How to remove the background from a video
- Pick how to cut it out: AI finds the subject in every frame wherever you filmed, and Remove a color takes out a green screen or any solid color in seconds.
- Drop in a short video or choose one. The first time, the AI model downloads; after that each clip starts right away.
- Pick Transparent for a see-through WebM, or Green, White or any color for an MP4. Set Save as to GIF for an animated GIF instead. Then play the result and download it.
How it works
The tool opens your video, takes each frame in turn and asks an AI model which pixels belong to the subject, much like the background remover does for photos. Best quality uses BiRefNet lite, an open model for cutting out any subject, in a version we reworked so that every step runs on your graphics card, which made it about ten times faster in the browser. Fast uses IS-Net, another open model for any subject: its edges are a little softer, parts close in color to the background (a white shirt against a white wall) can drop out, and it needs about a third of the graphics work, which matters most on phones. Best quality keeps them. Each cut-out is blended with the one from the frame before, so a still edge doesn’t shimmer from frame to frame, except after a cut to a new shot, which starts fresh. Then the subject is drawn on the background you chose and the frames are encoded into a new video with the original sound.
With Remove a color there’s no AI: every pixel close to the color you picked goes clear, a soft band around it fades out, and green or blue spill on the edges is pulled back to a neutral tone.
Getting a clean result
- Film one subject against a background that differs from them in color or brightness. A person in a dark shirt against a dark wall is harder than against a light one.
- Keep the subject in frame. Partial bodies at the edge and fast motion blur give softer edges.
- Trim first. Only process the seconds you need, since every frame takes time.
- Check the edges on playback, especially hair and hands. Fine hair comes out soft rather than strand by strand.
Transparent, green screen or a color
A transparent WebM keeps only the subject, for layering over other footage or a website. A green background gives an MP4 that any editor can key out, which is the safest choice when you’re not sure your editor reads transparent WebM. White, a brand color, a photo of your own or the original background blurred suits a clip that’s finished as it is, such as a talking head for a presentation.