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Community Manager
Arnold NitinCommunity Manager
Community Manager
February 26, 2026

[Now in Beta] Introducing Smooth Mode in Object Mask

  • February 26, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 308 views

We’re excited to release a new Smooth mode in Object mask to Beta which will let you create masks which handle fine edges better.  

When creating an Object Mask, you can now choose between Sharp and Smooth modes to achieve the best results for your specific masking needs. 

What's new 

The new Smooth mode creates masks with softer edges that are better suited for fine edges and detailed objects. This enhancement allows you to handle complex masking scenarios more effectively without compromising quality. 

Sharp mode

 

Smooth mode

Mask quality modes 

Sharp mode 

Sharp mode continues to create masks as they are currently created, with crisp, well-defined edges. This mode is ideal for: 

  • Objects with clear, distinct boundaries 
  • Standard masking workflows 

Smooth mode 

Smooth mode creates masks with softer edges that provide superior handling of fine details. This mode is particularly useful for: 

  • Objects with intricate or delicate edges 
  • Hair, fur, or fabric textures 
  • Subjects with semi-transparent or translucent elements 
  • Situations requiring natural-looking edge blending 

Creating masks with quality modes 

Follow these steps to create an Object Mask with your preferred quality mode. 

Select a clip 

  • Select a clip on the timeline that you want to mask. 

Access the Object Mask Tool 

  • Find the new Mask Tool group in the toolbar. 
  • Long-press on the tool group to see all the masking options. 
  • Choose the Object Mask Tool. 

 

Choose mask quality 

  • Before creating the mask, choose between Sharp or Smooth mode from the quality options. 

 

Select the object 

  • Hover over the Program Monitor and watch as objects are identified automatically. 
  • Click on the desired object or person to create the mask, similar to the standard Object Mask workflow. 

Apply an effect 

  • Find an effect in the Effect Panel, such as Gaussian Blur. 
  • Drop the effect on the clip in the timeline. 
  • The mask will automatically be applied to the effect. 

Viewing mask quality 

Once you've created an Object Mask, you can view which quality mode was applied: 

  • Open the Effect Controls Panel. 
  • Locate the mask in the effects stack. 
  • Under Mask Quality, you'll see either "Sharp" or "Smooth" displayed, indicating which mode is active for that mask. 

 

Switching between mask quality modes 

You have the flexibility to switch between Sharp and Smooth modes after creating a mask. However, there are important considerations: Switching mask quality modes will clear the existing mask, requiring you to recreate it. This is a destructive action. 

When you attempt to switch modes, Premiere will display a notification warning you about this change. Make sure to save your work or duplicate your sequence before switching if you want to preserve the original mask. 

How to switch modes 

  • Select the mask in the Effect Controls Panel. 
  • Locate the Mask Quality setting. 
  • Click to toggle between Sharp and Smooth modes. 
  • Confirm the action when prompted by the notification. 
  • Recreate the mask using the new quality mode. 

Best practices 

To get the best results with Smooth mask quality: 

  • Choose Smooth mode for subjects with fine details like hair, fur, or intricate patterns 
  • Use Sharp mode for objects with clear, defined edges 
  • Start masking from a frame where the object is most prominently visible 
  • Test both modes to see which works better for your specific footage 
  • Consider the limitations of Smooth mode (no extension capability) when planning your workflow 

Known issues 

Project compatibility with version 26.0 

If a project containing a mask created in Smooth mode is opened in Premiere version 26.0, the mask will not be rendered properly. Editing and saving a project with Smooth mode masks in version 26.0 could damage the mask data and corrupt the mask permanently 

 

This feature is available from Build 37. 

Your feedback helps improve these features. Please engage with the beta community forum to report: Bugs and technical issues, feature requests and suggestions, quality feedback on mask results and workflow improvement ideas 

 

      2 replies

      Shebbe
      Community Expert
      ShebbeCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      February 27, 2026

      Thanks a lot for adding the ‘smooth’ model which for many users is probably the most important. I had a play with it briefly and I’m really satisfied by it’s stability and ability to resolve edge detail, motion blur and going in and out of focus.

      I do however have a few things to note.

       

      Workflow

      The current limitation in switching models is something developers should address. I understand that the modes require different AI models but the part where the user decides which regions are objects to track is data that should be stored for each object mask. When switching modes, these definitions should automatically be reapplied for the new model so the user only needs to re-track, not redefine. Take a look at how this is tackled in DaVinci Resolve. There a clear UI is present with which frames have sample points from which the model would start detecting and tracking and you can jump to reference frame to check mask quality before tracking.

       

      Minor Issue

      An interesting observation was that on a particular shot, I tracked a talent but another talent came into frame which the model started to include even though they were fairly spread out. On one single frame there is also a visual glitch where it looks like the model has a certain search area/bounding box and on that frame it probably detected another person and thought to include it.


      Workflow wise this would obviously come down to adding a negative input and track from there instead, but if the model itself could also be fine-tuned to understand that if it tracks a person it should only keep tracking a single person unless the user adds more.

      If you're interested in looking at the shot, it's clip number 09 from here.

       

      AndrewTheGreat
      AndrewTheGreat
      Known Participant
      February 26, 2026

      I don’t like the idea that you’ll have to reapply and retrack the mask if you choose smooth after sharp was tracked. Why couldn’t you just add a reduce chatter and smooth sliders to enhance the mask non-destructively? This way you always have to choose which sometimes may ruin your workflow. A better thing would have been to be able to keyframe the reduce chatter and smoothify parameters in a mask for situations when you need to gradually go from sharp to soft and back, loke when an object goes out of focus. Feather won’t always help because it changes the edge of the mask, not the details

      FlyingFourFun
      FlyingFourFun
      Inspiring
      February 27, 2026

      Being a machine learning AI tool, seems like the logical thing to do here is having to understand what should be smooth or sharp, and do a bit of that determination upfront, and have the user confirm it…  Seems reasonable to me for the AI to be able to determine which sections would benefit from what mode….

      But as ​@AndrewTheGreat has pointed out, if you have to retrack, I would be disappointed if I put in a bunch of work to tweak it and lost all that work. 

      Maybe offer the user to track in both ways - not sure what the performance impact would be, but maybe some people would want a preference to ‘track both small and sharp’ and ‘track sharp (requires retracking to switch to smooth)’

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