Learn how to use AI-powered Object Masking in Adobe Premiere to isolate and track subjects for effects and color corrections.
Masking in Premiere allows you to isolate specific areas of your footage to apply effects, color corrections, or blur elements selectively. These tools are designed to streamline your editing workflow, enabling you to accomplish complex tasks without leaving your editing environment to use After Effects.
Object Mask
The Object Mask tool uses AI to automatically identify objects and people in your footage. With a single click, you can select and isolate an object, then track it throughout your shot. This is particularly useful for:
- Blurring faces for privacy protection
- Applying color corrections to specific objects
- Creating selective effects that follow moving subjects
The first time you use Object Masking, Premiere will automatically download the required models to enable this feature. While the models are downloading, Object Masking will be temporarily unusable. A loading indicator is displayed in the Program Monitor during this process. You can track the download status in the Progress panel. Once the download is complete, Object Masking will be fully available for use.
Selecting an object or a person
You can start selecting an object by selecting the Object Mask Tool from the toolbar and hovering over the Program Monitor. All the prominent objects that can be selected will be highlighted. You can select any of them by simply clicking on them.
If an object you want isn't automatically highlighted, you can use the Rectangle or Lasso tool to roughly draw around it. The model will then detect the object within the drawn area and select it for you.
There are three ways to select an object or a person for the Object Mask:
- Hover and click
- Draw around with a Rectangle
- Draw around with a Lasso
For the highest mask quality, begin masking from a frame where the object is most prominently visible.
You can toggle between Lasso and Rectangle using the dropdown at the bottom of the Program Monitor.
Mask data storage
Object Mask relies on mask data that can get quite large in size. Storing this directly within the project file could significantly impact its size and performance. To ensure smooth operation and efficient storage, the mask data will be saved externally, in a dedicated folder located next to your project file. The folder will be named <Project Name> Masks for easy identification and management.
The corresponding mask folder must be present for the masks to be accessible within the project. When moving or sharing your project, please ensure you also move the mask folder along with the project file.
If the project’s mask folder cannot be found, the Object Masks will be marked as offline and will not be available for use. This will affect only Object Masks and will not impact other types of masks.
Locating an offline mask
When you open a project containing an offline mask, you'll see an option to locate the missing mask. Select Locate to browse the mask folder (if you have access). This relocates the mask and makes it available. Then select Not Now to open the project anyway, with offline masks marked as such.
Options on Project Open
- Select Locate to browse the mask folder (if you have access). This relocates the mask and makes it available.
- Select Not Now to open the project anyway, with offline masks marked as such.
Working with offline masks in the Effects Control panel
Offline masks appear marked as offline in the Effects Control panel. You can locate them directly from there by selecting Locate.
If multiple masks are offline and their data is in the same folder, locating that folder will make all of them available at once.
Mask quality feedback
You can give feedback on the quality of the object selection they have created by selecting the Provide Feedback icon next to each Object Mask in the Effect Controls panel. This will help us keep improving. You can answer if the quality of the mask was good or bad, and give us some reasons for the same.
Mask refinement
You can add or subtract objects or portions of objects from the mask using the + and – buttons. The + and – modifiers can be temporarily toggled with the option or alt modifier key. In this way, you can quickly add and subtract from the Object Mask to correct it. The selection process is the same as the initial selection.
- To add or remove full objects that are highlighted, simply click on the object.
- To add or remove sections of the object or person, you can draw a rectangle or lasso around the desired area. The model will detect the section and apply the change accordingly.
Mask overlay
The mask overlay is a semitransparent shaded area that fills in the inside of the mask. This is a visual aid to help you judge where the mask is. There are six colors to choose from (red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, yellow) as well as black and white, which shows the alpha. Different colors are useful if the predominant color in the content you are masking is the same color as the overlay, and it’s hard to distinguish. Set the Overlay to None to turn off the overlay entirely if the overlay is obscuring your ability to judge the effect you are working.
Direct manipulation toggle
Use this tool to enter and exit direct manipulation mode. In other words, turn on and off the on-screen controls for things you can directly interact with in Program Monitor. This goes beyond masking. Select the chevron icon to toggle open the list of each item that has direct manipulation controls. This is contextual to the currently selected clip.
Select the Toggle direct manipulation icon to disable all on-screen controls. This is useful if the on-screen controls obscure your ability to see the effect you are applying.
