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In this After Effects tutorial, I show you 3 easy steps to get a clean green screen key when working with green screen footage. If you haven't yet, make sure. If your green screen footage was shot correctly, you’ll be amazed how quick and easy it is to instantly remove the green screen using Final Cut Pro’s automatic Keyer effect. If you want to follow along with this tutorial, download one of Motion Array’s green screen stock footage clips. I have over 52 mins of 3840x2160 pixels video made in front of Green Background. Currently I am using After Effects multiple features for removing the Green background. But when I import this After Effect project in Premiere Pro CC for editing (giving various backgrounds) then the System becomes very slow - almost unworkable. This super practical tutorial teaches you how to remove green screen backgrounds in After Effects in just a few steps. The tutorial is easy to follow and understand and is super useful if you work with files where you have to switch out backgrounds. Complete Beginner’s Guide to Adobe After Effects.
Get the most versatility out of your still image or footage with a transparent background. Here’s how to utilize the Alpha Channel in After Effects.
If you’ve never heard of the alpha channel, don’t worry. Everyone knows what it is — even the people who think they don’t.
Remove Green Screen Tracking Markers In After Effects
What is Alpha Channel?
Key Green Screen After Effects
Before I ever touched Photoshop or Premiere Pro, I was using PowerPoint for school projects. It amazed me that dragging a picture into the software made the white background disappear.
Having an alpha channel will let you use your graphics in more creative ways.
That disappearing background is called the alpha channel or transparency. You’re going to want this if you need to lay graphics over other media files. Having a logo with transparency allows you to put it over anything you want.
I always use the alpha channel in After Effects. Without it, graphics that go over videos — lower thirds, accent graphics, etc — would need to be rendered out in their exact composition dimensions. If you don’t render out the alpha channel, After Effects will fill in the empty space with black.
How Do You Render with Transparency?
How To Remove Bad Green Screen In After Effects
First, see how much of your composition is transparent. Find the transparency grid under your main composition, and toggle it on and off. See any grey and white checkered patterns? Those are your transparent spots. Turning this grid on or off won’t affect the final render, it just allows you to see a preview of the final product.
Step 1: Render Queue
To render out a video with transparency, you need to first add it to the render queue. So, under Composition, click Add to Render Queue.
Step 2: Lossless
Next, navigate over and click on Lossless. A window called Output Module Settingswill pop up.
Step 3: Output Module Settings
This is where can change the codec, color depth, format, and channel. For transparency, you should be in the animation codec (or any other that allows for the alpha channel to be exported). Note that some codecs do not support transparency or RGB + Alpha. There is a red, green, and blue channel, then the fourth invisible one called the alpha channel. Transparency is the alpha channel. Once you pick the correct channel combination for your video, you should be good to render it out.
RGB + Alpha
You can export the entire 4K video out with RGB and alpha channels.
I love to use transparency when I’m exporting out lower thirds. If I correctly position the lower third in a 4K comp, then I just export the entire 4K video out with the RGB and alpha channels.
Doing this allows me to drag and drop the entire video into Premiere Pro, without having to make any position changes. Of course, not all projects require you to render out the alpha channel, but it’s important to know what the alpha channel is and how to use it.
Looking for some more After Effects action? Here you go: