Ninja Docs
  • What is VDO.Ninja?
    • How does it work
    • Use cases
    • Why use VDO.Ninja over other solutions?
    • Sponsor ❤
  • Getting started
    • VDO.Ninja basics
    • What are stream IDs?
    • The power of the URL parameter
    • Multi-Person Chat
    • Rooms
    • Even higher quality video
    • Mobile phone camera into webcam
    • Cheat sheet of basic parameters
  • Steve's helper apps & tools
    • Electron Capture
      • Documentation
    • Social Stream Ninja
      • Documentation reference
    • Meshcast.io
    • Caption.Ninja
    • Raspberry.Ninja
      • Documentation
    • Mixer App
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    • Versus.cam
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    • Native mobile app versions
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    • Mic test
  • Guides
    • Cheat Sheets
    • Common questions re: Rooms
    • Video bitrate for push/view links
    • Video bitrate in rooms
    • How to get permanent links
    • Basic hotkeys
    • MIDI, API and WebHID support
    • Hardware-accelerated video encoding
    • Audio Filters & Bitrate
    • Options to record streams
    • External guides and how-tos
    • How to lock the resolution
    • How to use VDO.Ninja as a webcam for Google Hangouts, Zoom, and more
    • How to capture without browser sources
    • How to control bitrate/quality
    • How to selectively allow access
    • Stream Scheduling and Promotion
    • How to send the audio/video output of one OBS to another OBS using VDO.Ninja
    • How to mirror a video while Full-Screen - For iPads and Teleprompters
    • How to capture an application's audio
    • How to control VDO.Ninja with Touch Portal
    • How to publish from OBS into VDO.Ninja
    • How to screen share your iPhone/iPad
    • How to get iPhones to output 1080p Videos
    • How to stream into Zoom without OBS
    • How to connect a smartphone to computer via USB
    • How to edit an invite after sending it
    • How to get highest video quality (for an interview)
    • How to stream 4K video using VDO.Ninja
    • How to get lowest audio latency possible
    • How to share webcam from inside OBS
    • How to publish to Facebook Live
    • How to embed VDO.Ninja into a site with iFrames
      • Detecting User Joins / Disconnects
    • How to use the green screen just locally
    • How to connect a GoPro to VDO.Ninja
    • How to install RaspNinja on Jetson
    • How to transfer guests to other rooms
    • How to set up a simple chat room
    • How to screen share in 1080p
    • How to control PowerPoint remotely with VDO.Ninja
    • How to improve quality of the native app
    • How to stream transparent video
    • Recommended OBS WHIP settings
    • How to use VDO.Ninja on a website
    • Keep Mic Active in Background on Android Browser
    • PlayStation or Xbox to VDO.Ninja
    • Enabling WebRTC Sources in OBS
    • Picking the right microphone
    • Set Up Proper Lighting
    • System requirements for streaming
    • From OBS to VDO.Ninja using WHIP
    • Deploy your own Meshcast-like service
    • Windows TTS Audio Capture Methods for OBS
    • Syncing USB audio with VDO.Ninja -> OBS Virtual Camera
  • Advanced Options (URL Parameters)
    • Most common Parameters
      • &push
      • &quality
      • &videodevice
      • &audiodevice
      • &effects
      • &label
      • &meshcast
      • &view
      • &videobitrate
      • &audiobitrate
      • &codec
      • &novideo
      • &noaudio
      • &showlabels
      • &room
      • &director
      • &proaudio
      • &scene
      • &roombitrate
      • &password
      • &broadcast
    • Setup Parameters
      • &push
      • &room
      • &password
      • &hash
      • &e2ee
      • &label
      • &labelsuggestion
      • &permaid
      • &group
      • &groupview
      • &groupaudio
      • &datamode
      • &audiooutput
      • &sink
      • &audiodevice
      • &videodevice
      • &vdo
