You may have already seen in movies, or even in some YouTube videos, scenes with a blurred background and the main element in the spotlight, but have you wondered: what is it for and how to put a blurred video?
Basically, a video with a blurred background looks more professional and helps keep your audience’s attention. After all, all the distractions in the environment will not be in evidence.
Do you want to learn how to record videos with a blurred background for your marketing strategy?? So, do not stop reading our text. Look at everything you will learn:
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Why put a blurry or out of focus video?
There are many reasons to blur your video or blur the background of your recording when it comes to producing content for your brand. But it is important that do not use this feature arbitrarily without a clear goal.
The blur must make sense within your production, so that its advantages are fully exploited. Here’s a look at some reasons to use the background blur:
1. Give a more professional face to your content
unconsciously, the public associates the blurring of the background with cinematographic images and more professional. With this, it increases the perception of value and relevance of your content.
So, if you want to impress your audience and give the impression that your videos are true works of art, it is a good idea to go for blur.
2. Hide an “ugly” setting
Well, not everyone can afford to book a when producing content. Or have a nice and well decorated environment. But that’s no excuse to create boring videos with ugly surroundings.
Even if you are going to record in a place that is not one of the most beautiful, you can bet on the blurred background to hide any imperfection. By doing this, only main objects will be highlighted and the rest of the stage will not even be noticed by the public.
3. Eliminate distractions
In some cases, it may be necessary to record outdoors, such as busy streets, or even inside the office.
However, these places can have various distractions, such as cars, people walking, drawings, patterns and textures that divert the viewer’s gaze.
Right now, the unfocused background can help draw the audience’s attention directly to you or the main element of the recording. This makes it easier to hold the attention of those who are viewing your content.
4. Show objects, but without details
Imagine the following situation: you intend to record a for your supermarket, but you can’t display the products on the shelves. what do in this situation?
Easy, apply a slight blur to the background, so that the marks are not legible.
this strategy allows the audience to identify the location of the recording and understand the context of the video. And all without seeing the logos clearly, since they are not the star of the content.
5. Control what the public can see
Another good use of the blurred background is directly inspired by cinema. Typically, cinematographers use this feature to control exactly what viewers can see.
With blur it is possible draw the audience’s attention to a specific detail of the scene, while preventing him from seeing the rest. Like a person’s hand manipulating your for instance.
What makes the background blur in a video?
Now that you know how background blur can help enhance your videos, you must be eager to use this feature, right?
But calm down. Rather, it is necessary to understand what elements are responsible for this effect.
Although it is possible to emulate the blur with the use of some programs (as we will see later), this effect is not a characteristic of the camera but, rather, an optical phenomenon of reflection of light rays.
With the right lighting conditions, you can leave the foreground in focus and the background out of focus.
There are four factors that influence the degree and quality of the blur. This is what we will see in detail below:
1. Sensor size
This is the main factor to be able to make videos with a blurred background.
The sensor is the part of the camera that captures light from the environment and transforms it into electrical signals. Later, these signals are converted into digital images. It is the equivalent of the negative film of analog cameras.
Y the bigger the photo sensormore light is captured and as a consequence, the easier it will be to blur the background.
The size of the sensor varies depending on the type of camera. Full-frame sensor cameras like the Canon 5D Mark 3 have larger sensors than so-called “cropped” models like the Canon T6i, for example. Therefore, the former allow easier blurring.
On the other hand, smartphones have very small sensors, thanks to the small dimensions of the devices. Therefore, it is more difficult to achieve a similar effect on mobile phones.
2. Lens diaphragm aperture
The next element that helps control the light entering the camera is the aperture of the diaphragm. That is, the size of the hole through which light passes in the lens until it reaches the sensor.
Thanks to the optical effects we mentioned, the larger this aperture, the more light will enter and the more out of focus the background of the image will be. When we do that, we are decreasing the depth of field. This means that the distance at which objects will be in focus will be much shorter.
