Frame Average Node

Frame Average adds up (and averages) N adjacent frames to produce an output frame. More frames = more motion blur / trail, but also more noise smoothing.

The difference with Vector Motion Blur: Frame Average is temporal (a mix of real frames), not spatial and vector-based. It gives a different look: trail / ghost vs a directional blur.

• Effects Library: Tools > Miscellaneous > Frame Average
• Quick add: right-click in the Node Editor → Add Tool > Miscellaneous > Frame Average

Vector Motion Blur

Spatial and vector-based: smears each pixel along the motion vectors. A clean look, directional blur.

Frame Average

Temporal: adds up the raw frames. A trail / ghost / multiple-exposure look. No motion vectors needed.

Rule: realistic cinematic motion blur look → Vector Motion Blur. Stylized long exposure / trail look → Frame Average.

• Input (orange) - the video sequence to average.

Cinematic long exposure effect:
MediaIn → Frame Average (Sample = Both, Frames = 8)
       → MediaOut
   = strong stylized motion blur

Headlight trails at night:
MediaIn (night footage) → Frame Average (Direction = Backward,
                                            Frames = 24)
                          → MediaOut
   = a light trail that follows the object

Temporal denoise:
MediaIn (heavy noise) → Frame Average (Direction = Both, Frames = 4)
                    → MediaOut
   = smoothed noise without Optical Flow

Timelapse stylization:
Timelapse → Frame Average (high Frames)
         = a continuous blurred trail over time

Sample Direction (default: Both)

Temporal sampling direction:

• Forward: future frames only
• Both: balanced around the current frame
• Backward: past frames only

Missing Frames (default: Duplicate Original)

Behavior at the ends of the clip:

• Duplicate Original: continuity (duplicates the last available frame)
• Blank Frame: transparency where data is missing

Frames (slider)

Number of frames included in the calculation. More = more blur / trail. Typical: 4-16 depending on the effect you want.

• Stylized long exposure look - a continuous trail of movement (cars, people, fluids) = a long-shutter photo effect.
• Light trails - headlights, city lights at night = trailing light streaks.
• Simple temporal denoise - noisy footage without Optical Flow: Frame Average smooths the noise (but introduces ghosting on fast motion).
• Ghost / multiple-exposure effect - a ghostly look, translucent copies following the subject.
• Timelapse stylization - a timelapse with a continuous trail = a sense of time flowing.
• Smoothing flicker - frame-to-frame flicker (lights, LEDs): Frame Average reduces it.

• Forward / Both / Backward = different looks - Forward = a trail ahead of the subject (prediction), Both = a ghost all around, Backward = a trail behind (a natural motion trail).
• Frames 4-8 = subtle, Frames 16-32 = strongly stylized, Frames 64+ = a long exposure photo look.
• Duplicate Original at the ends - keeps visual continuity. Blank Frame only if you want the fade in/out effect.
• Not for sharp fast motion - on very fast scenes, Frame Average gives messy ghosting. Prefer Vector Motion Blur.
• Can be combined with Vector Motion Blur - Frame Average for the trail + Vector Motion Blur for a clean directional blur = a maximalist look.
• Performance - a high Frames value = reading several frames at once. Heavy on I/O. Cache the output.
• For truly professional effects, consider a denoise with Optical Flow + Vector Motion Blur in parallel rather than Frame Average alone.