Filmora
Filmora - AI Video Editor
Edit Faster, Smarter and Easier!
OPEN
Sky Replacement
A cross-platform works like magic for background removal or sky replacement photos!
  • A varity of sky replacement effects
  • Make videos more engaging and attractive
  • Cool tricks to bring viewers into a magical world

Replacing the Sky in Adobe After Effects: An Extensive Guide

Caroline Laurent
Caroline Laurent Originally published Nov 29, 23, updated Mar 27, 24

Replacing Sky After Effects can change the essence of your videos with an authentic feel. In sci-fi movies, the colors of the sky add a dramatic, intense, or soft touch to videos. In scenes of war, peace, crime, and love, skies represent the theme. Shooting outdoors cannot always capture the essence of the sky. Replacing skies can help with covering over-exposed or under-exposed skies.

In this article, the focus of the discussion is how to replace Sky After Effects. Users can also learn about the advantages of using background replacers. If you want to learn sky replacement in After Effects, there is an instruction manual. It will give you some tips and tricks for replacing and adjusting the sky. At the end, we will discuss another software for replacing video backgrounds.

In this article
  1. Part 1: What Are the Benefits of Having Video Background Replacers?
  2. Part 2: Top Guide Explaining How to Replace Sky in Adobe After Effects?
  3. Part 3: Wondershare Filmora: A Breath-taking Alternative to Replacing Backgrounds in Videos
  4. Conclusion
Sky Replacement
A cross-platform works like magic for background removal or sky replacement photos!
Wondershare Filmora

Part 1: What Are the Benefits of Having Video Background Replacers?

Along with enhancing the creative element in videos, background replacers help with more. Users can integrate them for both personal and professional uses. The following section will give a sneak peek at the advantages of background removers:

1. Privacy and Concealment

Video background removers extract the real surroundings, which addresses privacy concerns. In addition, they conceal any mess or imperfections in your background.

2. Maintains Professional Appearance

They help you set up professional backgrounds for Zoom meetings or Google Classrooms. In this way, they maintain the professional element of your videos.

3. Marketing Consistency

When it comes to marketing, they help choose a reliable background for the brand. The background becomes the identity of the brand and maintains its consistency.

4. Creative Expression in Movies

In the media industry, backgrounds like the sky help express the emotion of an actor or a mass. If there is anger, the sky will turn red; if there is peace, it will have a calm outlook.

5. Audience Engagement and Focus

A well-aligned background increases the audience's focus on the theme of the video. This is because irrelevant backgrounds can catch the audience's interest and distract them.

Part 2: Top Guide Explaining How to Replace Sky in Adobe After Effects?

Do you want to elevate the graphics of your videos professionally? Adobe After Effects is an ideal software for it as it helps professionals to edit films. It offers multiple animations for titles and videos like revolve, rotate, and more. In addition, you can overlap videos with precision using its Rotoscope feature.

There are built-in effects and features to ease the editing process for you. In addition, you can do custom settings in it and save them as presets. One of its many specifications is that it is an elite background remover and replacement. It enables a seamless addition of the sky in the background. We have mentioned the step-by-step procedure of After Effects replace Sky below:

Procedure 1: Removing Video Background

Step 1: After bringing your video to the timeline, navigate towards the top search bar at the left. In the Effects Control option, search for the "Extractor" effect and add it. Then, change the "Channel" of this effect to your "Blue" or "Luminance." Change the position of both sliders there to remove and feather the background.

enable extract effect

Step 2: To avoid removing parts other than the sky, duplicate this video to the timeline. From the bottom video, eliminate the extractor effect. Navigate towards the top toolbar and select the "Mask" option. Create a mask around the ground at the bottom of the video. In the timeline, click the "Mask Path" option to create the mask throughout the video.

enable pen tool to draw mask

Step 3: Now, select the top video in the timeline and search for “Key Cleaner.” Adjust the values of options under the key cleaner for precision.

