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Blob Tracking Effect

Finds blobs of light, dark or edge detail in your picture and marks each one with a box, a target and a numbered readout.

The same hand overlaid with dark red bounding boxes, crosshairs, numbered labels and connecting lines, framed by red corner brackets.
A wet, glossy hand reaching upward with fingers spread, set against a clear pale blue sky.
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Made with a featured Nexus filter

Works in

The blob tracking effect is a TouchDesigner-style overlay built from your picture. It detects bright blobs, dark blobs or edges, then draws bounding boxes, crosshairs or corner brackets, centroid dots, connecting lines and readouts. The look starts with sixteen targets in solid red, and you can change the count, color, threshold and line style.

Same effect, different settings

12 photos, each with its own settings. Try it on yours

  • Blob Tracking Effect on a photo of a chrome blob
  • Blob Tracking Effect on a photo of two pears on linen
  • Blob Tracking Effect on a photo of a smile with gold grills
  • Blob Tracking Effect on a photo of two runners on a track
  • Blob Tracking Effect on a photo of a man with pink hair on green
  • Blob Tracking Effect on a photo of a woman in blue glasses
  • Blob Tracking Effect on a photo of a figure in a chrome jacket
  • Blob Tracking Effect on a photo of a man reaching into a blue sky
  • Blob Tracking Effect on a photo of a man in a white shirt
  • Blob Tracking Effect on a photo of a black horse
  • Blob Tracking Effect on a photo of a woman in white cat-eye sunglasses
  • Blob Tracking Effect on a photo of a woman with a red bob

Use Blob Tracking Effect in Photoshop, After Effects, Illustrator, Affinity or Figma

The plugins are free with an account. Paid plans add bigger renders and your own filters. See pricing

Settings worth touching

Detect Mode
Chooses what counts as a blob: bright areas, dark areas or edges, which changes where the boxes land on your picture.
Threshold
Sets the brightness cutoff for detection. Move it to pick up more small regions or fewer, larger ones.
Connect Lines
Links blob centers with no lines, nearest neighbors, a single chain or a full mesh of crossing lines.

Frequently asked questions

How do I add blob tracking in After Effects?

Install Nexus for After Effects, drop the look on a layer as a native effect, then keyframe any control on the timeline. Detection runs on every frame, so the boxes redraw as the picture changes.

Can I try the blob tracking effect for free?

Yes. Open the look in the Nexus web editor and try it on your own image without an account. Exporting needs a free account, which exports images up to 720px and video up to 720px with the Nexus mark.

Is this like blob tracking in TouchDesigner?

The drawing follows the TouchDesigner style: bounding boxes, crosshairs, centroid dots, connecting lines, a HUD corner frame and clean readouts. Nexus runs it in the web editor and as a plugin in five design apps.

Does the blob tracking effect keep IDs across frames?

No. Detection is per frame only, with no persistent IDs or trails between frames. Blobs are numbered by a stable sort on area, so the numbering stays consistent within each frame.

How do I use the blob tracking effect in Photoshop?

Install Nexus for Photoshop, which is free with a Nexus account. Render the look as a new layer, or add it to a Smart Object as a live Smart Filter.

Related effects

Try Blob Tracking Effect in your browser

Free to try. Exporting needs a free account.

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