FOR DESIGNERS & MOTION
Assets with a real alpha channel.
Export a subject with a transparent background as ProRes 4444 and drop it into any composite, any deck, any site, with no rectangle around it.
THE PAIN
- A green screen you do not have room to set up
- Rotoscoping by hand for a five-second asset
- Flat rectangles where a cutout was needed
THE WORKFLOW
Film or import the subject
Remove the background on-device, feather the edge
Export ProRes 4444 with alpha
FROM YOUR PHONE
iPhone and iPad export the same transparent asset as HEVC with alpha, so a cutout can start on the phone.
Zella for iPhone & iPad →WHEN THIS OUTGROWS THE FREE TIER
Transparent export is Pro on both platforms, and it is the entire use case. So is 60 fps, when the asset has to sit in motion work that runs at 60.
Everything else here is free forever: the complete editor, all the AI, unlimited recording, and watermark-free export up to 2 minutes at 1080p. Pro is $89 once and covers Mac, iPhone and iPad on a single purchase. See pricing →
Designers need video for a narrow but unforgiving set of jobs: a prototype walkthrough, a case-study clip, a motion asset that has to sit on someone else's layer without a rectangle of background around it.
The last one is where most tools fail. Zella exports a real alpha channel - ProRes 4444 on Mac, HEVC with alpha on iPhone and iPad - so a background-removed clip drops straight into After Effects, Figma or a website without a matte pass. It writes a .mov, because an .mp4 cannot carry alpha at all.
The rest is craft detail: 12 title entrance animations, gradient fills, stroke and shadow, blend modes, masks that limit an effect to one region, and anchoring so a title survives a reframe instead of sliding off the edge.
WHAT YOU ACTUALLY SHIP
A transparent motion asset
Set the clip background to Remove and export ProRes 4444 or HEVC with alpha, ready to composite on any layer.
A prototype walkthrough
Region capture at exact pixel size, Auto-Zoom on the interactions, cursor and click effects so the pointer is findable.
A case-study clip
Kinetic titles with gradient fills and 12 entrance animations, anchored so a 16:9 to 9:16 reframe does not move them.
A masked treatment
Masks limit an effect to one region, so a blur or a colour move applies where you want rather than the whole frame.
THE HONEST ANSWERS
Is this a motion design tool?
No, and it would be dishonest to sell it as one. There are no bezier rigs, no expressions, no node graph. It has keyframes with a graph editor and motion blur, which covers walkthroughs and simple motion, not a full After Effects replacement.
Why is the export a .mov and not an .mp4?
Because an .mp4 cannot carry an alpha channel. Any tool offering you a transparent .mp4 is not giving you transparency. Zella writes .mov for exactly this reason.
Does the cutout hold up on hair and fast movement?
Better than most, and it is worth knowing how. Every frame is matted by two models and only what both accept survives, so a single model hallucinating part of the room is vetoed by the other. Motion-blurred pixels along a moving arm are trimmed rather than recoloured, and edge decontamination takes the edge colour from the subject rather than the old background.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
Can Zella export video with a transparent background?
Yes, with Pro. It writes a .mov with a real alpha channel: ProRes 4444 on Mac, HEVC with alpha on iPhone and iPad. An .mp4 cannot carry alpha.
How do I get a true cutout rather than a transparent canvas?
Set the clip background to Remove. Otherwise only the uncovered canvas is transparent, not the area behind your subject.
Does Zella have keyframes?
Yes, with a graph editor and motion blur, plus anchor-point control and title anchoring that survives a reframe.
Can I limit an effect to part of the frame?
Yes, with masks, which restrict a treatment to a region rather than the whole frame.
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