Transparent overlays for video editors

A transparent video overlay is a clip with an alpha channel, so only the graphic shows when you put it on a track above your footage; in Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve you use a WebM (VP9 with alpha), and in Final Cut Pro a MOV (ProRes 4444). In CapCut and phone editors you use a green-screen MP4 instead and remove the green with the app's chroma key tool.

This guide explains the three formats, what comes ready to use in Motion Cheat Code, and how to place each kind of file in an editor.

Three files, one overlay

An alpha channel stores how transparent each pixel is. A normal MP4 has none, which is why the green-screen version exists: instead of reading transparency, the editor removes one exact color. The green screen entry explains keying in more detail.

What comes transparent in the pack

• 60 overlays. Arrows, circles, stickers, stamps, UI pops, bursts and full-frame textures, each as a transparent WebM, a green-screen MP4 and the HyperFrames source it was rendered from. They are 1080 x 1920 at 30 fps and start and end fully invisible, so you can drop them anywhere on the timeline.
• Transparent templates. t31 Lower Third (1920 x 1080, for horizontal video), t32 Karaoke Captions, t33 Keyword Pop, t34 Circle + Arrow, t35 Follow Button, t36 Chapter Bar, t38 Reaction Burst and t39 Stat Sticker render with alpha, with their text, numbers and colors as variables.
• Captions as a layer. The caption styles can render the captions alone, without the clip's picture or sound, as a WebM or a MOV, plus a green-screen copy. See animated captions for Reels.

Many overlays carry their own sound effect inside both files. Mute or delete the clip's audio if you do not want it.

Use a WebM or MOV in your editor

A transparent file needs no keying. In general terms:

1. Put the file on a track above your video.
2. Move and scale it, then slide it to the moment it belongs to. Start a pop a few frames before the word or the action it marks.
3. Play it back over the footage and check the edges.

If you see a black background instead of transparency, that editor or that version ignored the alpha. Use the MOV, or the green-screen MP4. To turn a WebM into a MOV for Final Cut Pro, convert it once with FFmpeg, the free tool that also encodes HyperFrames videos:

ffmpeg -c:v libvpx-vp9 -i overlay.webm -c:v prores_ks -profile:v 4444 -pix_fmt yuva444p10le -c:a pcm_s16le overlay.mov

Keep -c:v libvpx-vp9 before -i: that is what makes FFmpeg read the transparency.

Use a green-screen MP4 with a chroma key

A chroma key removes one color from a clip. In CapCut and most phone editors the steps are the same in general terms:

1. Add the MP4 as an overlay layer above your video.
2. Open the app's chroma key or remove-color tool and pick the green.
3. Raise the strength until the green is gone. If thin lines or small pieces such as confetti start to fade, lower it again. The right value is the lowest one that removes all the green.
4. Move, scale and place the overlay on the timeline.

Green artwork would disappear together with the background, so in a green-screen render, colors too close to the key green are drawn near-black. Soft shadows and glows are switched off too, so the edges key cleanly.

Make your own version

Every overlay's source is a complete HyperFrames project with its color and text as declared variables. Ask Claude Code in plain words:

Open the sticker-sale overlay. Make it #FF2E93 with the text
SHOP NOW, then render a transparent WebM, a ProRes 4444 MOV
for Final Cut and a green-screen MP4 for CapCut.

Or render it yourself in the source folder:

npx hyperframes render --format webm --variables '{"color":"#FF2E93","text":"SHOP NOW"}' -o renders/mine.webm
npx hyperframes render --variables '{"color":"#FF2E93","text":"SHOP NOW","bg":"#00FF00"}' -o renders/mine-green.mp4

--format mov gives the ProRes 4444 version. If you build an overlay of your own, remember that a transparent render needs a transparent page: no background color on the page or its root element in that version.

Where to place overlays

• Arrows, stickers and cards sit inside the Reels safe box, x 60 to 940 and y 250 to 1440, so the app's buttons and caption do not cover them. Full-frame effects cover the whole frame. See Reels safe zones.
• A captions layer goes at the very start of the timeline, on top of the same clip, rendered to the clip's exact length.
• A lower third for horizontal video comes from t31 at 1920 x 1080.

The overlays and the transparent templates are part of the full Motion Cheat Code pack. The free starter kit is a quick way to see how a template renders before you build your own layers.