buying" a release from someone is a heck of a lot cheaper than spending hours trying to blur them out of a scene. But I digress...

mark

The Real World? The Simple Life? Those so called "reality shows?"

Oh...yeah. Heh...well...yeah. uhm...

You guys use the garbage matte and a lots of manhours, no?

(How could I forget...drive by ya nearly every day...)

Hey... that's not "garbage"!

We prefer the term, "Unanticipated program material"!!!

mark