Are motion blur filters available for Final Cut Pro?

fox_m is correct, WideTime is still available in Motion. To use it in Final Cut Pro, open Motion, select Final Cut Effect (settings don't really matter), on the left select filters and scroll down to WideTime. Drag and drop it onto the EFFECT SOURCE in the Layers group (similar to the Browser in FCP). Click on WideTime there once to highlight it. Then click INSPECTOR slightly up and over to the left. You'll see the 4 options for the effect. For each one of these select PUBLISH on the little down arrow that appears when you hover your mouse on the right next to the keyframe thingy. Now just save it (command S will do). It'll ask you a bunch of nonsense about what theme or category, etc. This is where you'll find the effect in FCP. Save it. Now go to FCP and drag and drop the effect on any video clip. Be warned that it affects the ENTIRE video clip so you may need to do some selective masking.

To add more detail, apparently Motion’s blur only looks for actual canvas-level movement, like when you keyframe an object or text to fly across the screen. Because the video clip itself is just sitting perfectly still in the project frame, Motion calculates the speed as zero and doesn't add any blur at all—even though there are things moving inside the actual video.

I have been told that to fix high shutter speed jitter, you need to use pixel-tracking optical flow to analyse the movement inside the clip from frame to frame. It appears that Resolve Studio uses that type of pixel tracking and it certainly works but it's a PITA to round-trip it as FCP is my go-to app.

There appears to be a workaround with Motion's Motion Blur which involves using Optical Flow and jumping through various hoops but it's ridiculously convoluted.

Motion VFX does a plugin but for my very occasional casual use it is not worth it.

Motion can apply Motion Blurs for you.

Create a project that matches your footage. Set the length equal to your footage.

Go to the Render menu and check Motion Blur.

Go to Project > Inspector and in the Motion Blur section, you can set the number of samples (per frame) and the Shutter Angle (although you might want to stay at 360.) The greater the number of Samples, the smoother the blur will be (also the export/render time!)

Render/Export out your footage.

As an alternative, there is a Filter called WideTime available. It does not require Render > Motion Blur be turned on nor does it require and "fiddling" with the Motion Blur settings of the Project. Just add it to your footage and use the available parameters to get the effect you want.

Have you tried Optical Flow in FCP? Or Frame Blending?

According to Google AI, WideTime is still available in Motion 6.3. Filters > Time > WideTime.

As for Motion Blurs being for Titles only —

Two examples of water spray being smoothed out (notice the shape mask boundaries):

And **most** of the Motion Blurs available as "effects" (Templates) are Titles... which probably means they are inaccurate and cause other kinds of "artifacts" because FCP will stretch their timing if they are resized in the storyline. That's why I suggested you use Motion directly (mainly because of forum rules.)

You're really better off handling the Motion Blur inside Motion and then rendering out (a copy of) the footage. There's no way to publish the Shutter Angle and Samples parameters, so each variation has to be made as a separate effect. It's very tedious, and if you don't get it right the first time, you have to keep going back to remake the effect.

In Motion, just make sure your Project length is exactly the same length as the footage being blurred. You will be able to experiment with different settings to find the one you want. Then, just export the new footage to use in FCP.

My Motion Blur effects are a commercial product. If I give out the entire explanation **here**, AI will just steal them from me and I might as well just throw them away. They're obscenely cheap as it is, considering how much work went into them.

You have everything you need to know in this post, I just haven't **explicitly** said how you need to put it together. If you understand what you need to do, then you can build your own collection of *frame accurate* Motion Blurs in Motion. And if you do figure it out — don't post it here!

Thanks for the information fox_m and Joe.

WideTime looks very impressive in the shots of the fountain but I have been told that curing the strobe effect caused by too high a shutter speed is an entirely different scenario.

This is the information I was given . . . Wide Time is a frame-blender. It's fantastic for turning a waterfall into an artistic, silky painting because water droplets are chaotic and don't have defined edges anyway. But if you use it on normal video footage with high-shutter-speed jitter, it doesn't calculate motion vectors . . . it just stamps multiple ghost copies of your moving subject across the screen, turning a stutter into a messy multiple-exposure artifact.

I have spent (wasted?) the whole day creating Motion templates, going into Motion and doing the blur there and even retiming to 101% and adding Optical Flow. I have used all manner of sample rates and shutter angles.

Nothing has worked . . . at least not without adding ghost images. At one point Optical Flow seemed to create a silky smooth motion but I was not able to replicate it and I have trashed the apparently working version so I can't be certain whether or not it was just a dream.

At least I can do it in DVR Studio extremely simply and quickly so I will use that as my go-to remedy.

Actually I have seen so many shutter jitters I now almost like them.

Motion Blur is extremely difficult to "calculate" and there are literally thousands of variations. And there's another very important issue that needs to be addressed for use as templates... and that's why I recommended working out the Motion Blur **in** Motion and exporting the altered clip for use in Final Cut.

I recognize the Optical Flow "trick" from AI suggestions... it should work…

This was the effect I was told WideTime would produce . . .

Thanks for your suggestions but WideTime is no longer available on current standalone versions of FCP and I have been told that Motion's Motion Blur effect is only suitable for moving text and graphics.

Thanks for your instructions Joe. (I have done it before but I tend to forget when it's not been for a long time).

I made an FCP preset and this is what I got . . . I realise the effect can be increased or reduced but I don't think it's quite right for high-shutter-speed strobing.

WideTime was not used for the fountain or waterfall shots — that's plain Motion Blur. I don't specifically recall what the Sample Rates or the Shutter Angles were that were used, it's been too long. Try at least 16 Samples and possibly 720º Shutter Angle, or greater.

I have just been told that if I curb my impatience and wait a bit longer my dilemma will be solved, nudge-nudge-wink-wink.

We'll wait and see.

I have no Motion Blur.

I've found it . . . top right "Render".

However, how do you make it an FCP plugin?