Blender Tips - How to Make Blender Render Transparent Background

Want to explore open source 2D/3D content creation through Blender? Stay here to embark your graphic creations with over the top dimensional detailing!

Part 1 What’s Blender and What’s Its Advantages?

When landing into the world of 3D graphic design, the Blender software suite is a one stop access to everything you would possibly think of exploring with. Right from modeling, animation, rendering and compositing to rigging, motion tracking and simulation; the software is a complete video editor and game developer kit.

Some high rated professional applications of the software include, API based Python and allied tool scripting to customize different applications, most of which are a part of the suite’s later releases. The software further supports a common graphic pipeline; compatible to studio based professional as well as individual usage and undergoes continuous upgrade to ascertain maximum graphic productivity.

Talking of the software’s platform compatibility, you are free to use Blender on any of your Windows, Mac and Linux supported devices with utmost ease. The suite works on the OpenGL platform for the most responsive user experience and quick output response.

You can further, conveniently regard the software as your personal 3D graphic designer, owing to the fact that the software’s General Public License grants the liberty of minor and major code alterations to its users, which often results in making the suite additively responsive, with the inclusion of improved features, receptive bug fixes and interactive usage.

Potential Advantages

Choosing the Blender 3D design suite for dimensional and motion graphic editing, you are entitled to benefit from the following advantages:

01A Free Graphic Suite

Almost every software user has the obvious habit of prioritizing financial equity before all other program credibility. However, you should be relieved to realize that the Blender 3D Suite is available to you without a price tag. Loyal users of the software claim the product to outshine its priced counterparts in terms of features and responsive flexibility.

If you are at the shore of graphic design and 3D modeling, there’s absolutely no better software to jump with, in the creation pool. Talking of the concerns of long term free usage and hidden feature blocking pay walls, there’s no cause to worry.

The software earns most of it financial credits through sales merchandise, donations and Cloud Service, which is a reasonably priced and optional graphic design assistant and application resource.

02Open Source Software

Essentially programmed and developed by an expert and skilled core team, the software is liberal enough to entertain open source modifications. Public users of the suite are permitted to make functionality alterations with Python coding. This flexibility of the Blender software is the underlying reason to a community driven increment to the existing top class suite functionalities.

While the public user creativity is responsible for adding a heap of free and paid software functionalities, the suite offers a sale of the specific feature scripts at marketplaces like, Blendermarket.com as a developer support initiative to promote the creation of highly productive graphic tools.

03Extensive Pipeline Support

As already stated, the software supports a plethora of creative utilities ranging from still and motion image graphics, movie developments, dimensional modeling, gaming, studio VFX and lots more. What’s best is, you are entitled to all this without having to spend a single penny from your pocket.

While most creators take up Blender graphic designing as a full time earning source, the bottom line is, if you are wondering, whether or not Blender supports a particular design task, most of the times it possibly can!

04Rendering Flexibility

You can work with two rendering options, viz., Eevee and Cycles within Blender. Using the Eevee render option, users can render their design models in physical, real time outputs in a quick time span. T5her biggest advantage of this rendering engine happens to be its working speed. While it does not require you wait for tedious rendering durations, you can additionally escape individual frame renders.

The Cycles is a physical, path tracing render engine, using light rays to interpret design looks. Compatible to GPU and CPU rendering, this one is a bit slow, but delivers a much precise image than Eevee.

Part 2 How to Make a Material Transparent in Blender

Blender is a top class graphic modulation tool; you can use to play with your editing creativity to your heart’s content, catering to a variety of design requirements, while adhering to a distinguished professional outlook. If you are pondering over the perfect task choice to start your editing journey with Blender, you can begin with making a material transparent in the software.

When beginning to create transparent artworks in Blender, you need to be familiar with the Transparent BSDF node. Here’s a quick explanation:

Transparent BSDF Node

When working with Blender, you get to access a variety of graphic nodes that cater to specific design purposes. Likewise, the transparent BSDF, as the name suggests, is an exclusive transparency creation graphic node that is essential to make materials transparent in Blender. Talking of the specific node function, it is there to facilitate the control of different transparency modes, in cohesion with specific user requirements.

