Ever wondered how to blur a face in a video? Whether you're a digital marketer, a professional storyteller, or an influencer, mastering video privacy is now a must-have skill. In this guide, discover step-by-step techniques using 10 diverse tools for effective face-blurring effects. Ready to elevate your content and safeguard privacy? Join us on this transformative journey!
- 1Why use the blur face effect
- 2How do you blur faces in a video online
- 3How to blur faces in video on a desktop
- 4How to blur face in video on mobile
- 5Conclusion
- 6FAQs
Why use the blur face effect
Blurring faces in videos is like giving a virtual makeover to shield the real identities of individuals captured on your camera. This practice serves multifaceted purposes in the realm of video production. For example, a news reporter may need to blur the face of a rape victim for a news report; a filmmaker may want to use blurred faces in a trailer to arouse viewers' curiosity. The forthcoming section will guide you on how to blur faces in videos with the best online tools available.
How do you blur faces in a video online
Here's a list of tools and detailed guidelines to show you how to blur faces online and offline on various platforms.
1. CapCut online video editor
CapCut online video editor can always be your go-to tool for easy video editing. With various blurring effects, you can protect privacy or add a stylish touch to your videos. For instance, you can blur a face in a surprise proposal video to keep it under wraps until the big reveal. Besides this blurring effect, it offers rich editing options for you to perfect every detail of your video, like trimming a clip for a seamless transition and adding text overlays, animations, filters, transitions, and more. Also, you can access a treasure trove of media resources – templates, stickers, music – to make it more personalized.
Further, its quick sharability to popular social media platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter ensures your edited videos reach your audience quickly. Also, its cloud-based storage allows you to access any video draft on the go and collaborate with your team members for a streamlined workflow. Let's look at the following steps for blurring a face in a video using the CapCut online video editor.
- Step
- Upload your video
- First and foremost, let's start by uploading your video into the CapCut online video editor. There are a variety of ways you can upload a video.
- For convenience, you can easily drag and drop your video files into the editor by choosing the "drag and drop your files here" option on the left or center panel.
- Moreover, you can select "Project" from the menu at the top of the screen. From here, you can choose "Upload" or "Click to upload" or upload videos directly from the device, CapCut cloud space, Google Drive, or Dropbox.
- Creatively, you can also upload files to the CapCut online video editor directly from your mobile phone by clicking the "Scan with camera" option. Scan the QR code and then upload videos to CapCut. This is one of the most convenient options to upload files without any file transmission.
Step- Blur and edit
- After you upload the video to the CapCut online video editor using one of the methods above, you will see it in the "Media" area, also shown on the big canvas below.
- Click on the "Effects" tab on the left panel to see "Video effects" near the CapCut logo on the top left side. Select the "Blur" effect, and you can see the whole video becomes blurry. Here, in the video bar, you must drag the "Blur" effect bar to the same length, ensuring the effect is on the entire video for the whole time.
- Then click the "Export" button and hit "Download" to download the video.
- Now is the tricky part. You need to upload the blurred video to the CapCut online video editor again. Drag and drop the blurred one on top of the original video in the timeline, as shown below.
- Next, please click on the blurred video in the video bar, select the "Basic" tools on the right side of the canvas, and then click on the "Mask" tool.
- Select your preferred shape from the "Mask" toolkit and put it on the face you want to blur. Further, you can also adjust the "Feather," "Size," "Position," and "Rotation" of the mask according to your preferences. Once you have made adjustments, click "Done" to confirm. In this way, you have successfully blurred faces in video using the CapCut online video editor.
Step- Export or share
Finally, after all your adjustments and edits, you can click the "Export" button to share it as a link for review, as a presentation, or download your video. You can share the video you have edited on various social media platforms, such as Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, etc.
To download the edited video directly to your PC, you need to type in a "Name" for the video, adjust the "Resolution," select the exported "Quality," and set the "Frame Rate." Once done, click on the "Export" button to start your download.
2. Flixier
The blur effect in Flixier is beneficial when hiding undesirable parts of your footage. Flixier's blur and pixelate effects can obscure sensitive information, blur out a license plate, or cover someone's face. Follow the following steps to add blur effect to your video:
- Step
- Bring your video clip and import it to the software. After that, place it on the timeline. Step
- Access the "Library" menu, click "Shapes," then choose "Square Mask" from the dropdown menu. This will apply the mask to both the timeline and video canvas. Step
- Customize the mask's appearance by clicking on it, navigating to the "Properties" menu on the right, and selecting an effect like blur or pixelate. Then, you can witness the mask updating with the chosen effect on the canvas preview.
