Guide to Transparent Backgrounds: How to Make a Background Transparent in After Effects

If you’ve been browsing the Elements Blog for some time, you’ve likely already acquired some top-notch After Effects skills. However, there is a specific formality to follow in the creation and exporting of your After Effects projects – ensuring your transparent background is active in both the composition and the export.

We’re here to walk you through the process of how to make a background transparent in After Effects – from setting up your composition to exporting your video with an alpha channel. Let’s dive in!

Before diving into the technical aspects, you must understand what a transparent background means in After Effects. Let’s start with a test: Which composition from the following examples has a transparent background? One has a solid background layer, while the other has no solid color.

It’s tricky, right?

The answer is example B – that composition has no solid black color layer. Then why do both examples clearly show a solid black as the background? The Toggle Transparency Grid button has yet to be selected in example A. This button reveals a white and gray grid, indicating the transparent areas of the image. This parameter is usually selected by default when you create a new After Effects composition.

However, given that the After Effects interface can easily resemble the cockpit dashboard of a plane to a new user, it’s easy to accidentally toggle it and realize you need to work with a solid layer.

With that covered, we can see that a transparent background refers to a video file that contains animation or effects without any visible background. This is commonly known as the alpha channel.

Now I hear you ask, what is the alpha channel? In simple terms, it refers to the additional channel in a video or image that stores the transparency information. Instead of an image consisting of RGB channels, it consists of RGB + Alpha, allowing the video or image format to inform the computer to negate the alpha channel information and only display the RGB values. The alpha channel works with the RGB channels (red, green, and blue) to create a composite image. The RGB channels determine the color and intensity of each pixel, while the alpha channel determines the pixel’s transparency or opacity.

If you are new to motion graphics, you may not realize it, but you’ll see transparent backgrounds in use all across video media, from YouTube videos to sports broadcasts. Lower thirds, transitions, titles, and mood effects like smoke, fog, and light leaks all use transparent backgrounds.

Using the alpha channel, you can composite elements such as text, graphics, or video footage onto different backgrounds or layers. The transparent areas in the alpha channel allow the underlying layers to show through, creating a seamless blend between the various elements.

Despite the importance of the transparent background, setting one up is a breeze. Let’s run through the process.

To create a transparent background in After Effects, you must first set up your composition. Consider the size of your composition and ensure it matches the dimensions of your final video project. If elements are animating on and off the screen, ensure the canvas size aligns with your desired output.

There are multiple ways to adjust the canvas size in After Effects:

Once your composition is ready to go, it’s time to create layers and animate objects on a transparent background. After Effects offers a wide range of tools and features to bring your creative vision to life; whether you’re working with text, shapes, or images, you can easily add them to your composition and apply animations. If you have yet to create your perfect motion graphic, you can find a ton of inspiration across the blog.

To create a transparent layer, follow these steps:

By adding your composition to the Render Queue, you’re preparing it for the next steps of exporting and rendering.

While all these steps may seem like a lot, the motions will soon become second nature and, eventually, take you less than a minute to fulfill.

Before exporting your video with a transparent background, it’s essential to adjust the transparency settings and keyframes correctly. This step ensures that the desired elements are fully transparent when overlaid onto other footage or stacked as layers.

Here’s how to adjust transparency settings and keyframes:

You can ensure your composition is perfectly prepared for exporting with a transparent background by fine-tuning the transparency settings and keyframes.

Now that your composition is set up and transparency settings adjusted, it’s time to export your After Effects video with a transparent background. Follow these steps to achieve the desired result:

Once the rendering process is complete, you can import the video into After Effects or any other editing software supporting transparency. You’ll notice that your composition with a transparent background can now be seamlessly blended with additional footage or stacked as layers, allowing for creative possibilities.

After exporting your video with a transparent background, you can easily import and apply it to other projects. The process may vary depending on your video editing software, but the general steps remain the same. Here’s an essential guide for importing and applying a video with a transparent background in popular software like Premiere Pro.

Following these steps, you can easily integrate your transparent video into your editing projects, adding depth and visual interest.

While it’s likely plain sailing from here, working with transparent backgrounds in After Effects can sometimes present issues. Here are some common challenges you may run into and some troubleshooting tips to overcome them:

By being aware of these common issues and following the recommended steps, you can ensure your workflow with transparent backgrounds in After Effects is successful.

Here are some tips to consider if you want to make visually impressive videos with a transparent background.

When working with transparent backgrounds, choosing the correct format that supports an alpha channel is essential. Here are some common video formats that include an alpha channel.

These formats allow you to export and work with videos and images that preserve the transparency of information, enabling you to seamlessly integrate them into your projects.

Creating videos with transparent backgrounds in After Effects opens up creative possibilities. Following the steps outlined in this guide, you can set up your composition, create layers and animations, adjust transparency settings, and export your video with a transparent background.

To continue brushing up on your After Effects skills, learn How to Time Remap in After Effects and How to Animate a Logo in After Effects. Or head to Envato Elements to peruse a huge selection of After Effects templates and start creating today. Happy editing!