Masking a blur effect

[Les Hall]

I have a layer which is a shadow of an object. I blur it to help with realism. But I want the blur to be masked at the base of the object, i.e. sharp, and to get progressively more blurry as the shadow lengthens. As in 'real life'.

I've tried a bunch of things to make this happen, but cannot achieve this.

Any suggestions?

Thanks, Les

[EllenM]

I think "Tilt Shift" effect on the shadow shape could get you going. No masking needed:

[Les Hall]

Oooh - thinking outside the square. I'll give it a go.

Thanks EllenM

[Les Hall]

It worked - thanks so much. It's a radial effect, linear would be better, but not that big a deal.

Now I need to perfect my masking...

[Les Hall]

And then a gradient mask on the shadow opacity.

[EllenM]

It's a radial effect, ...

Not really.

[Les Hall]

I thought because it was circular the area of effect was radial. But I thank you, it's going to work great.

[EllenM]

That´s just the design of the tool; tilt shift has always been linear and can be rotated 360°:

[Les Hall]

OK that explains everything. Thanks again.