Browse through the following section for a guided tutorial to make a material transparent using Blender:

Step 1:

Prepare a suitable BSDF material by selecting any image from your device and applying it to the object in the Blender’s viewport.

Step 2:

To start working with the Transparent BSDF node, you first need to insert the same into the node tree amongst the Principle BSDF and the Mix Shader nodes. To do this, you need to select ‘Add’ or press ‘Ctrl + A’, followed by locating the same in the ‘Shader’ submenu. Do not forget to add the ‘Mix Shader’ node, which is again, present in the ‘Shader’ submenu, to the node tree.

Step 3:

Plug in the Transparent BSDF output into the top Shader input of the Mix Shader, while dragging the latter into the connecting link between the Material Output and Principle BSDF nodes. This enables the Mix Shader node to pass through the two output generating nodes. The resultant ‘Transparency Effect’ can be seen on the viewpoint object within a few seconds.

Step 4:

Make an additional connection of two fresh nodes into the node tree as follows:

● Transparent BSDF output to the Mix Shader input

● Principal BSDF output to the Mix Shader input

● Mix Shader output to the Surface input

This will finally fetch a transparent material output for the selected image object.

Part 3 How to Make a Background Transparent in Blender

Having experimented with object material transparency in Blender, you can try hands at taking your creativity to the next level by creating Blender render transparent backgrounds in the software. Here’s what you need to do to take up the creation process:

Step 1:

Begin with choosing a suitable image to create a transparent background in either of the Eevee or Cycles render engines, followed by navigating to the ‘Render Properties’ tab in the software’s main interface. Click on the same to get a related drop down menu for activating selected image effects.

Step 2:

From the dropdown that appears, reach to the ‘Film’ option and click on the ‘Transparency’ checkbox to activate it.

You will now observe the image background in the Blender object viewport to disappear.

Step 3:

Press F12 to receive the render output. You can now save the transparent background image in your device. Take note use a transparency compatible image format, preferably PNG.

Blender is undoubtedly a viable graphic editing software to create transparent background images, but if you are in search of a different editor alternative, the Filmora Image Creator and Editor software to take up the aforesaid task with utmost ease.

Wondershare Filmora Video Editor

Essentially a Wondershare software utility, Filmora is conveniently regarded as one among the finest and top curated image editor software. Adhering to the particular interest of transparent background creation, Filmora’s exclusive ‘Green Screen’ attribute is a viable solution to create masterpieces of professional quality, transparent background images. The huge effects library of the software is there to infuse the additional tint of class to your creative excellence.

Making Transparent Background Images in Filmora

Follow the stepwise guided tutorial given below to create images with excellent quality transparent background in Filmora:

Step 1: Software Download and Installation

Log in to your favorite web browser in a Mac or Windows device to download Filmora from its official site and proceed with the software installation process.

Step 2: Import Image File

When you are done with the installation, launch the software and navigate to the ’Import’ tab in its welcome interface. Click and tap ‘Import Media File’ from the dropdown that appears to import the desired image to Filmora’s media library.

Step 3: Drag to Timeline

The next step is to drag your image selection from the software’s media library to its editor timeline. Either right click the image and select ‘Insert’ option from the submenu that appears, or use the conventional ‘Drag and Drop’ method to accomplish this task.

Step 4: Transparency Adjustments

Once the image reaches the timeline, tap the same to see the ‘Settings’ tab get opened. Navigate through the tab options until you find ‘Chroma Key Settings’. Enable the ‘Chroma Key’ with a right side toggle to see your selected image get transparent with a ‘Green’ color in the background.

An alternative to the above method is to hit the ‘Color Picker’ option to the right of the ‘Select Color’ tab and navigate to a desired section of the image to make it transparent with a single click.

If you observe partial transparency in the resultant image background, consider making additional adjustments in ’Chroma Key’ setting parameters like, offset, edge thickness, tolerance, edge feather, etc., to ensure that the image background is totally transparent. When the final artwork makes you happy, tap ‘OK’.

Step 4: Time to Export!Your creation is now all set for a media export to your favorite social media handles. Just click on the ‘Export’ tab in the top right of the software timeline and that’s it!

● Ending Thoughts →