How to add an animated overlay in CapCut
In CapCut an animated graphic goes on its own track above the video — Overlay on the phone, a higher track on the desktop — exported on green and cleared with Chroma key, because CapCut does not reliably read transparent video.
CapCut is where a lot of channels are cut, and it is the editor where a transparent export most often turns up as a black box. The route that works every time is a green-screen file and one effect, and it takes about a minute from download to a graphic sitting over your footage.
Export it on green, for CapCut
Open the export panel and choose CapCut under Where will you use this. That sets the file to an MP4 on a green screen. CapCut's handling of alpha in imported video is unreliable, and transparency often arrives as black, while a flat colour it can remove works in every version on every device.
Before you export, look at the screen colour. Green is the default and right for most designs; if your graphic itself uses green, choose blue or magenta instead, because the key removes every pixel close to that colour, not only the background. Match the canvas to your edit as well — Landscape for a 1920×1080 video, Vertical for a Short — from the size button above the canvas, so CapCut never has to stretch it.
Put it on its own track
On the desktop, import the file into Media and drag it onto the timeline above your main clip; CapCut opens a new track for it. On the phone, tap Overlay, then Add overlay, and pick the file — it lands on a layer over the main video rather than after it, which is the whole point.
Slide it to the moment it belongs to. A subscribe prompt works best just after something has paid off, not in the first seconds, and a graphic that animates in and out on its own needs no transition added on top. Leave its length alone; the tail is the exit.
Clear the green with Chroma key
Select the overlay clip. On the desktop the setting is in the Video panel under Cutout, which newer versions call Remove BG; on the phone it sits under the same name among the clip's tools. Turn on Chroma key and use the colour picker on the flat green, away from the edges of the graphic.
Two sliders follow. The first, Intensity or Strength depending on the version, decides how much of the colour goes: raise it until the background has gone, and stop before thin strokes start to thin with it. Shadow softens what is left along the edge.
When a green rim stays
A thin green outline is colour from the background caught at the edge of the graphic, and nudging Shadow up usually removes it. If it does not, the design probably shares a colour with the screen — export again on blue or magenta and pick that colour instead.
And if CapCut is only where you cut rough drafts, the same project exports as a truly transparent file for Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve or Final Cut Pro, with nothing to key at all.
Questions
- Where is chroma key in CapCut?
- Select the overlay clip and open Cutout — called Remove BG in newer versions — in the Video panel on the desktop, or among the clip's tools on the phone. Chroma key is in there, with a colour picker and two sliders.
- How do I put a video on top of another video in CapCut on the phone?
- Tap Overlay, then Add overlay, and choose the file. It sits on a layer above the main clip, where you can move it along the timeline and resize it in the preview.
- Which screen colour should I export for CapCut?
- Green, unless your graphic contains green. Chroma key removes every pixel near the chosen colour, so a green logo on a green screen loses the logo too — blue or magenta avoids that.
- Can I use the same overlay in several CapCut projects?
- Yes. The export is an ordinary MP4, so it imports into any project on any device, and the Chroma key setting is applied per clip wherever you place it.