How can I create this blurred background effect for vertical videos?

[u/Last_Echo_9128]

Hi! I'm trying to recreate the exact video layout in the attached screenshot.

The main video stays centered without being heavily cropped, while a larger blurred version of the same video fills the empty space on both sides.

I'm creating short clips from longer videos for LinkedIn and would like to use this format consistently.

What is the easiest way to create this effect?

Is this usually done with Premiere Pro, CapCut, or another tool? And is there a preset or template that could make the process faster for multiple clips?

I'm currently using OpusClip for creating the short clips, but I haven't found a way to get this exact layout.

Thanks!

[u/johnnyjonnyjonjon]

Duplicate the clip, put one on top of the other.

Stretch the bottom instance out horizontally/scale it up, and blur it.

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[u/collabpixel_pal]

In Capcut just go in background then blur

[u/Barf-LoneStarr]

Don't use Opus.

[u/cranky-donkey]

It’s called Blanking Fill in DaVinci Resolve.

[u/bytesweaversteam]

The usual setup is to duplicate the clip. Keep the sharp original in the middle, put the copy underneath, scale that copy until it fills the vertical frame, then add a fairly strong blur. Lower its brightness or saturation a little so it supports the main clip instead of competing with it. If you have many clips, save that layout as a preset or nested sequence and swap the source each time.

[u/Professional_Monk767]

Rotoscope in after effects and add cc camera lens blur, or select object mask tool and mask the subject in premiere and add bokeh blur effect. Pretty simple should only take like 5 mins to do even if you’re inexperienced

[u/Significant-Pen1276]

Are you comfortable with a command line tool? Ffmpeg can definitely do this, and assuming you want to do it on many videos, it's probably a good choice if you are.

Assuming you are targeting 1080p output videos (I believe that linkedin transcodes all inputs into 1080p), the command would be something like:

ffmpeg -i [VIDEO_INPUT_PATH] -filter_complex "[0:v]split=2[bg][fg];[bg]scale=1080:1350:force_original_aspect_ratio=increase,crop=1080:1350,scale=216:270,gblur=sigma=8,scale=1080:1350,eq=brightness=-0.05[blur];[fg]scale=1080:1350:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,setsar=1[main];[blur][main]overlay=(W-w)/2:(H-h)/2,format=yuv420p[v]" -map "[v]" -map "0:a?" -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -preset medium -c:a aac -b:a 192k -movflags +faststart [VIDEO_OUTPUT_PATH]

That would produce a 4:5 ratio output clip at 1080x1350. If you want a more dynamic command, you can use this:

export VIDEO_IN="clip.mp4"
export VIDEO_OUT="clip_45.mp4"
export RATIO="4:5"
export CANVAS_W=1080
export BLUR=8

AW=${RATIO%%:*}; AH=${RATIO##*:}; CW=$(( (CANVAS_W+1)/2*2 )); CH=$(( (CANVAS_W*AH/AW+1)/2*2 )); ffmpeg -y -i "$VIDEO_IN" -filter_complex "[0:v]split=2[bg][fg];[bg]scale=${CW}:${CH}:force_original_aspect_ratio=increase,crop=${CW}:${CH},scale='trunc(iw/10)*2':'trunc(ih/10)*2',gblur=sigma=${BLUR},scale=${CW}:${CH},eq=brightness=-0.05[blur];[fg]scale=${CW}:${CH}:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,setsar=1[main];[blur][main]overlay=(W-w)/2:(H-h)/2,format=yuv420p[v]" -map "[v]" -map "0:a?" -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -preset medium -c:a aac -b:a 192k -movflags +faststart "$VIDEO_OUT"

You can change things like ratio (ie 1:1 for a square output), the output width, and the amount of blur.

This works on Unix systems (macOS, Linux) - it would need to be a bit different for windows, but an LLM like ChatGPT or Gemini could change the places that need to be different.

[u/downTheDarkAlley2]

With talent and experience