How to Add AR Filters to Video Clips on Desktop (Mac & Windows)
If you’ve tried to add an AR filter to a video clip on your desktop, you’ve probably run into the same wall everyone does: the tools that look like they should work don’t actually do what you need.
Live streaming apps apply filters in real time — they don’t process files. Mobile apps work on your phone but not your footage from a DSLR, GoPro, or screen recording. Web editors add text and cuts but have no AR face tracking. Traditional video editors like Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve handle color and audio but aren’t built for AR effects at all.
There’s a real gap in the desktop software ecosystem — and it’s exactly what Filterbloom was built to fill.
Why Desktop AR Filters Are So Hard to Find
AR effects require something most video tools aren’t designed to do: track and process human features frame by frame across an existing video file.
Live tools (like virtual cameras) do this in real time because the camera is running and they process each frame as it comes in. But applying that same processing to a pre-recorded file is a different engineering challenge — one most consumer apps don’t bother solving because mobile tools handle it at capture time.
The result: if you’re editing footage on a Mac or Windows PC and you want to add a face filter, a color overlay, or an AR effect after the fact, there are almost no native desktop tools that do it.
Filterbloom is one of the few that do.
What Filterbloom Does
Filterbloom is a desktop application for Mac and Windows that applies AR effects to pre-recorded video clips. It’s built on Snap CameraKit — the same lens technology that powers Snapchat — so the quality and variety of effects is genuinely on par with what you’d get from a mobile filter.
Key capabilities:
- 300+ AR effects: face filters, color grades, beauty filters, overlays
- Side-by-side preview (original vs. filtered) before you export
- Face tracking across your entire clip
- Export MP4 with audio, no quality loss
- Your videos stay on your device — no cloud upload
It’s not a traditional video editor. There’s no timeline, no cut tool. It does one thing — adds AR effects to video — and does it well.
How to Add AR Effects to a Video Clip on Desktop
Here’s the full workflow:
Step 1: Download and Install Filterbloom
Download Filterbloom from filterbloom.com. It’s available for macOS and Windows. The free tier gives you access to a rotating selection of lenses.
Step 2: Import Your Video Clip
Open Filterbloom and drag your video clip into the app, or use File → Open to browse for it. Most common video formats are supported, including MP4, MOV, and screen recordings.
Step 3: Browse the AR Effects Library
The lens library opens on the right side of the screen. Scroll through 300+ effects — organized by category — and click any lens to preview it on your clip instantly.
Filterbloom’s side-by-side preview shows your original footage on the left and the filtered version on the right, so you can see exactly what you’re getting before you commit.
Effect categories include:
- Face filters (animal ears, fantasy characters, cartoon effects)
- Beauty and skin-smoothing filters
- Color grades and cinematic styles
- Art filters and illustrated effects
- Overlays and environmental effects
Step 4: Adjust and Preview
Once you’ve selected a lens, play through your clip in the preview window to check that face tracking stays locked through the footage. For most talking-head or stationary shots, tracking is seamless. For fast-moving clips, it’s worth scrubbing to a few key moments to confirm.
Step 5: Export
When you’re happy with the result, click Export. Filterbloom renders the AR effect onto every frame of your clip and outputs an MP4 with audio intact. Export time varies with clip length — short clips (under 60 seconds) typically render in under a minute.
The exported file is ready to upload directly to TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, or any platform.
What Makes This Different from Video Editing Plugins
A common question: can’t I just install an AR plugin for Premiere Pro or Final Cut?
The short answer is: not really.
AR plugins for traditional video editors exist, but they’re overwhelmingly aimed at motion graphics — particle effects, light leaks, abstract visuals — rather than face-tracked AR filters. Real-time face tracking at the quality of Snap CameraKit requires specialized runtime infrastructure that doesn’t bolt neatly onto a timeline editor’s plugin architecture.
Filterbloom takes the opposite approach: it’s purpose-built for this one job, which means the face tracking works well and the workflow is direct. You don’t need to learn an NLE to use it. If you’re already editing in Premiere or DaVinci, Filterbloom fits into your workflow as a pre-processing step: filter your clip in Filterbloom, then bring the exported MP4 into your main editor.
Use Cases That Fit Filterbloom Well
Content creators: Apply a consistent look — a particular color grade or character filter — to every piece of content before uploading. Especially useful for creators who shoot on dedicated cameras and edit on a laptop.
Video editors working with client footage: Add a beauty filter or AR effect to footage that was already recorded, without needing the original subject to reshoot.
Repurposing older footage: Go back to clips from months ago and apply a modern filter treatment to freshen them up for a repost.
Testing looks before a shoot: Try different filter aesthetics on a short test clip to see what works before committing to a full production shoot.
AR Filters vs. Color Grading: What’s the Difference?
Worth clarifying, because the terms get mixed up:
Color grading adjusts the color, contrast, and tone of the entire frame — no face tracking involved. This is what tools like DaVinci Resolve or Lightroom do. Filterbloom includes color grade effects in its library.
AR filters add geometry, textures, or effects that are attached to and tracked with specific elements in the frame — typically a face. These require face detection and pose estimation on every frame. This is Filterbloom’s core capability.
Some Filterbloom effects combine both: they apply a color grade and add face-tracked elements simultaneously.
Pricing
Filterbloom is freemium:
- Free tier: Access to a rotating selection of lenses (~30% of the full library). Exported videos include a watermark.
- Pro: Full access to all 300+ lenses, no watermark. $7.99/month or $59/year (about $4.92/month).
The free tier is a good way to test whether Filterbloom fits your workflow before committing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you add AR filters to a video clip after recording?
Yes. Filterbloom is a desktop app (Mac and Windows) that applies AR effects to pre-recorded video files. You import your clip, pick a filter from 300+ options, preview it side-by-side, and export an MP4 with audio.
Do AR effects work in regular video editors like Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve?
Not natively. Traditional video editors handle cuts, color, and audio — they don’t include real-time AR face tracking. AR filters require a dedicated tool like Filterbloom that was built specifically for that purpose.
Is there a free way to add AR filters to video on desktop?
Filterbloom’s free tier lets you try the app with a rotating selection of lenses. Exported videos have a watermark on the free plan. For unlimited lenses and watermark-free exports, Pro is $7.99/month.
Does this work on Windows or just Mac?
Both. Filterbloom runs natively on macOS and Windows.
What AR filter quality can I expect on a desktop app?
Filterbloom uses Snap CameraKit, the same lens runtime that powers Snapchat. The face tracking and effect quality are equivalent to what you’d see in a Snapchat lens on mobile — not a lesser desktop adaptation of mobile filters.
If you’ve been looking for a way to add AR effects to video clips on your desktop without a live camera setup or a mobile phone in the loop, Filterbloom is the direct answer. Download it free and try it on a clip.