You often need to isolate or separate objects from their backgrounds when editing videos. This is useful for many reasons: maybe you want to create special effects, remove unwanted objects, or even transport your subject to another world! AI Video Masking and Green Screens (Chroma Keying) are popular methods. Both of these techniques help editors achieve unique effects, but they work in different ways.
In this article, we’ll explore the differences between AI Video Masking and Green Screen and compare the benefits and limitations of each. We’ll also show you how to use AI Video Masking in Filmora, a popular video editing tool.
Part 1: Understanding AI Video Masking and Green Screen
In this section, we’ll explore how each method works and how it can be helpful in different video projects. Let’s examine the details of AI Video Masking and Green Screen to understand their differences!
What is AI Video Masking?
AI video masking is a unique feature in video editing that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help editors quickly cover or highlight parts of a video. It helps save time by doing some of the work for you. Here are some simple examples of how to mask video:
- Finding objects in a video: AI can look at a video and see people or things, like a person walking through a busy street.
- Covering parts of a scene: AI can cover specific areas, like the sky, a building, or a lake, so you can change or edit them.
- Covering multiple things: AI can draw a box around an entire person or object to cover it all at once.
- Covering small details: AI can even cover tiny things, like the color of someone’s eyes or a reflection.
- Tracking moving objects: If something in the video moves, like a car or a person, AI can follow that movement and keep it covered or highlighted.
AI video masking makes it easier to edit videos without having to do everything by hand.
What is a Green Screen (Chroma Keying)?
A green screen is a prominent backdrop that helps you add cool effects to your photos or videos. It’s usually made of green fabric, but sometimes blue is used too.
When you use a green screen, special editing software can replace the green part with any picture or video you want.
Here are some examples of how green screens are used:
- Movies: Green screens are used in films to create special effects, like making actors look like they’re flying or in faraway places.
- Weather reports: On the news, green screens help show weather maps behind the reporter, even though they just stand before a green screen.
- Social media: Apps like TikTok and Instagram have green screen tools that let you change your background. For example, you could replace your background with fun images or cool outfits.
- Photography: Photographers use green screens to make it look like you’re in a different place, like on a beach, even if you’re just in a studio!
Part 2: How to Mask Videos with AI in Filmora
Video masking can be a little tricky, especially if you’re just starting out. That’s why it’s important to choose a good tool to help you. One of the best tools for editing videos is Wondershare Filmora. It makes video editing easy and fun, helping you create fantastic effects!
Filmora lets you make masks in all sorts of shapes, like circles, hearts, stars, or rectangles. You can even draw a mask around someone’s face! If you have a shape you saved before, you can upload it and use it again. Filmora’s AI masking tool can find people or objects in your videos all by itself. Plus, the intelligent brush lets you quickly draw any area you want to mask.
With all these features, Filmora helps you edit videos and make them look great! Here’s how to combine clips and create smooth transitions with Filmora’s masking tool:
Step 1: Open Wondershare Filmora and click on “New Project” to start.
Step 2: Import your video by dragging and dropping it into Filmora. Then, drag the video to the timeline to start editing.
Step 3: Go to Video > Mask > Linear on the right side. You can rotate the mask line or change its angle to fit your video.
Step 4: To combine two videos, add another video to a separate track in the timeline. Select the rectangle mask again and adjust it the same way.
Step 5: Adjust the blur strength to make the two videos blend together nicely. To add transitions, click on the spot in the video where you want a keyframe and hit the Add button. Edit the keyframe to create cool transitions.
Step 6: Gradually move the video and mask line to automatically add more keyframes until the video scrolls out of view. Preview the video to see how the transitions look.
And that’s it! You’ve combined two videos and created smooth transitions using Filmora’s masking tool. Filmora makes it super easy to add masks and create fun effects in just a few minutes!
Part 3: Comparing the Benefits and Limitations
Now that we understand how AI Video Masking and Green Screen work, let’s compare them. Both methods are helpful for video editing but have different strengths and weaknesses. Depending on your project, one method may work better than the other.
Benefits of AI Video Masking
As technology improves, it’s becoming easier and cheaper to use tools that were once only for big companies. A tool for masking video brings different benefits for your editing, including:
- Automatic and Fast: AI Video Masking can automatically detect and cover the main object in a video, saving time since you don’t have to do it by hand.
- No Special Setup Needed: You don’t need to use a green screen when filming. AI can work with any background, making it more flexible.
- Handles Complex Scenes: AI Video Masking works well with videos with busy or complicated backgrounds, like outdoors or crowded places.
Benefits of Green Screen
Now, almost anyone can use editing tools, including something cool like a green screen. Here’s why using a green screen is a great idea:
- Clear and Fun: A green screen helps make your videos clear and easy to understand, especially when explaining complex ideas. You can also add virtual things that make your videos more fun and engaging for your viewers.
- Be Creative: The green screen gives you the power to show your ideas uniquely. You can create anything you imagine!
- Use in Different Ways: If you’re making videos with different scenes, the green screen helps you save time. You don’t have to change sets—you can do everything in one place!
- Steady Lighting: Lighting can change a lot when filming outside. With a green screen, you don’t have to worry about sunlight. It keeps the lighting the same every time.
- Save Money: You don’t have to spend money on travel or renting places to shoot. This helps you save money and use it for other parts of your business.
Limitations of AI Video Masking
AI video masking is a powerful tool, but it does have some limitations:
- Accuracy: While AI can be highly accurate, it may still struggle with complex scenes or objects that have intricate details. Manual adjustments might be needed to achieve the desired results.
- Processing Time: AI video masking can be time-consuming, especially for high-resolution videos or when processing large amounts of data.
- Cost: Implementing AI video masking tools can be expensive, particularly for small businesses or individual creators.
- Learning Curve: There can be a steep learning curve for users who are not familiar with AI tools and video editing software.
- Hardware Requirements: High-quality AI video masking often requires powerful hardware to process the data efficiently, which might not be accessible to everyone.
Despite these limitations, AI video masking continues to evolve and improve, offering exciting possibilities for video production.
Limitations of Green Screen
Using a green screen can be tricky and has some problems. Here are a few things that can go wrong:
- Lighting Problems: If the lighting isn’t just right, the video can look fake and unsuitable to the audience.
- Costs and Time: Even though shooting on a green screen is cheaper than shooting in real places, it can still be expensive and take a lot of time. This makes it difficult for people with small budgets or who want to make quick videos.
- Color Issues: If the person or object in front of the green screen is wearing or has anything green, that part might disappear when editing, making it hard to get the video to look right.
Conclusion
AI Video Masking and Green Screen offer powerful video editing tools with distinct advantages. AI Video Masking is ideal for more dynamic or complex scenes, saving time and effort without a particular setup.
On the other hand, Green Screen excels in controlled environments with steady lighting, offering cost-saving and creative possibilities for creating clear and engaging visuals.
Depending on your project needs, you can mask video for flexibility and complex editing or opt for a Green Screen when working with consistent backgrounds and creative effects. Wondershare Filmora is an excellent tool for both methods, offering ease of use and advanced features.