MEP17+ How do I do a gaussian blur?

cpc000cpc wrote on 12/15/2013, 5:20 PM

Gorf,

Not much in MEP17+ other than 'Sharpness' which can go a bit less. You might be able to use a plugin like VIrtualDub (free) which has quite a collection of filters.

Check also Pixelan ProBlur http://www.pixelan.com/ce/features-bp.htm. They recently added MEP / VPX to their supported editors. The ads say MEP 2013 or later but testing shows most work back to MEP 17. They have a free (watermarked) demo versions to try.

MEP 2014 has much more control:

Maybe it's time for an upgrade? :-)

Regards,Carl

Gorf wrote on 12/16/2013, 3:52 AM

Thanks Carl. I don't really do enough editing to justify continually upgrading. MEP isn't "budget" software (at least not in the UK). I'm surprised at its lack of blur filters, considering the "P" in "MEP" stands for "Pro".

In the end, I had to do the whole job with VirtualDub. I was working with a low-res 3GP file, so all my processing had to be done in a single pass because the source video was such low quality.

Gorf,

Not much in MEP17+ other than 'Sharpness' which can go a bit less. <snip>

Maybe it's time for an upgrade? :-)

Regards,Carl

terrypin wrote on 12/16/2013, 7:54 AM

Gorf, Carl,

I don't have access to my PC at present so I can't check this. But I vaguely recall that one or more of MEP's built-in effects include some blurring. Not necessarily in an obvious location.

Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Scenestealer wrote on 12/16/2013, 5:01 PM

Hi Gorf

MEP17 has a blur filter under Video Effects > Sharpness. The sharpness filter slider is set at 50% which means no effect and below 50% creates a blur. Once the Blur or Sharpen is applied with the top slider the one below allows yopu to apply it to the whole image area aor just the edges.

In MEP2014 I think they have just separated Sharpness and Blur into separate filter controls.

Peter

johnebaker wrote on 12/17/2013, 1:50 AM

Hi Gorf

Is there a particular reason why you want to use a Gaussian blur?

There may be other methods which are better for you.

AFAICS the blur effect in MEP - accessed as described by Carl and Peter - is a Gaussian blur.

It may also be worth upgrading to MEP 2014 as it now has:-

- A seperate Blur option as opposed to the earlier one side of the Sharpness control and AFAICS it has a much wider range of control.

- Proxy editing for HD material so you get better playback on a slower computer.

John

cpc000cpc wrote on 12/19/2013, 1:24 AM

Gorf,

Further to why Gaussian?... I find Video effects' >> 'Distortion' >> 'Sand' to give some very attractive results. You should check a sample export or at least view at full screen to see what you'll get.

Regards,

Carl

Gorf wrote on 3/1/2014, 8:59 AM

Many thanks for all the replies - the reason I wanted Gaussian is that the effect it yields is akin to frosted glass.

johnebaker wrote on 3/1/2014, 3:40 PM

Hi

Since my last post, I have found and have tested some excellent VDF filters (plugins) here.

The Gaussian Blur is much better than the Blur in versions of MEP prior to MEP 2014.

There are many other very effective filters which work with MEP - the only ones that I have found not to work are those that try to manipulate the project resolution or image size.

The particular one I fnd useful are:

Histogram Equalize

RGB adjustment

Unsharp Mask

MSharpen ( this is an edge sharpening tool)

Colorize

Hue/Saturation /Intensity (1.2)

Pseudocolor - depending on the video is also good for making B/W masks

These all work in MEP 17 to MEP 2014

HTH

John