This video tutorial for illustrator shows way of blending gradients with objects. From what I can understand the object has a mask with a series of objects with a gradient used as the mask. But further along in the video the author uses a star and a box to create an interesting effect. Does inkscape have this capacity?

Yes it does. It's called "Interpolate". You can look it up in the the Inkscape Guide

Note that it's not quite as powerful as Illustrators blend. Once you define it it's not really editable. So if you want to move one of the interpolated objects you need to start again. I expect that it's only a matter of time before Interpolate becomes a "Live Path Effect" so you can easily change things.

I know about the interpolate effect, but it does not seem to work as strong as Illustrators blend effect. So I thought maybe there was something extra I would need to do in order get the effect the author achieved with a star and a square.


Edit nvrmind you have to change the start points.