      • &device
      • &miconly
      • &miconlyoption
      • &safemode
      • &autostart
      • &easyexit
      • &webcam
      • &webcam2
      • &screenshare
      • &screenshare2
      • &website
      • &fileshare
      • &intro
      • &host
      • &tips
      • &welcome
      • &welcomeb64
      • &welcomeimage
      • &hangupmessage
      • &humb64
      • &groupmode
      • &audience
    • Camera Parameters
      • &whitebalance
      • &exposure
      • &saturation
      • &sharpness
      • &contrast
      • &brightness
    • Video Parameters
      • &blind
      • &quality
      • &width
      • &height
      • &aspectratio
      • &contenthint
      • &mediasettings
      • &noscale
      • &fps
      • &maxframerate
      • &effects
      • &effectvalue
      • &imagelist
      • &avatar
      • &fullscreen
      • &showpreview
      • &minipreview
      • &minipreviewoffset
      • &largepreview
      • &nopreview
      • &hideguest
      • &videomute
      • &ptz
      • &webp
      • &webpquality
      • &scale
      • &viewwidth
      • &viewheight
      • &dpi
      • &sharper
      • &codec
      • &h264profile
      • &buffer
      • &buffer2
      • &fadein
      • &broadcast
      • &directoronly
      • &showonly
      • &novideo
      • &nodirectorvideo
      • &slideshow
      • &zoom
    • Video Bitrate Parameters
      • &outboundvideobitrate
      • &maxvideobitrate
      • &limittotalbitrate
      • &controlroombitrate
      • &roombitrate
      • &maxbandwidth
      • &videobitrate
      • &totalscenebitrate
      • &totalroombitrate
      • &totalbitrate
      • &zoomedbitrate
      • &optimize
    • Audio Parameters
      • &proaudio
      • &stereo
      • &mutespeaker
      • &deafen
      • &noaudioprocessing
      • &audiodevice
      • &echocancellation
      • &audiogain
      • &autogain
      • &compressor
      • &denoise
      • &distort
      • &equalizer
      • &limiter
      • &lowcut
      • &noisegate
      • &noisegatesettings
      • &audiocontenthint
      • &audiolatency
      • &micdelay
      • &mute
      • &automute
      • &outboundaudiobitrate
      • &inputchannels
      • &monomic
      • &audiooutput
      • &sink
      • &volume
      • &volumecontrol
      • &audiobitrate
      • &vbr
      • &mono
      • &noaudio
      • &nodirectoraudio
      • &panning
      • &sync
      • &samplerate
      • &channels
      • &channeloffset
      • &playchannel
      • &ptime
      • &maxptime
      • &minptime
      • &audiocodec
      • &dtx
      • &nofec
    • Mixer/Scene Parameters
      • &solo
      • &view
      • &include
      • &exclude
      • &layout
      • &activespeaker
      • &activespeakerdelay
      • &order
      • &slots
      • &fakeguests
      • &randomize
      • &cover
      • &43
      • &portrait
      • &square
      • &forceviewerlandscape
      • &animated
      • &manual
      • &locked
      • &poster
      • &hideplaybutton
      • &motiondetection
      • &scene
      • &scenetype
      • &autoadd
      • &hiddenscenebitrate
      • &preloadbitrate
      • &waitimage
      • &waitmessage
      • &waittimeout
      • &viewslot
    • Settings Parameters
      • &language
      • &remote
      • &controlobs
      • &allowedscenes
      • &stats
      • &sticky
      • &clearstorage
      • &disablehotkeys
      • &showlist
      • &nopush
      • &hidehome
      • &hidetranslate
      • &clock
      • &clock24
      • &timer
      • &powerpoint
      • &widget
      • &token
      • &transcribe
      • &signalmeter
      • &batterymeter
      • &consent
      • &prompt
      • &hands
      • &notify
      • &r2d2
      • &directorchat
      • &maxconnections
      • &maxviewers
      • &chunked
      • &retransmit
      • &rampuptime
      • &sensor
      • &sensorfilter
      • &postimage
      • &postinterval
      • &slot
      • &closedcaptions
      • &nocaptionlabels
      • &enhance
      • &bitratecutoff