All They show information with the maximum opening they admit. Lenses with numbers smaller than 2.8, for example, allow for larger apertures and stronger, higher-quality blurs.
3. Focal length
Popularly known as “zoom”, the focal length also changes the blur of the images. We say that the larger the focal length, the greater the blur.
The trick is to use as much zoom as possible and move away with the camera to frame the objects correctly.
Unfortunately, mobile phones have fixed lenses, which prevents any change in focal length and slightly limits creative possibilities.
4. Camera to object distance
Finally, the closer the object or person is to the camera, the more out of focus the background will be.
That’s why it’s much easier to blur the background when shooting a face up close than a full-length person.
Therefore, try to place the main element as close to the camera as possible. That way, the background will be blurred more easily.
How to blur the background with a DSLR camera?
Done, it’s time for the practical part of our article!
If you have a DSLR camera, putting a blurry video will be very easy. After all, these models have large sensors, which allow more light to enter.
The main advice is to increase the opening of the diaphragm so that more light enters. However, by doing so, we run the risk of having a burst image (too light). This can damage your content if you decide to record outdoors and in the sun.
To solve this problem, there are some solutions, such as:
1. Lower the ISO
The first step is lower the ISO to the lowest value allowed by the camerabetween 100 and 200.
ISO controls the sensitivity of the sensor to light. But since we’ve already increased the amount of light reaching the sensor, there’s no point in making it even more sensitive, right?
In addition to avoiding images that are too light, lowering the ISO also helps make images sharper, free of graininess, and also free of color distortions.
2. Increase shutter speed
Even after lowering the ISO to the lowest possible value, the image may still be too light.
In this case, the next step is increase shutter speed. This is a small metallic curtain that controls how long the sensor is exposed to light.
When shooting videos, the ideal is to leave the shutter between 1/50 and 1/60 seconds. Values greater than this can cause stroboscopic images when the sense of motion is lost.
3. Use neutral density filters
Another technique that helps darken the image a bit when using larger apertures is use a neutral density, or ND, filter.
It is a glass filter placed in front of the lens to decrease the amount of light entering the camera. That is, it is as if they were sunglasses for the camera lens.
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How to blur the background of a video with a camcorder?
With a camcorder or camcorder, the process of blurring the background is a bit more difficult than with a DSLR. But still it is possible.
As the sensor of these equipment is smaller, it is necessary to use other factors, such as the aperture of the diaphragm, the zoom and the distance of the filmed objects.
Therefore, set the camcorder to open the diaphragm as far as possible and position the camera as far as possible from the recorded object. Use the zoom to .
Clever. With these settings you will have a blurred background in your videos using a camcorder.
How to put a blurry video from a mobile phone?
As we have explained before, phones have very small sensors. This makes more difficult to reproduce the blur effect.
Nowadays, many gadgets, especially high-end devices leave the factory with two cameras, responsible for simulating a blur effect.
Despite this, there are several that allow you to better control the focus and achieve a background blur similar to that of recording cameras.
Another app is . With it, you can simulate a blurred background in your recordings with ease. Or do the opposite: blur what is in the foreground and focus only on the background.
How to blur the background with Adobe Premiere?
If none of the above options is possible, you can still “do a trick” and use aAs theto apply the effect after the recording is done.
To use To simulate the blurred background effect, follow the steps below:
- Open the video in sequence. Next, in the “Video Effects” tab, click on “Blur & Sharpen” and drag it over the video;
- By clicking on the video, you will be able to open the “Effect Control”. Select your chosen effect and change the intensity of the blur by changing the numbers in the settings.
Blur your videos and give them your personal touch
Videos with a blurred background, in addition to being elegant, help give your brand a more professional look. But you should use it with care and only when it is really necessary, otherwise you can make it difficult for the audience to understand.
Now that you know “how to blur video” are you ready to start using a blurred background in your…