How to export transparent background in after effects media encoder

If you are reading this, it is because you noticed that After effects can not render a GIF with transparent background. Adobe Media Encoder will not help either. There are two ways to get the job done. Let’s get into it!

Table of Contents Show

1. The Easy way. Using the free Plugin from AEJuice
2. Option B. Using Photoshop to render the transparentGIF
1. Render a MOV with Alpha channel in After Effects
2. Render the GIF with Photoshop
Recommendation
Production codecs with alpha channel support
Uncompressed with alpha
How do I export a transparent background in After Effects?
Why is my After Effects not exporting transparent?

1. The Easy way. Using the free Plugin from AEJuice

Recently I discovered a free plugin “AEJuice GIF” which is very easy to use and it is free.

First download the plugin AEJuice GI from the AEjuice “Free plugins” page. It has an easy installer for Mac and windows, you don’t have to use any other plugin installer.
Once you have it installed open After Effects and go to the menu “Window > AE Juice GIF.jsxbin” to open the plugin.

3. The following window will open with the “Render” and the “Configutation” buttons. If you need transparent background for your GIF just open the Configuration with the “cog” icon button.

4. Select Alpha channel to export a transparent GIF. It will ignore the background color of your composition and export only the contents.

5. That’s all you need. It will create a GIF with the name of your composition next to your AE project file.

2. Option B. Using Photoshop to render the transparentGIF

This option has more steps but uses 100% Adobe software.

1. Render a MOV with Alpha channel in After Effects

Just make sure that your composition has a transparent background.

Press this icon to see the transparent area in your composition

Then Choose File>Export> Add to the render list

On the Render list, go to the last entry where your next Render is located.

Click on the setting next to “Output module” (blue link). It will pop up a window with your settings.

On the main options make sure you select “RGB + Alpha channel”.

Choose a MOV format and Render. That’s all in After Effects. Let’s move to Photoshop.

2. Render the GIF with Photoshop

Open your MOV file from the File >Open… menu in Photoshop.

Photoshop will open the video as a Layer with Alpha channel

Then choose File > Export > Save for web (Legacy)… to export it as a GIF.

The settings are up to you.

Recommendation

After testing both options I recommend the first option since it allows you to keep changing your original composition and getting the export right away. It has the same quality and it is free. Download the plugin and tell me what you think. Happy designing!

Media Encoder only supports exporting animated GIFs on Windows[1], but it wouldn't help anyway...

GIF only supports indexed transparency (so every pixel is either completely transparent or not), which is why the edges look pixelated. If you know the background color you'll be placing the GIF on you can export your GIF with that color as a background matte.

In Photoshop's Save for Web:

This is the same image without then with a matte:

If you're placing it on a number of backgrounds that are relatively similar in color then a vaguely similar color may help a bit, you'll have to experiment and see what works, but this is just an inherent limitation of the format.

Is it possible to export a video file from After Effects with transparency?

I don't want to export to an image sequence.

asked Dec 17, 2015 at 9:39

Marten ZanderMarten Zander

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File > Add to Render Queue > Output mode > Format 'Quicktime' / Channels 'RGB + Alpha'

See if that works for you!

answered Dec 17, 2015 at 13:33

Production codecs with alpha channel support

Apple ProRes 4444 / Apple ProRes 4444 XQ
From the Manual:
Apple ProRes 4444 and Apple ProRes 4444 XQ are ideal for the exchange of motion graphics media because they are virtually lossless. They are also the only Apple ProRes codecs that support alpha channels.
DNxHD
From Wikipedia:
lossy high-definition video post-production codec engineered for multi-generation compositing with reduced storage and bandwidth requirements
The codec supports alpha channel information.
DNxHR
From Wikipedia:
lossy UHDTV post-production codec engineered for multi-generation compositing with reduced storage and bandwidth requirements
CineForm
From Wikipedia
Current implementations support image formatting for 10-bit 4:2:2 YUV, 12-bit 4:4:4 RGB and RGBA, and 12-bit CFA Bayer filter RAW compression

Uncompressed with alpha

Quicktime Animation Codec
AVI uncompressed (None)

From the After Effects Manual:

When specifying the color depth for an output image, the plus sign (as in Millions Of Colors+) denotes an alpha channel. Similarly, choosing to output to 32 bits per pixel implies an output depth of 8 bits per channel for each of four channels: RGBA.

answered Dec 18, 2015 at 14:40

p2orp2or

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Yes, for the Quicktime output module, choose to output RGB + Alpha using PNG or Animation codec.

In Media Encoder, choose Depth as 32 Bit after selecting the same codecs as above.

answered Dec 17, 2015 at 9:44

GyanGyan

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How do I export a transparent background in After Effects?

Click Format, and then select Quicktime, the industry standard. Finally, still in the Output Module settings window, under Video Output, click Channels, select RGB + Alpha, and then click OK at the bottom of the window. You're now ready to export with variable alpha channels!

Why is my After Effects not exporting transparent?

In order for your video file to maintain transparency, you must export in a format that supports an Alpha Channel. When creating a Render Proxy in After Effects, navigate to the Output Module Settings and under Video Output, set the Channels to “RGB + Alpha”.