      • &cutscene
      • &statsinterval
      • &keyframerate
      • &maxpublishers
      • &showconnections
      • &obsfix
      • &streamlabs
      • &getfaces
      • &nochunked
    • Buttons and Control Bar Parameters
      • &autohide
      • &controlbarspace
      • &nosettings
      • &nomicbutton
      • &nospeakerbutton
      • &novideobutton
      • &nofileshare
      • &screensharebutton
      • &nohangupbutton
      • &chatbutton
      • &bigbutton
      • &fullscreenbutton
      • &nowebsite
      • &hands
      • &videocontrols
      • &nocontrols
      • &forcecontrols
    • Design Parameters
      • &label
      • &showlabels
      • &fontsize
      • &style
      • &bgimage
      • &showall
      • &meterstyle
      • &cleanoutput
      • &cleanish
      • &css
      • &base64css
      • &js
      • &base64js
      • &mirror
      • &nomirror
      • &flip
      • &rotatewindow
      • &structure
      • &color
      • &blur
      • &border
      • &bordercolor
      • &rounded
      • &margin
      • &darkmode
      • &lightmode
      • &background
      • &chroma
      • &transparent
      • &nocursor
      • &favicon
      • &headertitle
      • &rotate
      • &grid
      • &hideheader
      • &hidemenu
      • &tally
      • &tallyoff
      • &cleanviewer
      • &obsoff
      • &pip
      • &pipall
      • &pipme
    • Director Parameters
      • &director
      • &codirector
      • &blindall
      • &cleandirector
      • &hidesolo
      • &hidecodirectors
      • &minidirector
      • &orderby
      • &queue
      • &rooms
      • &broadcasttransfer
      • &showdirector
      • &slotmode
      • &previewmode
      • &novice
      • &layouts
      • &maindirectorpassword
      • &totalroombitrate
      • &limittotalbitrate
      • &notify
      • &mutespeaker=0
      • &showconnections
      • &widget
      • &pausepreview
    • Screen-share Parameters
      • &screensharestereo
      • &screenshare
      • &screenshare2
      • &screenshareaec
      • &screenshareautogain
      • &screensharecursor
      • &screensharedenoise
      • &screensharefps
      • &screensharehide
      • &screenshareid
      • &screensharelabel
      • &screensharequality
      • &screensharecontenthint
      • &screenshareaspectratio
      • &screensharetype
      • &smallshare
      • &screensharevideoonly
      • &suppresslocalaudio
      • &prefercurrenttab
      • &selfbrowsersurface
      • &systemaudio
      • &displaysurface
      • &screensharebutton
      • &screensharebitrate
      • &sharperscreen
      • &sspaused
    • Recording Parameters
      • &record
      • &autorecord
      • &autorecordlocal
      • &autorecordremote
      • &recordcodec
      • &pcm
      • &recordmotion
      • &chunked
    • Guest queuing Parameters
      • &queue
      • &screen
      • &hold
      • &holdwithvideo
      • &queuetransfer
    • Meshcast Parameters
      • &meshcast
      • &meshcastaudiobitrate
      • &meshcastbitrate
      • &meshcastcodec
      • &mcscreensharebitrate
      • &mcscreensharecodec
      • &meshcastscale
      • &meshcastcode
      • &nomeshcast
    • WHIP Parameters
      • &whipout
      • &whipview
      • &whipoutcodec
      • &whipoutaudiobitrate
      • &whipoutvideobitrate
      • &whipoutscale
      • &whipoutscreensharecodec
      • &whipoutscreensharebitrate
      • &cftoken
      • &svc
    • Mobile Parameters
      • &facing
      • &forcelandscape
      • &forceportrait
      • &forceios
      • &notios
      • &flagship
      • &mobile
      • &notmobile
      • &app
    • API & MIDI Parameters
      • &api
        • API reference
        • API reference - AI Generated
        • Client (node) event example
      • &pie
      • &midi
      • &midiin
      • &midiout
      • &midiremote
      • &midichannel
      • &mididevice
      • &midioffset
      • &mididelay
      • &datamode
      • &postapi
    • TURN & STUN Parameters
      • &turn
