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Activity Forums VEGAS Pro blurring a face in a video

  • blurring a face in a video

    Posted by Eric Adler on February 27, 2016 at 4:20 am

    I am at a loss why after trying every single blurring and pixelating video effect in Vegas 12, there isn’t one single effect that can sufficiently blur a face where it couldn’t be recognizable. Gaussian Blur has the best results so far but there are parts of the video even with the effect that show too many features of the face through the blur.

    I have tried all the slider settings within the effect to improve the blurring capability but again nothing that sufficiently masks the face.

    One note: I don’t wish to employ some crazy effect that would cause the eyes to focus on that part of the video any more than they normally would.

    Please Help.

    John Rofrano replied 10 years, 2 months ago 3 Members · 8 Replies
  • 8 Replies
  • Steve Rhoden

    February 27, 2016 at 10:00 am

    Plugins are available for this that does a far better job.
    NewblueFX for example is one, who has this.

    Steve Rhoden (Cow Leader)
    Film Maker & VFX Artist.
    Owner of Filmex Creative Media.
    Samples of my Work and Company can be seen here:
    https://www.facebook.com/FilmexCreativeMedia

  • John Rofrano

    February 27, 2016 at 1:53 pm

    [eric adler] “Gaussian Blur has the best results so far but there are parts of the video even with the effect that show too many features of the face through the blur.”

    I would use Pixelate with a mask. That will definitely hide the features better. Also BCC Witness Protection is designed exactly for this job but you have to buy it from Boris FX.

    ~jr

    http://www.johnrofrano.com
    http://www.vasstsoftware.com

  • Eric Adler

    February 27, 2016 at 5:38 pm

    I give up. I have 4 effects on the source right now and i can still make it the profile pretty well.

    Gaussian Blur / Pixelate / Swirl / Chroma Blur

    THE FACIAL FEATURES ARE STILL DISCERNIBLE!

    I tried pixelate on it’s own but it draws eyes far too much to that particular area.

    I don’t have the budget for a $200 plugin package

    Not being a software engineer it still escapes me why I can’t blur the crap out this face.

  • Steve Rhoden

    February 27, 2016 at 6:12 pm

    Yeah, the built in filters in Vegas are at times limited, that’s why
    plugins are a necessary investment, and that goes for every NLE.

    Steve Rhoden (Cow Leader)
    Film Maker & VFX Artist.
    Owner of Filmex Creative Media.
    Samples of my Work and Company can be seen here:
    https://www.facebook.com/FilmexCreativeMedia

  • John Rofrano

    February 27, 2016 at 6:19 pm

    [eric adler] “I tried pixelate on it’s own but it draws eyes far too much to that particular area.”

    Try Pixelate with a Gaussian Blur after it. This will allow Pixelate to distort the image and then the Blur will smooth the distortion making it even more indiscernible.

    ~jr

    http://www.johnrofrano.com
    http://www.vasstsoftware.com

  • John Rofrano

    February 27, 2016 at 8:32 pm

    [Steve Rhoden] “… the built in filters in Vegas are at times limited”

    Yea, but in this case they are not. Both the Pixelate and Gaussian Blur are more than capable of obfuscating a face behind recognition.

    Blurring a face is always going to draw attention to itself. Humans do not like seeing bodies with burred faces. There is nothing any plug-in can do about this unless you clone someone else head on the body. It’s human nature to want to identify a face.

    This is why I recommended to distort the features with Pixelate and then Blur them; this way you can use less of each and still achieve acceptable obfuscation.

    ~jr

    http://www.johnrofrano.com
    http://www.vasstsoftware.com

  • Eric Adler

    February 27, 2016 at 9:16 pm

    Nice. I am getting improved results with changing the order

    Thanks

  • John Rofrano

    February 28, 2016 at 2:40 pm

    Great! You can now increate the pixelation amount without being too distracting because the blur will smooth it out.

    ~jr

    http://www.johnrofrano.com
    http://www.vasstsoftware.com

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