Blurring Mask - Buggy Workflow

[Nicole Hurst]

1.8 retains a bug that has been around for as long as I can remember: applying a blur to a mask does not work the way it's supposed to.

 

When you try to apply a blur to a mask, it puts the blur at the top of the layer's panel, instead of making it a child to the mask. Then when you try to manually make it a child layer, it won't accept it. So you need to place the mask and the blur above the photo, and then make the mask/blur group a child to the photo. 

 

Having this bug fixed would help out my workflow, and I assume many other's as well. 😊

[Christian S.]

Hmm, if I get this right you apply the blur to the background layer, not to the mask. I assume you want to mask the blur filter so that it doesn't affect the face? I don't see any difference in the effect between #3 und #4 of your images.

When I have the mask as a clipping layer (not sure if this is the right term), see my picture #1, then I can apply a blur directly, if the assistant is set to create a filter layer as sub-layer.

When I move this blurred mask to be an actual mask (see #2), then it is still blurred, but I don't see the blur filter layer any more and can't change it.

#1: 

#2:

[Nicole Hurst]

I'm not sure why you can't see your blur filter anymore... haha where did it go? 😅

 

My #3 and #4 are very similar, but the bug makes it so that you can't jump straight to #4, even with the Assistant turned on. The blur filter refuses be applied to a mask as a child layer, without first removing the mask from the photo layer. 

[MEB]

Hi Nicole Hurst,
We are aware that some specific layer constructs may hide layers. It's been like that since beginning. However for what i think you want to achieve why not apply the gaussian blur live filter directly to whatever you want to blur using its built-in mask to delimit the affected areas? To do this, create you selection as usual, then instead of creating a mask from it, add/click the gaussian blur (or other) live filter. The selection you created will be used as a mask for the live filter itself limiting the areas affected by it (look at the live filter's thumbnail the Layers panel and you will see it includes a mask).

[Imaginary]

I think the OP's issue is not about masking the blur but about blurring the mask in order to feather the transition from masked to unmasked areas.

This can be achieved by clipping the mask layer to the actual image by dragging it on the layer label until the blue horizontal bar appears. Unfortunately it has to be moved out of the image layer before. Once it is  clipped the mask will accept a live filter that won't be hidden and can be modified.

[Murfee]

29 minutes ago, Imaginary said:

I think the OP's issue is not about masking the blur but about blurring the mask in order to feather the transition from masked to unmasked areas.

This can be achieved by clipping the mask layer to the actual image by dragging it on the layer label until the blue horizontal bar appears. Unfortunately it has to be moved out of the image layer before. Once it is  clipped the mask will accept a live filter that won't be hidden and can be modified.

If you clip all of the layers as child layers they can remain in place for further editing. I am sure this is an improvement in 1.8 as I was forever doing the Hokey Cokey with masks in 1.7.3.  I am working on a Mac so this may not be the same on Windows

[cryochild]

This still seems to be an issue in 1.8.3.  If you make the mask as a separate layer and then parent it to the image you are trying to mask, it applies the live filter to the mask.  If you already have a mask on a layer and try to apply the live filter just to the mask, it makes it a child of the layer you have the mask applied to and you can not move the live filter to be a child of the mask.  So frustrating!

Edited April 10, 2020 by cryochild