      • &stun
      • &addstun
      • &icefilter
      • &proxy
      • &relay
      • &secure
      • &tcp
      • &tz
    • Parameters added in Version 24
    • Complete List of Parameters in v26
    • Upcoming Parameters
    • Other Parameters
  • Releases
    • v24
    • v23 🌱
    • v22 👑
    • v21 ❤️
    • v20 🎁
    • v19 🚀🤯
      • v19.1 - 19.4
    • v18
      • v18.3
    • v17
    • v16
      • v16.3
      • v16.4
    • v15
    • v14
    • v13
      • v13.4
    • v12
    • v10
    • v8
  • Updates
    • Updates - VDO.Ninja
    • Updates - Social Stream & Chat Overlay
      • Updates - Social Stream Standalone App
    • Updates - Electron Capture App
    • Updates - Raspberry.Ninja
    • Updates - Versus.cam
    • Updates - Mixer App
    • Updates - WHIP/WHEP
    • Updates - Native mobile apps
    • Updates - Caption.Ninja
    • Updates - Meshcast.io
    • Updates - Speed Test
    • Updates - Comms
    • Updates - Miscellaneous
  • Development Progress
  • Help!
    • Fail safes and Backups
    • Privacy and security details
      • VDO.Ninja Terms of Service
      • VDO.Ninja Privacy Policy
    • Project Contact Info
    • Where can I report a bug?
    • Where can I get support?
    • Feature Requests
    • Logos and media assets
    • What does VDO stand for?
  • Common errors and known issues
    • Can't screen capture certain games
    • ATEM not working with Firestick
    • Very old iPhone support
    • Can't select audio output on iOS
    • Screen-share is just a black video
    • Mic audio dropping out
    • Loss of audio when OBS minimized
    • Known issues
    • Echo or feedback issues
    • Works on WiFi but not on 4G
    • Can't capture an application's audio when screen-sharing
    • Can't load camera both in OBS and VDON
    • Can't select a camera lens on mobile
    • No video in OBS, just an "Add camera" button
    • Audio over VDO.Ninja isn't working
    • Loading circle shows in OBS or browser
    • Appearing then disappearing guest
    • Can't auto-start screen sharing
    • Audio Clicking / Popping / Distortion
    • Can't share my screen
    • Nothing shows up in OBS
    • Already in use or claimed errors
    • Blue spinning window
    • Cursor shows trailing or artifacting
    • Packet Loss
    • Overheating
    • Audio is delayed in OBS
    • vMix High CPU
    • OBS Virtual Camera has low FPS
    • Virtual camera not working on Mac
    • Mic stops on MacOS when OBS opens
    • Video stream looks corrupted
    • Video freezes mid-stream
    • Webcam freezes after a time
    • Is the VDO.Ninja server down?
    • Hosted your own TURN server?
    • Can't screen-share from certain devices
    • Cursor shows when screen-sharing
    • Getting “Overconstrained" Camera Error
    • Autoplay doesn't work in Chrome or vMix v77
    • Low frame rates
    • Black borders around the video in OBS
    • Mic's volume keeps changing
    • Enable Camera / Microphone permissions
    • FPS drop if app not in focus
    • Surround sound error when screen sharing with USB headset
    • Relay candidate being selected
    • Camera works in Safari; not Chrome
    • Robotic Audio Distortion
    • Can't load camera from non-SSL host
    • Camera on macOS doesn't show?
    • Can't screen share Adobe Lightroom
    • Decklink support?
    • iOS audio stops during phone calls
    • Can't turn off echo-cancellation on macOS
    • Video lag grows over time
    • Can't connect unless via VPN
    • Improving vMix performance
  • Platform specific issues
    • Android
    • macOS
    • iOS (iPhone/iPad)
    • Firefox
    • Opera GX
  • Useful Links
  • FAQ
  • Sponsor ❤
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On this page
  • Webp-mode supports transparency
  • Sending a video file via webp-mode
  • Transparent webcam background via webp-mode
  • Green screening
  • Chunked mode - partially working
  • Not many transparent sources
  • Raspberry.Ninja and OBS WHIP output - future possiblities

