How to Add the Ghost Effect to Your Videos? [4 Ways]

Liza Brown

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

The videos you share on social media have to be dynamic and fun to watch in order to attract the attention of a wide audience. The ghost effect is relatively easy to create and you can use it to add a touch of humor to your video or to make its atmosphere spooky. This visual effect can be created on video editing apps for Android, iPhone, Mac or PC devices, but keep in mind that its effectiveness depends on the quality of the footage. Let’s have a look at how you can add the Ghost Effect your videos with Filmora, iMovie, KineMaster, VideoStar video editors.

Creating the Ghost Effect on PC and Mac Computers with Filmora

There are a few different ways to create the Ghost effect in Filmora, but each of them requires previous preparations. You must have all the media files you want to use to create the Ghost effect ready before you start a new project in Filmora. Furthermore, your video should be recorded in such a manner that leaves you a good way to introduce and ultimately sell the effect.

Place the video clip to which you want to add the Ghost Effect on the timeline, and then make a cut at the exact location where you want the effect to start. Create a snapshot of the video’s background or record the footage of the scene without a character you’d like to turn into a ghost and position it next to the previous clip. Put the portion of the clip to which you’d like to apply the Ghost effect above the clip that contains the background and then double-click on it. Once the Video Editing panel appears in the upper left corner, you should click on the Compositing menu, reduce the Opacity value and change the Blending Mode to Lighten. Adding the audio effects that complement the Ghost effect is going to make the effect look and sound more convincing, but which audio effects you are going to use depends on the context in which you are using this effect.

Filmora’s Baltan effect enables you to make characters in a shot transparent in a few clicks. You just have to type the effect’s name into the search bar in the Effects tab and drag and drop the effect to the timeline. Adjust the duration of the Batlan effect by dragging one of its ends in an inward or outward direction, and then double-click on it if you want to adjust its settings. Use the Alpha slider in the Effects panel to adjust the intensity of the Batlan effect and then click on the OK button to save the changes you’ve just made. When done, you can continue performing other video editing tasks or export the video to a local hard drive or to your Vimeo or YouTube channels. 

Creating the Ghost Effect for Free With iMovie

Unfortunately, iMovie doesn’t offer an easy way to add a ghost effect to a video, which is why you must first record footage in front of a green screen, and use the app’s compositing features to turn characters in a video into ghosts. Moreover, you are going to need a video clip that contains the background to which you want to add a slightly transparent character.

Add both the green screen footage and the background footage to the timeline and then go to the Backgrounds tab and add a green background to the timeline, as well. You must stack the green screen footage above the media files you are using as a background and then enable the Green Screen effect. Afterward, you should apply a clip effect, like Negative or X-ray to the green screen footage, so that it looks more transparent. When done, you should export the video file you created by combining the green screen footage with a monochrome background and import it into iMovie before placing it back on the timeline. Put the new video clip over the clips that contain the background images, and reduce its Opacity from the Cutaway menu.

The process of creating the green screen video is rather simple as you just have to place the video that was recorded in front of a green screen above the one that contains the background and turn its green parts transparent. However, creating the Ghost effect is a bit more complicated video editing task because you have to merge two different clips into a single video and then turn one of the character in it transparent. That is the reason why the footage you’re using must be perfect if you want the Ghost effect to look natural.

Using the KineMaster App to Create Ghost Effects for Your TikTok Videos

The abundance of video editing tools this video editing app for iOS and Android devices offers makes it one of the best choices for all video content producers who want to add Ghost effects to their videos. Before you start editing you must first record the two clips you want to combine and import them into KineMaster. After you import those video files into the app you should remove all segments of the footage you don’t want to use in the final cut of the video. Place the two video clips one above the other, turn off the Split Screen option and apply the Chroma Key effect.

Use the Alpha (Opacity) option the make the characters or objects in the overlaying video transparent. Make sure that the ghost is positioned properly and use the crop option to fine-tune its position if necessary. You can then export your Ghost effect video in Full HD resolution and share it on TickTock or any other social network.

Creating the Ghost Effect with the Video Star and TikTok apps

Record the videos you would like to combine with your phone’s camera before importing them into the Video Star app. Keep in mind that you must make additional purchases in order to gain access to all features you are going to need to create the Ghost effect. The video clips you recorded should contain the footage that you want to turn transparent as well as the footage that is going the serve as a background for the effect. Access your Camera Roll from the VideoStar app, select the video you’d like to import and then tap on the Make Video option.

After you’ve imported the first video clip into the app, you should tap on the New button and select the Import option and add the second video clip to the app. Tap on the New button once more, choose the Mix Clips option to bring up the Clip Mixer and then locate the Multiple Exposure feature. Select the clips you would like to combine and tap on the Mix Clips setting.

Optionally, you can use the Multi-Layer Clip feature that is available in the New menu to create a mask that enables you to conceal parts of the video clip that make the Ghost effect less obvious. Export the video to the Camera Roll if you like the results and import it to the TickTock app where you can add sounds, music or combine the video clip that contains the Ghost effect with other clips.

Conclusion

Preparation is essential if you want the Ghost effect to really have an impact on the viewers of your video. You won’t be even able to create this effect in iMovie if you don’t have the green screen footage, while the footage you’re using in all other video editing apps we’ve covered in this article needs to be carefully planned so that the ghost in the final cut of the video can look believable. Which method of creating Ghost effects do you like to use the most? Leave a comment and share your opinions with us.

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

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