AI Portrait Cutout is a built-in ChatCut Desktop effect. It extracts the person in a video as a transparent foreground so you can place a new background underneath. It does not rewrite the source media.
Desktop 0.6.7 or later also includes AI Smart Cutout: choose one object in an image, GIF or forward-playing video, review its highlight and confirm processing.
These cutout effects render in ChatCut Desktop. The web editor cannot currently display or export their results.
What do I need before writing the prompt?
- Import a video with a clearly visible person into ChatCut Desktop and place it on the timeline.
- Select one complete video clip. AI Portrait Cutout does not target an image, GIF, or only part of a clip.
- Decide whether you only need transparency or also want edge feathering, matte expansion, or an outline.
- This is a built-in effect, so no prompt is required. In Desktop Agent mode, you can also
@mention the target clip and ask the Agent to apply it.
Prompt you can copy
Apply AI Portrait Cutout to @presenter-clip and remove the original background. Add slight edge feathering with no outline, and preserve the person, movement, clip duration, and audio.
Remove a portrait background manually
- Open the project in ChatCut Desktop and place the video on the timeline.
- Open Library → Effects and search for AI Portrait Cutout.
- Drag the effect onto one complete video clip.
- On first use, Desktop downloads the required model automatically. Wait for the processing state in the Viewer to finish.
- Select the applied effect or clip and adjust Edge Feather, Matte Expand / Shrink, and Outline as needed.
- Put an image, video, or color background on a video track below the portrait and review the edges during motion.
Delete the effect or use Undo to restore the original picture. The treatment changes only this timeline item’s appearance; it does not remove pixels from the source file under My Assets.
Select an object with AI Smart Cutout
Requires ChatCut Desktop 0.6.7 or later.
- Place an image, GIF or forward-playing video on the timeline.
- Open Library → Effects, find AI Smart Cutout and apply it to the complete clip.
- In the Inspector or floating effect panel, click the object you want to keep in the clip’s first-frame preview. For a trimmed clip, this is the frame at its current in-point.
- Review the highlighted selection. Click again to try another object, or choose Confirm and process to generate the cutout.
- After the first confirmation, adjust the available edge and outline controls, then place a new background on a track below the clip.
First use downloads the required model, so an internet connection is needed. Wait for processing and review the result during playback. Reverse-playing video is not supported. If you replace the source or change the clip’s in-point, select the object again.
Use AI Portrait Cutout when you want the person extracted automatically from a video; use AI Smart Cutout when you want to choose a particular object. Both preserve the source media.
See AI Effects, Library, and ChatCut Desktop.