Was this helpful?

  1. Guides

How to stream transparent video

Sending video with a transparent background, or with an alpha-channel (RGBA), is possible, but rather limited at the moment

PreviousHow to improve quality of the native appNextRecommended OBS WHIP settings

Last updated 2 months ago

Was this helpful?

If you wanted to stream yourself with a transparent background, or use a WebM file as a transparent effects overlay, it's possible with VDO.Ninja, however a bit limited still.

There's not many ways to bring transparent sources into the browser, nor are there many ways current to stream transparent video.

Lets list some of the methods that do work however:

Webp-mode supports transparency

mode send webp images, which supports transparencies, instead of streaming video, which current does not support transparencies. It does however require quite a bit of CPU and network bandwidth, so its recommend to use low frame rates and low resolutions to avoid problems.

Sending a video file via webp-mode

With this option, you can select a video file locally that contains a transparent background. WebM file formats support transparent backgrounds and can be opened by the browser.

mode supports transparency as noted, so we need to include that on the sender link. We also need to include &alpha, to tell the system that we want to include alpha channels (transparency), if possible.

On the viewer side, we can add to tell the system we want to pull the video stream as a webp series of images, rather than normal video. Images will transparencies will automatically include them in the display.

Transparent webcam background via webp-mode

As with the above example, you can also send a webcam feed of a person, with their background removed.

Like above, we need to include &alpha and , but we also need need to include .

The goal here is to remove the background using the VDO.Ninja background removal tool, and then use a transparent image as the background, instead of a normal virtual background image. In the link below, we include a transparent pixel in the URL, so no external file is needed.

This option is highly CPU intensive though; I'd recommend at least a fast 8-core system for this option, as you are doing both AI and heavy image processing workloads.

Green screening

If using an application like OBS or vMix, during playback of the stream you can use a Chroma filter to remove the green background.

Another benefit of green screening is you can use an actual physical green screen as well. And this would work without needing AI effects and it would work on anything; not just a person.

Chunked mode - partially working

When also used with &alpha, i.e.:

it will tell the browser to only select video codecs that can encode alpha channels. Normal WebRTC video streaming doesn't support alpha channels, but the chunked mode does. However, if no codec is available in your browser with alpha-channel support, then the chunked mode will fail or default back to a codec that doesn't support alpha channels.

At present, no codecs in Chrome seem to support alpha channels, but when that changes the feature will be automatically available for us.

Not many transparent sources

I'm hoping this isn't the case in the future with Chrome and other Chromium browsers, but I'm not entirely sure.

Raspberry.Ninja and OBS WHIP output - future possiblities

If this does change, you might then be able to use OBS as well for streaming transparent video to VDO.Ninja. Or perhaps you'll be able to go from Raspberry.Ninja into OBS via WHEP at some point, but these are all not yet available and are likely years away from being materialized.

And like before, to view this stream with transparencies, we need to include on the view link.

As with the above option, you can use the digital background effect (, in this case) to replace your background in VDO.Ninja with a green solid color.

This option is pretty standard, and since it streams actual video instead of motion images, you can reduce CPU load, network bandwidth usage, maintain high frame rates, and achieve higher resolutions. There might be some green fringing on the final result, but there are ways to reduce that effect.

When green screening, since color is so important, try using as well on the playback view link, as the AV1 codec tends to preserve colors better than or , which are normally the defaults. With better colors, it should be easier to chroma-key out the green.

VDO.Ninja has a mode called Chunked, which can be activated on Chromium browsers by adding to the push URL.

At present, virtual cameras and screen shares are likely to not include alpha channels, so while you might try to screen share the , which has a transparent background, you'll still have the captured video having a black background.

I've not really sure about this, but you can force video into , with transparent backgrounds, and VDO.Ninja will play them back. In my previous testing, Chrome refused to play back transparent video streams from Raspberry.Ninja with transparencies, dropping them for black backgrounds instead, but this might change in the future.

https://vdo.ninja/alpha/?webp&push=rPJ5bEb&effects=5&alpha&webcam&imagelist=data%3Aimage%2Fpng%3Bbase64%2CiVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mNkYAAAAAYAAjCB0C8AAAAASUVORK5CYII%3D
https://vdo.ninja/alpha/?view=rPJ5bEb&codec=webp
&effects=4
&chunked
https://vdo.ninja/alpha/?chunked&alpha
Electron Capture app
Raspberry.Ninja
&webp
&webp
https://vdo.ninja/alpha/?webp&push=rPJ5bEb&fileshare&alpha
https://vdo.ninja/alpha/?view=rPJ5bEb&codec=webp
&webp
&effects=5
&codec=webp
&codec=webp
&codec=av1
&codec=h264
&codec=vp8