Remove a video background — free credits
What "transparent video" actually means
A transparent video carries an alpha channel — a per-pixel measure of see-throughness alongside the color. Players and editors that respect it composite your subject over whatever is behind: a web page, an OBS scene, another clip.
Only some formats can carry that channel:
- WebM with VP9 alpha — the format browsers and OBS play. The WebM guide covers where it works.
- ProRes 4444 — the alpha master format Premiere, After Effects, Resolve and Final Cut expect. See importing alpha video.
- PNG sequence — every frame as a transparent PNG; the most portable, the most files.
MP4 is not on the list, and no setting changes that — MP4 has no alpha channel. That is why the last step of this how-to is choosing the right download format, not just any export.
What makes a good input clip: the subject clearly separated from the background, reasonably steady framing, decent light. Limits on this site: up to 60 seconds, 1080p, 30 fps, 200 MB — an ordinary MP4 from a phone or camera is fine.
The three steps
1. Upload the clip
Go to the video background remover and drop in your clip. Sign in with Google and a new account gets 5 free credits — enough for a 5-second test clip end to end. Nothing is installed; the whole thing runs in the browser.
2. Remove the background
The AI finds the subject and cuts it out of every frame. Video costs 1 credit per started second, so a 12-second clip costs 12 credits, and a job that fails returns its credit. Every finished job here is verified to carry a real alpha channel before the download appears — if the pipeline ever produced a file with no transparency, it would not be offered as one.
3. Download the right format
- For a website or OBS: the transparent WebM. It plays with alpha in Chrome, Firefox and Edge; Safari needs a fallback — the Safari guide explains the options.
- For Premiere, Resolve or Final Cut: the ProRes 4444 master, included on clips up to 15 seconds. Longer clips can still get one via the WebM → ProRes 4444 converter.
- For anything else: a PNG sequence works everywhere, and the free converters move between all three formats later — no credits, just a sign-in.
Unsure whether an existing file is really transparent? The transparency checker measures it in the browser, no account needed.
If you control the shoot: green screen still wins sometimes
When you are filming specifically for a cutout, chroma key — shooting against a green (or blue) cloth and keying it out in an editor — has real advantages: razor-sharp edges, repeatable results, and no per-second cost. Any editor can key: Premiere's Ultra Key, Resolve's 3D Keyer, OBS's own Chroma Key filter.
AI removal wins when the footage already exists — a talking-head clip, a product shot, someone else's video — and reshooting on green is not an option. That is the normal case, and it is exactly what the three steps above are for.
Two traps to avoid
The black background. You play the result and the background is solid black instead of transparent. The file has no alpha channel, or the player ignores it. Most often: an MP4 got involved somewhere, or Safari is rendering a WebM it cannot composite. The black background guide walks the fixes.
The baked checkerboard. A tool shows the cutout over a checkerboard and you export — but the checkerboard was painted into the pixels, so the "transparent" file is just a video of a checkerboard. Always test the exported file itself over two contrasting backgrounds: the alpha test guide shows how.
Questions people are asking
Can I make an existing MP4 transparent?+
Yes — that is the standard case. Upload the MP4, the AI removes the background, and you download the result as VP9-alpha WebM or ProRes 4444. The MP4 itself cannot gain transparency in place; the transparency lives in the new export format.
Is it free to try?+
Yes. New accounts get 5 free credits after Google sign-in — enough for a 5-second clip or 5 images. After that, video costs 1 credit per started second, credit packs start at $6.99 for 60 credits and never expire, and failed jobs return their credits.
How long does a job take?+
Short clips typically finish within a few minutes of upload. It varies with clip length and queue load, so judge it on your own test clip rather than a promised number — the 5 free credits are there exactly for that test.
Which format should I download?+
WebM (VP9 alpha) for websites and OBS; ProRes 4444 for Premiere, After Effects, Resolve and Final Cut; a PNG sequence if you need frames in another tool. All three carry real alpha; MP4 does not.
How do I check the result is really transparent?+
Play the exported file over two different backgrounds, or run it through the free transparency checker — it measures how much of the file is actually transparent, in your browser, with no account.