YouTube can now blur moving objects with new tool

Since 2012, YouTube has provided a blurring tool to content creator as a way to hide identities and important information. The tool, however, was rudimentary at best, and even YouTube admitted there was plenty of room for improvement. Starting today, however, the quality of its blurring tool as gone way up.

YouTube on Thursday announced the launch of a Custom Blurring tool that allows users to blur literally any object in a video, even as it moves. Here’s what Amanda Conway, YouTube Privacy Lead, said about the new tool:

Whether you want to blur sensitive information such as a license plate or cover up a wardrobe malfunction without reshooting an entire scene, the new Custom Blurring tool will let you blur objects throughout your video, right within YouTube.

The key here is that the new tool will blur out moving objects, which wasn’t possible if you used YouTube’s previous tool. Simply draw a box around what you want to blur, and the platform’s tool will do the heavy lifting; you can move the area you want to blur, resize and even choose when the effect starts and stops. And if you prefer to blur a static object, you can still do that with a “lock” option.

YouTube provided some examples of how this tool works, and it’s impressive. The feature is currently available for YouTube on the desktop.