From superhero movies, galactic backgrounds, and mountain-like waves to your everyday weather report, most start with a background of a green screen. People convert green screen to transparent video to add other backgrounds. It's more cost-effective and versatile, making it a handy prop for any set. In logistics, green screens solve many challenges that would've otherwise been deemed impossible. Think of The Martian for a second.
Nowadays, you can easily use green screens to elevate your video editing, even if you're not on to a big Hollywood project. Stick around to learn how to make a green screen transparent with Premier Pro and other powerful tools like Wondershare Filmora.
In this article
Part 1. Why Should You Use Green Screen to Create Transparent Background
Green screens are everywhere, from huge Hollywood movies to advertisements and even your daily weather report on TV. The production crew uses a large neon green backdrop when shooting a scene. This backdrop changed to other backgrounds during post-production. Movies like Jurassic Park, Avatar, or Gravity with out-of-this-world sceneries are all shot on green screen. One can still create huge sets or fly out to remote parts of the world to shoot a particular scene. However, this is logistically challenging and time-consuming.
Big-budget projects are not the only ones that use green screens. Even people on a regular Zoom call use it for fun or personal entertainment. In addition, so many tools offer a green screen feature already, which makes it easy to obtain one as a backdrop.
- It's not all exclusive to the color green. One can use other colors but it may not be as effective and as easy to replace a background with. Here are some of the reasons why a green screen is an ideal choice:
- Green is the least color found in human skin tones, which makes it distinct, easily identifiable, and easier to remove than other colors.
- Green is the easier color for any software to detect since it's the brightest color in the RGB spectrum.
- Green color reflects light more and requires less lighting.
- Cameras are more sensitive to green light.
With that said, it's an efficient background color to work with. It's especially true in converting green screen to transparent video.
Part 2. Convert Green Screen to Transparent Video in Premier Pro [For Professionals]
To convert green screen video to transparent you will need a video editing tool, such as Adobe Premier Pro, to do this. Premier Pro is a video editing tool that many professionals and amateurs use because of its full-packed features, enabling complete editing capabilities and an intuitive interface.
Here's a step-by-step guide on how to convert green screen to transparent in Premier Pro:
- Step 1: Load up your green screen video in Premier Pro and add it to your timeline. Enable the ‘Effects’ and ‘Effects Control’ panels by going to the ‘Window’ tab then click on the said options. You’ll need these in the succeeding steps.
- Step 2. In the 'Video Effects' folder, choose the 'Keying' folder, find the 'Ultra Key' effect, and then drag it to the video clip.
- Step 3. Head over to the 'Effects Panel' then go to Key Color. In this portion, click the color picker box beside it. A pop-up window will open then use the eyedropper tool to choose the exact shade of green as seen on the video clip.
- Step 4. Click on the 'OK' button and instantly see your background changed from green to transparent.
Now, the video is already transparent which allows you to incorporate other backgrounds. While most professionals use Premier Pro, you can see how easy it is to follow the steps above, even as a beginner.
Part 3. Other Editing Tools to Remove Green Screen [For Beginners]
Premier Pro is an available option when converting green screen videos to transparent. However, it requires more time to learn and be familiar with as a beginner. You will also need more computer memory for the software to run smoothly. There's no need to worry since you can find other great alternative tools that will perform the same task.
Here are some other tools for beginners that you can use as alternatives to convert green to transparent video:
Wondershare Filmora [Highly-Recommended]
Filmora is a powerful video editor with full editing features to match your video and audio needs. It also has AI tools to help you make your editing process faster and more convenient. Its robust suite of creative assets contains preset templates, video footage, and cool video effects to add to your projects.
Kapwing
Aside from its editing tools, Kapwing has a green screen remover feature. All you need to do is upload your green screen video, head to the Effects tab, and choose Chroma Key. Adjust the threshold slider to your liking, then instantly see the green screen background disappear.
Veed IO
Veed IO allows you to remove the green screen background in seconds. With your uploaded file, choose the Green Screen feature under Magic Tools. Under 'Color to Remove', click on the eyedropper tool so you can match your video's exact shade of green. Watch as the green screen instantly disappears. You can also use the sensitivity slider to get your preferred results.
Part 4. How to Make a Green Screen Video Transparent Using Filmora
While you can find many Premier Pro alternatives, your best choice is Filmora. Filmmakers, vloggers, and video editors all find it a very reliable tool for making their video projects come to life. What makes this video editor incredible? Here's a summary of its features:
- Robust video editing features that allow you to easily use and perform tasks like keyframing, split screen, motion tracking, color correction, and matching, as well as enabling the green screen.
- Comprehensive audio editing tools to achieve that perfect accompanying sound to your videos. You can use the voice changer, auto synchronization feature, audio ducking, and silence detection, to name a few.
- Leverage text to help you with your editing tasks with features like text animation, text-to-speech, automatic captions, text-to-video, and speech-to-text, plus more!
- With AI-powered tools, you'll be sure to get an extra helping hand. Features like AI Copilot Editing, AI Music Generator, AI Translation, AI Copywriting, and a background remover.
- Have access to a huge collection of assets from video effects, preset templates, and video footage.
While the tool has many features, this section will focus on how to make a green screen video transparent using Filmora. After this, you'll find it very easy to follow and start on. Here's a detailed guide below:
- Step 1. Head to Filmora's website and click 'Download' to automatically download the installation file. Follow the instructions provided in the file to successfully install the desktop app.
- Step 2. In the Filmora desktop app, import the green screen video and drag it to the timeline.
- Step 3. Head to the Video tab in the upper right corner of the screen, go to 'AI Tools', then enable the 'Chroma Key' feature. You can then instantly see the green screen background removed and leave the video transparent.
With these simple steps, you can convert green screen to transparent video in Filmora even without deep editing expertise. For better results, you can adjust the offset slider, tolerance, edge thickness, and edge feather under the AI tools tab.
Conclusion
Green screens make video creation and editing faster and more efficient. It's especially true for high-budget projects but also applicable to short-form content. Whichever type of project you're working on, you can rely on tools like Premier Pro to convert a green screen video to transparent like a pro. If you don't know how, start by following the simple steps shown in this article. However, if you're looking for a great alternative to Premier Pro, Filmora is your best choice. It's easy to use, can make your videos transparent in seconds, and hosts other incredible video editing features. Try Filmora now and explore its full editing suite for your best video project yet!