[Solved]iMovie Blur Background Vertical Video - Blur Background in iMovie for Your Vertical Video

Are you tired your iMovie vertical videos that with black bars on the sides, making the content look dull and unappealing? And try to fill the screen in iMovie and make your videos more visually appealing?

One of the popular editing techniques used to overcome this problem of your iMovie vertical video is add a blurry background, which can keep the center of the video clear while blurring the sides, creating a visually appealing and immersive experience.

In this article, we would offer you the simple answer to use a blurry background to blur sides of vertical video in iMovie. Now let’s have a look together.

Contents:

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How to Blur Background for Vertical Video in iMovie

Add a blurry background to fill sides of your vertical video can help you enhance the viewer's engagement and make your videos more captivating. However, there is no a official blur filter/effect in iMovie for you to blur your vertical video background.

But luckily, here is a workaround of blurring the background and fill in the sides of vertical video in iMovie which involves using the great title feature called "Pull Focus".

Now, let's get into the detailed steps of achieving the blurred background vertical video in iMovie.

Portrait Video to Landscape with Blurry Background in iMovie

Step 1

Launch iMovie on your Mac and select "Create a New Project" to import the vertical video you wish to add a blurry background and drag it down to the timeline.

Blur Background for Vertical Video in iMovie - Import (Screenshot from @MacVideoMagic Channel)

Step 2

To create a blur background, get the original vertical video on the timeliness first, then open the Titles menu and select "Pull Focus".

Blur Background for Vertical Video in iMovie - Pull Focus Title (Screenshot from @MacVideoMagic Channel)

Step 3

Drop the title above the clip and drag it the whole length of the background clip to cover your entire clip.

Blur Background for Vertical Video in iMovie - Title Duration (Screenshot from @MacVideoMagic Channel)

Step 4

Delete the "Title" and "Subtitle" text in the Viewer, that'll give you a blur effect on the background with no title.

Blur Background for Vertical Video in iMovie - Delete Text (Screenshot from @MacVideoMagic Channel)

Step 5

Then, export the clip and reimport that new blurry video as your vertical background. (If the background isn't blurry enough for you, you can repeat the adding of a pull focus title to the new file, and export again.)

Blur Background for Vertical Video in iMovie - Reimport (Screenshot from @MacVideoMagic Channel)

Step 6

Once ready, go to the Crop tool and select the Crop to Fill in the cropping menu above the preview window, then adjust the crop box to center it on your blurry background clip.

Blur Background for Vertical Video in iMovie - Crop to Fill (Screenshot from @MacVideoMagic Channel)

Step 7

After that, you can go back into the media browser, select the original vertical video, and drag and place it on top of the blurry background. And finally, you’ve got a blur background filling in the sides of vertical video instead of black bars.

Blur Background for Vertical Video in iMovie - Layer Original Video (Screenshot from @MacVideoMagic Channel)

Easier iMovie Alternative to Make a Vertical Video with Blur Sides/Background

As mentioned above, iMovie does not offer the blur feature for you to make blurry background for a vertical video directly, so it's a bit of a brainer to make a blurred background vertical video in iMovie! In case some of you might find that it is too complicated to achieve the blur sides effect in your vertical video, we provide you a more direct way using an online iMovie alternative called FlexClip.

FlexClip offers an easy blanking fill feature to help you quickly blur the background of vertical video with one click! So you can effortlessly make a vertical video with blurry sides/background within simple clicks.

Get Started Now View Templates

Step 1

Go to FlexClip video editor and upload the vertical video that you want filled its black sides with blur background. You can upload from a local file, or import any footage from your mobile phone, or even from some third-party platforms.

Blur Background for Vertical Video Online with iMovie Alternative - Upload

Step 2

Click the plus icon to add the vertical video onto the canvas, and then click the Zoom icon on the top menu and select the Fit mode to show the whole video scene on the canvas.

Blur Background for Vertical Video Online with iMovie Alternative - Fit Video

Step 3

After that, go to the Background Color icon and click it to select Blur and enable the blanking fill feature for adding a blurry background to your vertical video within just one click.

Blur Background for Vertical Video Online with iMovie Alternative- Blur Background

Great! A vertical video with blurred background is ready in your hand. Pretty easy with FlexClip, right? Just turn to FlexClip and try its other amazing editing tools and stunning effects to help you edit your video in any way you want.

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Sandy /

Has 4-year of professional photographing experience. Very much into recording every detail of life. She is passionate about all things related to video production, and loves to exploring tips and tricks about it.