HitFilmExpress

Blurring out areas of video.

We need to censor video sometimes, like neighbors' windows in time-lapse footage. The basic workflow seems to be:

1. Get the footage loaded in to the timeline.
2. Select the clip in the timeline and click on Make Composite Shot. (Shortcut: Ctrl-M)
3. Give the composite shot a name, and select Editor Sequence and Move With Clip.
4. The new composite shot will show up in a tab next to the Editor tab. In the composite shot tab, click the New Layer button, then select Grade from the available options. (Shortcut: Ctrl-Alt-G)
5. Click on Grade in the composite shot tab, then move & resize the bounding box in the Viewer area to cover the part of the video you want.
6. Now's a good time to right-click the Grade element in the composite shot tab and rename it. (Shortcut: F2)
7. OPTIONAL: Set a start & end point for this Grade composite element in the timeline.
8. From the Effects list, drag Distort -> Mosaic onto the Grade element in the composite shot section.
9. Click the drop-menu triangle for Mosaic to access the blockiness controls, and season to taste.
10. Finish doing video-y things and export.