Motion Blur

Add directional motion blur — the streaked look of a long-exposure or panning shot. Pick the angle (0° horizontal to 360° around) and the length (subtle to dramatic). Use it to add speed to vehicles, simulate panning, or soften busy backgrounds.

What motion blur is

Real motion blur happens during long exposures: the camera or subject moved while the shutter was open, smearing pixels along the path of motion. The synthetic version mimics this — pixels are streaked along a chosen direction, weighted by distance from origin.

Different from Gaussian blur (even, omnidirectional — see Gaussian Blur) and from background blur (subject-aware — see Background Blurring).

Common uses

1. Make stationary cars look fast. Add horizontal blur to wheels and background; keep the body sharp.
2. Simulate panning shots. Sharp subject, blurred background, in the direction of motion.
3. Sports photography drama. Add motion to action shots that didn't have it.
4. Background simplification. Heavy motion blur turns busy backgrounds into clean streaks.

Selective application

Default blurs the whole image. Premium accounts can mask the subject (so it stays sharp) and blur only the background — the proper "panning shot" look. The auto-mask uses subject detection from the same model that powers Remove Background.

Tips

Subtle (length 5–10) for realism. Dramatic (length 30+) for stylised effects. Match the angle to the actual motion direction in the scene — vehicles horizontal, falling objects vertical.