How to blur faces in DaVinci Resolve

TL;DR: You don't need to pay for Resolve to blur a moving face. On the Color page, add a node, put a circular Power Window over the face, track the window, then drop Mosaic Blur onto that node. DaVinci Resolve Studio adds Magic Mask and an AI tracker, which help on harder shots. Either way you're doing one window and one track per face, and checking each yourself. If you'd rather skip the node work and have faces tracked for you, DataBlur's free blur-video does it in the browser.

Resolve tends to be the first serious editor people learn, because the free version gives away so much. Face blurring proves the point: no Studio license and no plugin required. What you do need is some comfort on the Color page, which looks like an airplane cockpit the first time you open it.

Below is the free-version method step by step, then what Studio changes, then the places where this approach starts eating your time.

How to blur a face in DaVinci Resolve (free version)

This is the standard Color page workflow. The effect doing the work is Mosaic Blur, a pixelating Resolve FX that turns a face into blocks. Blackmagic's DaVinci Resolve manual has the full reference if you want to dig into every control.

1. Open the Color page and select the clip
2. Add a serial node for the blur from the Node Editor's right-click menu. Keeping the blur on its own node stops it from mixing with your grade
3. Open the Window palette and pick the Circle window. Place it over the face with a little room to spare, and soften the edge so the blur doesn't end in a hard ring
4. Go to a frame where the face is sharp and well lit. In the Tracker palette, track forward, then track backward, so the window follows the face across the whole clip
5. Open the Effects panel, search for Mosaic Blur and drag it onto the node with the window
6. Adjust the Mosaic Blur settings until you can't recognize the face on a paused frame
7. Play the clip at full playback resolution and fix any frames where the track slipped

Fixing a track that drifts

When someone glances away or walks behind something, the tracker can slide off. Go to the first bad frame, put the window back by hand and track forward again from there. If the face is fully blocked for a stretch, position the window manually across those frames and pick tracking back up once the face is clear.

More than one face

Each face needs its own window and its own track. You can stack several windows on one node or give every face its own node. Separate nodes are easier to troubleshoot.

What DaVinci Resolve Studio adds

Studio, listed at $295 on Blackmagic's site, brings AI tools that help with harder shots:

• Magic Mask lets you click on a face or a person and builds a mask that follows its shape, instead of a fixed circle. You connect that mask to a blur node in the node graph
• IntelliTrack is Blackmagic's AI-based tracker. It may hold on better through fast movement, though we haven't tested that side by side

A common mix-up: Face Refinement is a beauty and retouching tool. It finds faces so it can smooth skin and tweak features, not to anonymize anyone. For hiding identity, stay with windows or Magic Mask plus a blur.

Where the manual method breaks down

On a single interview subject, this goes quickly once you've done it a couple of times. It gets harder when:

• Several people share the shot. Each face adds a window, a track and a review pass. Five people around a table is five times the work
• Faces turn, duck or overlap. Trackers follow detail and contrast. A head turning into profile or a hand across the face can drag the window off for a few frames, and those are the frames that leak
• People come and go. You have to notice each new face and start a window on the frame where it first appears
• The mosaic is too fine. Small blocks look anonymous and often aren't. In our blur recovery study, even 4-px pixelation on text was recovered 71% of the time. Faces weren't part of that test, but the direction is clear: bigger blocks are safer, and a solid box is safest
• The learning curve is steep. Nodes, palettes and trackers make sense to colorists. If you need one blurred clip a month, it's a lot of interface for a small job

A quicker option: automatic face tracking, no nodes

DataBlur's video face blur is meant for people who don't want to build nodes at all. Open it in Chrome, Edge or recent Safari and load a clip up to 3 minutes long:

• It tracks the faces through the clip
• You untick the people who should stay visible
• You get back an MP4 with the original sound

Everything runs locally in your browser, so the footage never gets uploaded. No sign-up, no watermark, no charge.

Know its limits. It can miss faces in profile or heavily covered, so watch the result before you publish. It does faces only, not license plates or on-screen text. Those stay in Resolve.

A sensible division of labor: blur the faces in DataBlur, then bring the MP4 into Resolve for the cut and grade. For stills, blur-face handles photos.

DaVinci Resolve vs DataBlur blur-video

• Finds faces automatically. DaVinci Resolve: No in the free version. Studio's Magic Mask selects a face you click. DataBlur blur-video: Yes, faces are tracked for you.
• Follows movement. DaVinci Resolve: Yes, window tracker per face (plus AI tracking in Studio). DataBlur blur-video: Yes, each face tracked.
• Cost. DaVinci Resolve: Free version, or Studio at $295. DataBlur blur-video: Free.
• Upload. DaVinci Resolve: No, edits locally. DataBlur blur-video: No, runs in the browser.
• Watermark. DaVinci Resolve: None, as long as you avoid Studio-only effects. DataBlur blur-video: None.
• 1-minute clip, 3 people. DaVinci Resolve: Three windows, three tracks and a review pass each, plus fixes for drift. DataBlur blur-video: One pass, untick who stays visible, then review.

Before you publish

• Set playback to full resolution and watch every blurred face from start to finish
• Step frame by frame through turns, occlusions and quick movement
• Check the first frame of each track. A face sometimes shows before its window kicks in
• Pause and compare against your memory of the person. If you'd know them, the blur is too light
• Look for faces in reflections, monitors and photos in the background
• Watch the rendered file, not only the timeline

FAQ

Can you blur faces in the free version of DaVinci Resolve?

Yes. The tracked Power Window method doesn't rely on anything from Blackmagic's Studio-only list. Magic Mask, on the other hand, is a Studio feature.

How do I make a blur follow a face in DaVinci Resolve?

Draw a circular Power Window over the face on the Color page, then track it forward and backward in the Tracker palette. Put the blur on the same node so it stays inside the window.

Does DaVinci Resolve have automatic face blur?

Not as a one-click feature. Studio's Magic Mask can isolate a face you click on, but you still set up every face yourself. DataBlur's blur-video tracks and blurs the faces in a clip for free.

Should I use Face Refinement to blur a face?

No. Face Refinement is for retouching, like smoothing skin and brightening eyes. To hide identity, use a Power Window or Magic Mask with Mosaic Blur.

Which blur is best for hiding a face in Resolve?

Mosaic Blur gives the classic pixelated look and is easy to make strong. Gaussian blur looks softer and needs a high setting before it really hides someone.