Learn how you can simply remove black background from your footage using After effects built in tools!

Want to know how to remove the black background for your stock footage elements? I show you a number of different ways – all easy – for how you can achieve that in Adobe After Effects.

You can either set the blend mode to ‘Screen’ or ‘Add’, but this will only work for fire or explosions. For smoke, blood or darker elements that technique will simply not work as it will make the element look very transparent.

Another technique is to use the Linear Color Key effect in After Effects to remove the black background. You can use the Matching Tolerance and Matching Softness properties to control how much of the background colour is removed.

Finally, if the stock footage element has been shot against a green or blue screen you can use the Keylight effect in Adobe After Effects to remove it cleanly.