Welcome to another in a series of BizVid communications video tutorials on Adobe Premiere Pro. This tutorial will focus on the technique of blurring a face so that the person’s identity is protected. I’m sure you’ve seen this effect many times. Okay, so my project is open and the video clip I will be working with is already dropped onto the timeline. As you can see, the face is quite identifiable. But, we’re going to change that.
The first item of business in this process is to duplicate the clip that you want to add the blur effect to. The way I accomplish this is to select the original, right click, scroll to copy and click. By doing it this way, I know that I am getting an exact duplicate. Next, I’ll select the track that I want to paste the copy onto and in this case, I have selected video track two. When you do this, make sure that video track two is selected. If it is not, the clip will not paste where you want it to. Right click and paste. Remember, wherever the current time indicator, CTI, is placed will determine the leading edge of where the video clip will be placed. So, you want to be sure that the two line up exactly. If not, you can always slide the clip into place.
The next step is to create a title. I’m going to use the keystroke shortcut, control “T” to bring up the titler. Once the titler is open, I position my mouse on the “Elipse tool” to select it. Next, click and drag a circle around the portion of the video that I want the blur to occur. In this case, it will be the face. Once the circle is created, it can be moved around anywhere within the frame by simply clicking and dragging. Now save the title by clicking the “X.” It appears in the project folder. Drag the title onto video track three…..let’s extend it out to the full length of the project.
Next, I need to find the type of blur I will use. I like the mosaic effect. It is similar to the type of effect used on the TV shows like “cops.” To find the effect, I will go to the “Video Effects” folder and type “Stylize” in the search box. This saves me from having to search through all of the effects. Then scroll to “mosaic” and click and drag the “mosaic” effect to video track two. I am still not done.
Next, I’ll find the track matt key by typing “Track Matte” in the effects search bar. Click and drag the “track matte” effect also onto video track two. Then, to complete the effect, open the “Effects Controls” panel and in the Track Matte effect, select video track three…this means that you are telling the track matte effect and the mosaic effect to apply themselves to video track three. And when I do, you can see that the blur is installed.
Now, what if the subject is moving. Well, to keep the blur on their face, you have to use your motion controls and create an animation. Like this. I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and will want to subscribe to our YouTube Channel to see more of them. Also be sure to visit our blog at BizVidCommunications.com/blog. Thanks for watching.