Renee's Object Obliterator

Remove small imperfections from your clips using a classic technique trusted by compositors for over a decade.

This is a port of the widely acclaimed Autodesk Flame setup of the same name, created by Renee Tymn. The technique pulls colors from the area surrounding your mask to fill in and hide unwanted elements.

Overview

Renee's Object Obliterator provides fast, controllable object removal:

Classic Technique - Proven blur/divide method used in hundreds of commercials and videos
Directional Control - Add directional blur to match motion or pull colors from a specific direction
Retexture - Steal texture from another part of the frame for seamless blends (originally added by Ted Stanley in his matchbox shader implementation).
Grain Matching - Add grain to help the patched area blend with surrounding footage
Real-Time Performance - Fast enough for interactive tuning on the timeline

Not AI Inpainting: This tool uses optical blur techniques rather than AI. It won't intelligently reconstruct complex objects, but it's fast, predictable, and works beautifully for removing small imperfections like blemishes, dust, or minor distractions.

Quick Start

Create a mask around the object you want to remove
Track the mask to follow the object through the shot, if needed.
Apply the effect to your clip
Connect your mask to the "Matte" input (the second input of the node, in the color page).
Increase the Obliteration-> Blur Amount until the object disappears
Fine-tune with directional blur, retexture, or grain as needed

Best Results: This technique works best on small imperfections surrounded by similar colors and textures - blemishes on skin, dust spots, small distractions in soft backgrounds. For larger or more complex removals, consider AI-based inpainting tools.

Inputs

Input	Required	Description
Source	Yes	The image to process
Matte	Yes	Alpha mask defining the area to obliterate. White = remove, Black = keep. The image will be tinted red if there's no matte, as in indication that the matte is required.

Parameters

Source Offset

Parameter	Type	Default	Range	Description
Source Offset	vec2	0.0, 0.0	-2.0 to 2.0	Shifts where colors are pulled from while the mask stays in place

Use Source Offset when the colors immediately surrounding your mask aren't ideal. This lets you pull replacement colors from a different area of the frame - useful when the object you're removing is near an edge or color boundary.

Obliterate

The core controls for the blur/divide operation.

Parameter	Type	Default	Range	Description
Blur Amount	float	50.0	0.0 - 1000.0	Primary blur amount in pixels. Increase until the masked area fills in.
Directional Amount	float	0.0	0.0 - 400.0	Additional directional blur in pixels
Directional Angle	float	0.0	-180.0 to 180.0	Angle of directional blur in degrees
Directional Bias	float	0.0	-1.0 to 1.0	Shifts where the colors are pulled from. If 0, pulled evenly from both sides; from the left when -1.0, from the right at +1.0 - useful when the object you're removing has a clean area on one side but not the other.

Blur Amount

This is the main control. If this is at 0, you'll see a black hole where your matte is. As you increase this amount, you'll see the edges of the matte being "sucked in" to the center, removing the object, and replacing it with the pixels surrounding it. Start with the default and increase until the masked area is completely filled in. The right amount depends on the size of your mask - larger masks need more blur, and you might need to animate this value across a shot, as the mask changes shape or size.

Directional Blur

Add directional blur when you want to pull colors from a specific direction. This is particularly useful if there are strong edges in the area you want to preserve - for instance, if the target object is sitting on a shelf. In such a case, using the directional blur, and adjusting the direction to be parallel to the shelf will effectively preserve the shelf, but remove the object. The bias control shifts where the blur samples from along the direction axis.

Post Blur

Optional smoothing applied after the main obliterate operation.

Parameter	Type	Default	Range	Description
Enable Post Blur	bool	false	-	Enable additional smoothing
Post Blur Amount	float	10.0	0.0 - 100.0	Smoothing amount in pixels
Post Directional Amount	float	0.0	0.0 - 200.0	Additional directional blur for post smoothing
Post Directional Angle	float	0.0	-180.0 to 180.0	Angle of post directional blur
Post Directional Bias	float	0.0	-1.0 to 1.0	Shifts post blur center along direction

Post blur can help smooth out any artifacts or "puckering" from the main operation.

Retexture

Transfer texture and fine detail from another part of the frame to make the obliterated area match its surroundings.

Parameter	Type	Default	Range	Description
Enable Retexture	bool	false	-	Enable texture transfer
Retexture Offset	vec2	0.0, 0.0	-2.0 to 2.0	Where to sample texture from
Retexture Blur	float	5.0	0.0 - 50.0	Controls which detail frequencies transfer (higher = coarser detail)
Retexture Strength	float	100.0	0.0 - 200.0	Intensity of texture transfer as percentage

Beauty Work: Retexture excels at restoring skin texture after removing blemishes. Point the Retexture Offset to a nearby area of clean skin, and the effect will clone the subtle skin texture onto the obliterated area for a more natural result.

Retexture Blur

This controls the frequency of detail that gets transferred: - Lower values (1-5): Fine detail like skin pores and film grain - Higher values (10-20): Coarser texture and patterns

Grain

Add film grain to help the patched area blend with the surrounding footage.

Parameter	Type	Default	Range	Description
Enable Grain	bool	false	-	Add film grain to the obliterated area
Grain Amount	float	0.5	0.0 - 2.0	Intensity of grain
Grain Size	float	1.0	0.01 - 5.0	Size/coarseness of grain particles
Grain Chromatic	float	0.0	0.0 - 1.0	Color variation (0 = monochrome, 1 = full RGB variation)

Match the grain characteristics of your footage to make the repair invisible.

Edge Handling

Parameter	Type	Default	Range	Description
Reflect Edges	bool	false	-	Off = clamp/stretch edges, On = reflect edges

Controls how the blur handles samples near the edge of frame. Reflect mode can produce more natural results when working near frame boundaries.

Tips & Tricks

Beauty Work Workflow

For removing blemishes while preserving skin texture:

Create a soft-edged mask around the blemish
Track if necessary
Increase Obliterate->Blur Amount until the blemish disappears
Enable Retexture and point Retexture Offset to nearby clean skin
Adjust Retexture Blur to match the scale of skin texture (typically 3-8)
Fine-tune Retexture Strength (start at 100%, adjust to taste)

Directional Blur

When removing objects from situations where there are strong edges that you don't want to remove:

Use Directional Amount to blur directionally
Tune the Directional Angle to match the angle of the edges you want to keep - like shelves, window frames, etc.
Adjust Directional Bias to pull colors from the leading or trailing edge

When Results Look Too Smooth

If the obliterated area looks too clean compared to surrounding footage:

Enable Grain and match your footage's grain characteristics
Enable Retexture to add back fine detail
Try Post Blur with a small amount to blend edges

Credits

Concept & Original Flame Setup: Renee Tymn - The technique and original Autodesk Flame setup that this effect is based on.

Retexture Feature: Ted Stanley - The idea to incorporate texture transfer within the object obliterator workflow, as seen in his Matchbox shader implementation.

Limitations

This technique works best for: - Small imperfections (blemishes, removing small objects like distant storefront signs, tracking marks, minor distractions) - Areas surrounded by similar colors and textures - Situations where speed and predictability matter

Consider other tools for: - Large or complex object removal - Objects crossing varied backgrounds - Reconstructing detail that doesn't exist elsewhere in frame