YouTube has announced a brand new custom blurring tool, which enables creators to quickly mask unwanted objects within videos.
The new feature, which is only available on YouTube for desktop right now, makes it easy to select an item within the video and blur it throughout.
YouTube’s smart motion detecting tech will follow the item throughout the clip, without uploaders having to manually adjust each frame.
This builds upon the face-blurring feature which has been part of YouTube since 2012
The feature is great for blocking out license plates or, for an example a little closer to home, blurring personal data on mobile devices when shooting hands on videos.
YouTube also makes the example of an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction no longer requiring a heavy edit or a reshoot.
See also: What is YouTube Red
In a post on the firm’s creator blog on Thursday, YouTube’s privacy head Amanda Conway wrote: “At any time, you can move the blurred area, resize it and choose when the blur starts and stops. There is also a “Lock” option to blur something that doesn’t move at all. When you’re done making edits you can either save the changes as part of the same video or save a new copy, which also gives you the option to delete the original video.
“While the use cases for this tool are vast, we built this feature with visual anonymity in mind. We wanted to give you a simple way to blur things like people, contact information or financial data without having to remove and re-upload your content.”
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.