3. Kapwing
Kawpwing is an advanced and powerful online video editing tool. This tool provides an easy-to-use blur effect on videos. Kapwing can blur out an entire video with just a few clicks. Below is the step-by-step guide to blur faces in video using Kapwing.
- Step
- To upload videos to Kapwing, you can upload them directly from your device. Also, there are other options available, such as using URLs, uploading from Google Drive, and scanning the QR code to upload files from your phone directly. Step
- Click the "Edit" panel and go to the "Blur" level adjuster. You can adjust the blur level on your video using the adjuster. Step
- Click the "Export Project" button to export. Before exporting, adjust the format type, level of quality, and resolution according to your preferences.
How to blur faces in video on a desktop
You should find some desktop apps to blur faces in videos, especially when you create videos constantly and need to blur the faces in videos to protect privacy or for creative purposes. Below are some of the best desktop apps available for MacOS and Windows.
4. CapCut desktop video editor(MacOS and Windows)
CapCut desktop editor is an intuitive platform with various user-friendly features for video editing. You can freely explore its editing tools, from basic adjustments like trimming and cropping to advanced features like keyframe animation and speed curve. To use the blur effect in the CapCut desktop editor, follow the below steps.
- Step
- Launch CapCut and import your video. Drag it onto the timeline. Then, find the "Effects" on the top left side and choose the "Blur" effect. Once done with the blur effect, export the blur video. Step
- Next, import the exported blur video and place it on the original video. Click on the "Mask" tab and select a shape (e.g., circle, rectangle). Adjust the size and position to cover the face you want to blur. Step
- After adding the blur effect and making the preferred edits, click "Export" to download the video.
5. Adobe Premiere Pro (MacOS and Windows)
This sophisticated video editing program, Adobe Premiere Pro, works with Windows and MacOS. It is widely used for its advanced features that cater to the needs of moviemakers, video editors, and content creators. With Premiere Pro, you can access a great collection of tools for editing, color correction, audio adjustments, and blur effects. By following the listed steps below, you can blur a face in Premiere Pro:
- Step
- Start by bringing in the footage you want to edit. Step
- Apply a blur effect by going to "Effects," then "Video Effects," and lastly, "Blur & Sharpen," and choose "Gaussian Blur." Drag the "Gaussian Blur" effect onto your footage. Step
- Access "Effect Controls" and use the mask tool to draw around the area you want to blur. Then, animate the mask by adjusting its path over time to accurately track the object's movement, making adjustments as necessary for precision.
6. MiniTool MovieMaker(MacOS and Windows)
MiniTool MovieMaker is a user-friendly free video editor that facilitates simple video editing tasks on Windows PCs. The Blur effect is one of the notable features that adds quality to your videos. You can use it to protect identities, highlight focal points, or create a cinematic ambiance. Follow the steps below to add a blur effect to the videos with MiniTool MovieMaker:
- Step
- Upload your video into the editor. Step
- First, navigate to the "Elements" tab and select "Basic." Then, choose the "Mosaic effect" and adjust to your requirements. Plus, make the relevant edits required. Step
- Select the "Export" button to download your video.
7. iMovie (macOS)
iMovie is a native tool from Apple that is only accessible to macOS users. It has many features for editing videos, and it also allows you to blur individual frames easily. Here's how you blur a face in the iMovie desktop app.
- Step
- Begin by creating a project in iMovie. Navigate to "Preferences" in the main menu, locate "General," and click "Show Advanced Tools" to enable advanced features. Step
- Next, open any photo editing software, such as CapCut, Picsart, Canva, or Photoshop, that is capable of blurring an image. Import the exported frames, utilize the blur tool to obfuscate the desired faces, adjust the blur intensity, resize them to your preference, and save them as transparent PNGs. Now, import those images to the iMovie project and layer them on top of the corresponding video clips in the timeline. Next, precise the alignment using the "Picture in Picture" feature to position the blurred image over the face. Then, adjust the duration of each blurred image to match the face's appearance in the video. Step
- Finally, export your edited video with blurred faces. Click "Share" > "File," choose your desired quality and resolution, and hit "Export" to save your final masterpiece.
How to blur face in video on mobile
You must have also wondered how to blur faces in your videos with your mobile. Well, indeed, a few mobile apps can help blur faces in videos; and we've listed the best ones below.
8. CapCut mobile video editor (Android and iOS)
CapCut mobile app is available for Android and iOS platforms and is perfect for all skill levels. Whether you are an amateur or a professional, it is designed for anyone involved in video editing. With a user-friendly interface, it offers a range of features to enhance your videos. You can easily blur the face in the video by following the steps below.
- Step
- Upload and add overlay
- To begin, start with a "New project'' in the CapCut mobile app. Then, upload the video if you want to add the blur effect. Once it is uploaded, click "Overlay" and add the same video uploaded to add the blur effect. The blurred overlay video will now appear on top of your original video.
- Then click on the "Effects" tool to add the blur effect. Once finished, select the purple “Blur” bar and then tap on the "Object" tab. Next, click the “Blur” effect, select the “Overlay” tile from the menu that appears, and then tap on the tick mark.
Step- Add face blur
- Return to the "Overlay" tab on the project time screen. Tap on the second video you previously added as an overlay within the Overlay screen. Choose the "Mask" tool by swiping through the bottom toolbar.
- Here, you can select various shapes for your blur effect. Select the "Circle" option on the screen if you're trying to blur a face in the video. However, depending on what you want to blur, you can choose any shape for the blur effect.
- Place the "Blur" effect in the desired location and adjust its size with the up and down arrows before tapping the checkmark. You can also change the blur intensity by dragging the downward-facing arrow down to your desired setting.
Step- Export or share
Once you are done adding a blur to your video, it's time to export the video. Before exporting, adjust the resolution, frame rate, and color rate, and then click on "Export". Finally, the blurred video will be directly saved to your device. Also, you can share it on popular social media platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
9. MovStash (iOS)
MovStash is specifically designed for making mosaic/blur videos. It seamlessly supports iOS and has a straightforward interface for adding blur effects. It offers multiple blur options such as blur entire video, simple blur, blur with timeline, and face tracking mode. Follow these steps to add a face blur effect using MovStash:
- Step
- Once you click on the face tracking blur mode, you can easily select and upload the video. Step
- After uploading the video, MovStash automatically recognizes the faces. Then, you can adjust the blur size, level, type, and inverse the area. Step
- Press Save to export the video.
10. Power director (Android)
Power Director app allows you to apply a blur effect with different shapes in different ratios. This blur video can satisfy all your video editing needs. With the power director, you can define more than 1 area to blur. Also, you can easily add the blur effect to moving objects in a video. Follow these steps to try the Blur video app:
- Step
- As you open the Blur video app, it shows you selecting the video, which makes uploading easy. Step
- Define the area to blur. Then, you can adjust the strength and the feather level. Step
- Once done, you can export or share the edited video.
Conclusion
In terms of blurring face in video, selecting the right tool can significantly impact the final output of your video. CapCut online video editor, with its robust blurring effects and rich editing options, emerges as the best toolkit for blurring faces in videos. CapCut also provides additional blurring effects for videos, such as Gaussian, Mosaic, Pixelate, and more. Sometimes, video editing is not only a task but the art of storytelling where elements like blurring play a vital role in shaping the narrative. Experience the art of refined edits and features using the CapCut online video editor today and explore how easy it is to blur faces in videos.
FAQs
- What's the best app to blur faces in videos?
- The best face-blurring app can vary based on your specific needs. CapCut's web-based video editor, with its user-friendly interface and compelling face-blurring features, ensures privacy protection and a smooth editing experience.
- Try CapCut online video editor as your first choice to blur faces in your videos. Also, there are desktop apps and mobile apps from CapCut to support users' needs across various operating systems.
- Additionally, you can utilize its extensive editing tools like trimming, cropping, splitting, chroma key, transcript-based editing, etc. to further polish your video. If you want to create a video from scratch, you can also utilize its wealth of media resources such as stock music, video templates, stickers, filters, effects, etc.
- Can we remove a face blur from a video?
- No. Once a video is saved with a blur effect and the original unedited version is not retained, removing the face blur effect and restoring the face is generally impossible. However, you can always use the CapCut online video editor to edit and improve your videos further.
- How to blur faces in video online for free?
- If you are searching for the best free video editor, we recommend CapCut online video editor. It provides you flexible options to blur faces without any cost and can be easily accessed directly from your browser. Moreover, you can use its wealth of editing tools and media assets to elevate your creation! Give it a try today!
