How to Remove the Background from a Video in iMovie on Mac?

You might already know that one of the best ways to remove the background from a video is by using a green screen. That is, once you have shot your video on a blue or a green screen background, you can use any reliable editor like iMovie to remove it. Not just that, you can also overlay the video on any other background of your choice.

Therefore, in this post, I will let you know how to remove the background from a video in iMovie with the help of a green screen and use its best alternative.

• Part 1: How to Remove the Background from a Video in iMovie on Mac with a Green Screen?
• Part 2: An Easier Way to Remove the Background from a Video Without a Green Screen on Mac

Part 1: How to Remove the Background from a Video in iMovie on Mac with a Green Screen?

Let’s say you have already shot a video with a green screen in the background. In this case, you can take the assistance of iMovie to remove the background from the video and overlay it on any other image or video. The good news is that iMovie comes with an inbuilt solution for Green Screen edits that you can readily use.

Please note that this solution will only work if your video is already shot on the green screen background. If not, then you can simply move to the second solution in this guide.

To learn how to remove the background from a video on iMovie via a green screen, follow these steps:

Step 1. Load the Videos to Edit (with the Green Screen Background) on iMovie

At first, you can simply launch iMovie on your Mac and click on the “Import” section to load the videos to edit. You can also simply drag and drop the videos to its interface or import them from the Photos library.

Once you have added the videos, you can drag and drop them to the timeline on iMovie. Make sure that the video to be edited must be shot on the green screen background.

Step 2. Adjust the Videos and Use the Green Screen Effect

To remove the background from a video in iMovie, you need to place the green screen clip above the base clip in the timeline. Subsequently, you can trim these clips or move the videos around to make sure that their overall length and movement would be matched.

It is highly recommended to ensure seamless connectivity between both the clips to get better results. Now, you can just click on the Video Overlay settings button above the Viewer section from the side. Simply select the green screen clip and choose the “Green/Blue Screen” option from the Cutaway dropdown menu.

Step 3. Make the Final Adjustments for the Green Screen Effect

Once you select the Green Screen effect, iMovie would automatically remove the background of the image and will overlay it on the second video.

Besides that, you can just select the green screen video and go to the Video Overlay settings to make any other adjustment. For instance, you can increase or decrease the softness of the effect by moving the scroller.

Furthermore, there are also options to crop the area of your choice or use the “Clean-up” feature to mask any part of the green screen video.

Part 2: An Easier Way to Remove the Background from a Video Without a Green Screen on Mac

Needless to say, it can be quite complicated to remove the background from a video in iMovie with a green screen. To overcome this, you can take the assistance of Wondershare Filmora that offers stunning AI-enabled options.

Using the AI Portrait mode of Filmora, you can automatically remove the background of a video without a green screen. Later, you can overlay the edited video on any other image/video of your choice.

Therefore, even if you have not shot your video with a green screen background, you can use Filmora to remove its background in the following way:

Step 1. Load the Video of Your Choice on Filmora

Install and launch Wondershare Filmora on your Mac and click on the “Import Media” button to browse the video to edit. You can also just drag and drop your videos on Filmora if you want.

After the videos are added, you can drag them to the timeline at the bottom to start editing.

Step 2. Use Filmora’s AI Portrait to Remove the Video’s Background

Once the video is added to the timeline, you can select it and get its preview. Now, to remove its background, just go to the “Effects” section from the top and visit the “AI Portrait” feature. From here, you can select the Human Segmentation effect that would automatically remove the background from the video.

You can also drag and drop other AI effects (such as Human Border, Human Glitch, etc. from here) to apply them to your videos.

These are paid effects in Filmora, and you can simply purchase them from here (or use their free trials).

Once you have implemented these AI Portrait effects, you can go to the Video Effects section to manually adjust their vital parameters. For instance, you can control features like thickness, fade, feather, etc. to get customized results with video editing.

Step 3. Export the Edited Video from Filmora

That’s it! After making all the changes, just click on the Export icon on Filmora and choose to save your video in any preferred location. You can also save it in any desired format or resolution.

As you can see, it is easy to remove the background from a video in iMovie with the help of a green screen. Though, to implement this technique, you first need to shoot your videos on the green screen background. If you don’t want to go through so much hassle, then simply give Wondershare Filmora a try.

It offers highly advanced AI features that can automatically remove the background from any video without a green screen. In this way, you can easily meet your post-production editing requirements while saving your time and resources.