Blurring parts of a live video

[ryanw99412441]

Hi there.

I'm looking for a method to blur parts of a live video, basically on a stream.

Can anyone help me out with this please?

Thank you.

[davescm]

It is not clear what you are trying to achieve.

Photoshop has some video capability and can handle recorded video in the timeline, where you can put the video clip into a smart object and apply filters. However it is not a video effects application for handling live streams.

Dave

[ryanw99412441]

I apologize for not clarifying better.

A friend of mine achieved this: https://i.imgur.com/S5YbZGL.mp4 using photoshop, and that was recorded during a live stream of the game using Streamlabs OBS.

As you can see, the bottom of the video has a blur effect going on in real time.

This is what I'm trying to achieve.

[davescm]

Hi

Right click and convert the video layer to a smart object

Use Filter blur to blur it

Click on the mask for the smart filter and select the area you don't want to blur

Fill that selected  area of the mask with Black (Shift +F5)

Dave

[ryanw99412441]

Hi Dave, thanks.

That is for a pre-recorded video, however what I was trying to achieve is for live videos, real time blurring, as if they're live on TV.

If it's not possible what I'm trying to achieve that's fine.

Thanks again.

[davescm · Accepted solution]

Hi

As I said earlier Photoshop is not a real time video effects application. An effect is applied to a clip that has been imported to a layer and then played back. To view the video elsewhere the edited video then needs to be rendered - that is the way Photoshop works.

Dave

[ryanw99412441]

Cheers.

Have a lovely weekend!

[davescm]

You too - sorry we can't give you what you were after

Dave

[Conrad C]

Because they used OBS, the most efficient approach would be to do it in OBS itself. A quick Google search indicates that there might be a way to use a blur filter within OBS to blur out part of the live stream.

The less efficient way would be to add another application like PixelConduit to process the video stream. It's new to me so I'm not yet familiar with it, but it looks like there might be a way to blur an area of live video with it.

But you should try to find a way within OBS itself. If you add another processing application, it will need its own processing power and that might interfere with what you're trying to stream, if you're doing it all on one computer.

[Trevor.Dennis]

Does this help I wonder? 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Twitch/comments/6etn8a/blurring_out_a_portion_of_your_screen_in_obs/

[Trevor.Dennis]

If I am understanding you correctly, use the drop down and add a New Video Group

In the Layers panel, hold down the Alt (Opt) key and drag the video into the new video group to copy it.

Right click to make a Smart Object and apply the blur.

Select the area you do not want blurred, and with the SO mask selected, fill with black.

The problem is that I think you mentioned streaming, and as you can see from the above screen shot, it is only playing at 14fps (it's a 25fps time line) so this will  not work in real time.   In fact, if you used a more complex method to obfuscate the required area, it might only be 3 or 4fps.  Note I am using a high end work station built for video editing, but I am not sure how Photoshop handles this stuff with video.  If it only uses one core, for instance, then a six core i7-8700K that turbos up to 4.7Ghz, would be faster than my 7900X, but it still wouldn't do real time.  

Premiere Pro makes much better use of the GPU, and would easily do this with 1080p and even 2K.  It's interesting  to watch the Linus Tech videos  they have done about their 8K video editing workflow.  They had to spend _serious_ money on hardware to make it even doable, yet alone run in real time.

Incidentally, the workflow I outlined could  be done with just the one Video Group if you make it a  Smart Object, because the mask only masks the filter, and not the entire layer.  

I only know Adobe apps, and couldn't tell  you if something like Final Cut Pro would work any better, but I FCP is another high end NLE app, and has  a price tag that reflects that.

[davescm]

I all those apps though Trevor you have to import the video first. My understanding was the the OP wanted to stream in - blur and stream out as a continous live operation. That would require different software/hardware suited to live TV

Dave

[Trevor.Dennis]

Yes, I mentioned that Dave, and said it can't be done in real time with Photoshop.

[thatsmauri]

Why not asking your friend how he achieved his blurring-thing?

Edited my previous text as I was wrong.