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laurafalcione
laurafalcione
Participant
January 28, 2026

Mask Tool Issues (Gaussian Blur & Opacity)

  • January 28, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 575 views

Issue

Opacity mask tools (pen, rectangle, ellipse) do not appear in Effect Controls for certain MP4 files in Premiere Pro 2026, even though the files are standard H.264 video clips and effects apply normally. This makes it impossible to mask Gaussian Blur or any other effect via Opacity, with no warning or explanation in the UI.

Steps to reproduce

  1. In Premiere Pro 2025 or earlier, export a sequence as an MP4 (H.264).
  2. Open Premiere Pro 2026.
  3. Import the exported MP4 file into a project.
  4. Place the clip in a sequence timeline.
  5. Select the clip in the timeline.
  6. Open Effect Controls and expand Opacity.

Expected result

The Opacity section should display mask tools (pen, rectangle, ellipse), allowing the user to draw and animate an opacity mask, consistent with other MP4 source footage.

Actual result

  • The Opacity mask tools do not appear at all.
  • The clip otherwise behaves like normal media.
  • Effects can be applied and keyframed.
  • No warning, tooltip, or documentation explains why masking is unavailable.
  • The only way to restore masking is to re-encode the file outside of Premiere to strip Adobe-authored metadata.

Screen recording

Not included, but could be provided if requested. The issue is UI-based and reproducible via the steps above.

Adobe Premiere Pro version

Premiere Pro 2026 (Build 72)

Operating system

macOS (Tahoe 26.2)

Video format

MP4 / H.264, 1920×1080, 29.97 fps
Note: File metadata shows “Created with: Adobe Premiere Pro 2025.0 (Macintosh)”

Comparative information

Does it affect all projects or only some projects?

  • Only projects that use MP4 files exported from Premiere itself.

Does it affect new projects?

  • Yes. The behavior persists in brand-new projects if the same media files are imported.

When did the problem begin?

  • Observed after upgrading to Premiere Pro 2026.

Additional context

From a user perspective, an MP4 is an MP4. There is no UI indicator that Premiere is treating exported media differently from externally sourced media, nor is there an option to override this classification or “treat as source footage.”

      2 replies

      D
      Community Manager
      Dani_V.Community Manager
      Community Manager
      January 29, 2026

      Hi ​@laurafalcione,

       

      Thanks for reporting a problem and sorry you’ve been experiencing issues. There have been several updates to Masking, Stan shared some links with good information.

       

      Instead of having the masking tools under Opacity, they are now in the Tools panel. Once you select a clip and create your mask, they will appear in the Effect Controls panel under Video > Unassigned Masks. You can then select that mask and drag and drop it on the Opacity property or right-click the mask > Change to Opacity Mask (Here is another article showing the steps).

       

      Hope this helps and sorry for the frustration,
      Dani

      C
      Cassiane Fotografia
      Participant
      January 30, 2026

      Bom dia, ja fiz tudo oque o artigo da Adobe ensina fazer, porém quando eu exporto o meu vídeo, ele exporta sem a máscara. Ja tentei de tudo e não exporta corretamente. Pode me ajudar?

      Stan Jones
      Community Expert
      Stan JonesCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      January 30, 2026

      ​@Cassiane Fotografia,

      Just before the forum update, ​@MeKevinB reported not being able to export with mask using Adobe Media Encoder. I had no difficulty exporting with mask active in PR 26.0.0. But this was an issue in the Beta, so bears further testing.

      The report was “ME is giving a warning that object masks are offline and will be ignored. Nothing in Premiere is telling me these masks are offline or otherwise cannot be rendered.”

      The report was here:

      https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-discussions/new-object-masks-and-me/td-p/15675864

      ​@Dani_V. ,

      Is it possible to retrieve individual posts/threads? Or do we have to wait for them to be ported?

      Stan

       

        Stan Jones
        Community Expert
        Stan JonesCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        January 28, 2026

        ​@laurafalcione,

        Masking has changed, and there is a learning curve.

        Start with the helpx page called “Redesigned Rectangle, Ellipse, and Pen tools,” and work down in the index to the left.

        https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/add-video-effects/create-masks-and-composites/rectangle-ellipse-and-pen-masks.html

        As of today, 1/28/26, the helpx pages contain some old content regarding masks. The ones  that are clearly active have a “Last updated” date of Jan 21, 2026 or newer.

        You may find the more comprehensive introduction in the Beta forum helpful:

        https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/using/object-masking.html

        Stan

         

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