Google claims that YouTube Shorts are getting over 30 billion views every day. This indirectly means that not only the number of viewers but the number of creators is also increasing daily. Since YouTube ads are one of the primary sources of the company's revenue, it keeps upgrading the platform with new features for both viewers and creators. For example, to make the creation process easier, YouTube has released a Green Screen feature.
There are thousands of videos on YouTube that use another video as their background. Primarily, this technique is used for educational purposes and reporting, where YouTube allows limited usage. However, using someone else's video for a background requires a lot of time and editing, especially if they create a Short video for which YouTube has allocated a fund of $100 million. With its new Green Screen feature, YouTube aims to solve this problem for creators so that they can generate more content in less time.
Over the last few months, YouTube has released many features focussing on the creation of Shorts. In April, the platform released the Shorts player for tablets and desktops. Now, it has come up with the Green Screen feature, which is already present on other sites like TikTok. In the world of cinematography, a green screen is a tool that is mainly used to separate the subject from the background and add visual effects. With Green Screen, YouTube creators will be able to use any eligible video or Short published on the platform as a background in their video. YouTube describes its Green Screen features as a "new way to remix" videos.
Use Videos As Backgrounds With YouTube Green Screen
To use the Green Screen feature on YouTube, creators should tap on the 'Create' button located below an eligible video and select 'Green Screen' from the options that appear on the screen. Alternatively, if someone wants to use a Short video as a background, they have to tap on the 'three-dot' option in the Shorts player and select 'Green Screen.' Following this, users will record their original video with the selected video as its background and publish it on the platform. They have the option of choosing only the visuals or audio + visuals of the selected video. The YouTube Green Screen feature is rolling out to the iOS YouTube app, which has recently got the picture-in-picture mode for all users. Further, Android users will get the feature in the coming months.
While creating a video using the Green Screen feature, creators should keep the following things in mind. First, the tool is only available to create Shorts on YouTube, i.e., the maximum length that one can shoot using the feature is 60 seconds. Secondly, videos created using the feature will provide credits to the original creator. Those who don't want others to remix their content can opt out on the YouTube Studio platform. Additionally, music videos are not eligible for the YouTube Green Screen feature. Moreover, the platform believes that this feature will provide a new way for viewers to discover content.
Source: Google