enable key cleaner

Step 4: If there are still some spaces left, use the “Simple Choker” effect to correct them. You can find it using the search bar and adjust the given values.

enable simple choker effect

Procedure 2: 3D Camera Tracking

Step 1: Now, duplicate the video again on the timeline and remove all its effects. Afterward, add a "3D Camera Tracker" in it. Then click "Analyze" and let the tracker analyze your video.

activate 3d tracking for mask

Step 2: Next, select any three points from the footage and right-click on them. From the drop-down menu, select "Create Null and Camera" or "Create Solid and Camera."

select a camera option

Procedure 3: Replacing the Sky

Step 1: Import the video of your sky and bring it to the timeline. Bring the sky in the back of your footage and change it to a 3D layer. Afterward, change the "Position" of your sky from the timeline. We recommend you set the values as far away as possible for realistic effect.

adjust the position of sky

Step 2: Once you have set the sky's position, navigate towards the timeline panel again. From there, change the "Scale" of the background to set according to your footage. Afterward, see if the sky needs any flipping. This is because you must align the bright parts of the sky with the bright parts of the ground.

adjust the scale of sky

Procedure 4: Color Matching

Step 1: Play with the color setting elements like "Saturation" or "Lightness." Change the position of their sliders to observe the changes in your footage.

do basic color corrections

Step 2: Right-click on the timeline and add "New > Adjustment Layer" for settling colors. Afterward, see the preview of your video and export it.

add an adjustment layer

Part 3: Wondershare Filmora: A Breath-taking Alternative to Replacing Backgrounds in Videos

For those who find sky replacement in After Effects difficult, there are alternatives. One of the simplest alternatives to replace sky is Wondershare Filmora. It is a video editor driven by AI technology with multiple effects and presets. Filmora keeps updating its functionalities, and it has recently launched the V13 upgrade. There was the addition of multiple AI tools and enhanced effects for creativity purposes.

Free Download
Free Download

Filmora's video background remover uses AI to extract the background with precision. Afterward, users can replace it with Filmora's pre-assembled background collection. There are multiple colors, gradients, and other replacements for the background. The integration of AI has eliminated the human effort of cutting out background.

Step-by-Step Guide on Replacing Backgrounds in Filmora

Unlike replacing Sky After Effects, it keeps the background changing process simpler. In this guide, we will remove the background first and then replace it. Here is the step-by-step procedure to replace the background using this alternative:

Step 1Create a New Project to Import Media

First, install Wondershare Filmora on your device and launch it. Afterward, use the "New Project" button to start a project and enter its editing interface. Use the "Ctrl +I" keys to import your video and drop it on the timeline.

import media after creating a project
Step 2Enable the Smart Cutout Option

In the timeline panel, select the video and navigate towards the right-side settings panel. Afterwards, go to the "AI Tools" section under the "Video" tab. From there, enable the “Smart Cutout” option and click the Start button below.

enable the smart cutout option
Step 3Start Removing Background

In the Smart Cutout Video window, use the brush to mark the object you want in the video. The AI will auto-select the rest of the object. After that, hit the "Click to start Smart Cutout" option, and it will initiate. Then, click the "Save" button to save the background, removing settings.

save the cutout video
Step 4Replace a Background and Export Video

Once the background has been removed, click this video in the timeline. Hover the cursor towards the right settings panel and access the "Video > Basic" tab. Scroll down to find the "Backgrounds" section and enable it. In the "Type" section, select the background type and choose from the options to add. Once you have added the background, click the "Export" button to save this video.

replace the background

Conclusion

The article emphasized the importance of video background removers and their benefits. In addition, we discussed replacing sky After Effects in detail. In the end, we provided a simple alternative for those looking for it. This is because Adobe After Effects might have a technical editing interface.

Wondershare Filmora, on the other hand, can carry on the process with efficiency and simplicity. If you haven't yet used this software, visit its website to download it. There are other features that help with uplifting the content. You will also find the detailed user guides to use those functions.

Caroline Laurent
Caroline Laurent Mar 27, 24
Share article: