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Watch the tutorial
Step 1: Apply Gaussian Blur to your clip
Open the Effects panel with Window > Effects and search for Gaussian Blur. It lives in Video Effects > Blur & Sharpen. Drag it onto the clip in your timeline, then open Effect Controls to find it.
Faster with BetterFX: skip the Effects panel. Press your BetterFX shortcut, type the first letters of Gaussian Blur and press Enter to apply it to the selected clip. Get BetterFX
Step 2: Draw an ellipse mask
Under Gaussian Blur in Effect Controls, click the Create ellipse mask icon. An oval appears in the Program Monitor. Drag the blue handles to resize it and stretch it into a wide, eye-like shape around the area you want to keep in focus. You can also drag the whole oval to reposition it.
Step 3: Raise Blurriness and invert the mask
Increase the Blurriness value until the blur is clearly visible. At first it will be the wrong way round, with the inside of the oval blurred and the outside sharp. Tick Inverted under the mask settings and the blur moves to the outside, leaving your focus area crisp. You can keep adjusting the shape afterwards.
Step 4: Soften the edge with Mask Feather and Expansion
A hard mask edge looks fake, so raise Mask Feather until the transition from sharp to blurred is smooth. Then use Mask Expansion to make the sharp area bigger or smaller without redrawing the shape. Adjust both until it looks natural for your footage.
Step 5: Keep the focus when you zoom or move the clip
There is one catch. If you scale or move the clip using the built-in Motion controls, the clip moves but the mask stays still, so the effect breaks. To fix it, search for Transform in the Effects panel and drag it onto the clip. In Effect Controls, drag Transform above Gaussian Blur in the list. Now use the Transform effect's Scale and Position to zoom and move, and the blur stays applied to your picture.
Tips
- Use a wide oval. A stretched eye shape feels more like a real lens than a perfect circle.
- Do not overdo the blur. A moderate Blurriness value looks more natural than a heavy one.
FAQ
How do I blur only part of a video in Premiere Pro?
Apply Gaussian Blur, then create an ellipse or other mask under the effect in Effect Controls. Invert it if you want the outside blurred. For another approach, see how to blur the background in Premiere Pro.
Why does the blur disappear when I zoom in?
The mask belongs to the Gaussian Blur effect and does not follow the built-in Motion scale. Use the Transform effect above Gaussian Blur instead.
How do I make the focus edge smoother?
Increase Mask Feather under the mask settings until the edge fades gradually.
Applying and stacking effects like this gets much quicker with a plugin. Browse our Premiere Pro plugins.
