Quick Matte 2

AI background removal that works on any scene, no green screen needed.

After Effects Premiere Pro DaVinci Resolve Nuke Product page →

1. Description

Quick Matte 2

Quick Matte 2 removes the background from any shot. An AI network finds the subject on every frame and builds a matte, with no masks, roto or green screen.

For tricky edges such as hair, turn on Refine Edges: a second matting network goes over the edges of the matte. Patches mode does this in tiles along the edges at full resolution, for extra challenging clips. Threshold, Feather and Invert then shape the final matte.

Like all Baskl plugins, the models run locally on your own computer. The effect sits in the Baskl category.

Requirements

  • Mac: Apple Silicon or Intel. Runs on the GPU when available, otherwise the CPU.
  • Windows: 64-bit. Uses an NVIDIA GPU (CUDA) when available, otherwise the CPU, which is much slower.
  • The installer is required: it downloads the AI models (about 550 MB).

2. Installation

2a. Baskl installer (all host apps)

Every Baskl plugin installs through the Baskl installer. It sets up AI Machine, the local engine the plugins run on, and puts Quick Matte 2 in the right place for After Effects, Premiere Pro and OFX hosts (DaVinci Resolve, Nuke). Close your host apps before running it.

macOS

  1. Click Download on baskl.ai, unzip Baskl.Installer.zip and open Mac/Baskl Installer.app. You need an Apple Silicon Mac; the installer stops on Intel Macs.
  2. If macOS asks, confirm you want to open an app downloaded from the internet, then enter your Mac password so the installer can write to the system plug-in folders.
  3. Click Let's Get Started, select Quick Matte 2 in the plugin list and click Install. The first install also downloads AI Machine, so give it a few minutes.
  4. When you see Installation Complete, restart your host app. The effect is in the Baskl category.

Windows

  1. Click Download on baskl.ai, unzip Baskl.Installer.zip and run Windows\Baskl Installer.exe.
  2. Click Yes when Windows asks to allow the app to make changes. The installer needs administrator rights.
  3. Click Let's Get Started, select Quick Matte 2 in the plugin list and click Install. On NVIDIA cards the installer picks the matching CUDA build for you. The first install also downloads AI Machine, so give it a few minutes.
  4. When you see Installation Complete, restart your host app. The effect is in the Baskl category.
  • The first render loads the AI models, so it takes longer than the next ones.

Activating your license

  • After Effects / Premiere Pro: in After Effects, click Register at the top of the effect in Effect Controls (next to Reset), paste your license key and click Activate. In Premiere Pro, click the small icon button at the top right of the effect in Effect Controls to open the same dialog. The license is saved for the whole computer, so registering in one of the two apps covers the other.
  • Resolve / Nuke: click Register at the top of the effect's controls, paste your license key and confirm. Once activated, the button reads License Info.
  • Where to find your key: if you bought on baskl.ai, it is in your purchase email and under Account → My Licenses, with a Copy button. If you bought on aescripts + aeplugins, activate through the aescripts + aeplugins manager app, or paste the key from your aescripts account into the same Register dialog.
  • Without a license, Quick Matte 2 runs as a trial: everything works, but renders carry a watermark until you register. Activation needs an internet connection, and each key works on a limited number of computers (shown under My Licenses).

3. Parameters

General

Help / Contact

Opens the Baskl contact page in your browser.

Reconnect

Only shown when the effect can't reach AI MACHINE. Start AI MACHINE, then click it.

Matte

Output

What the effect returns.

  • Cutout the image with the background made transparent (default).
  • Matte the matte alone, as a black-and-white image.
Output: before Output: after
Cutout, shown here over black.
Output: before Output: after
Cutout against Matte.
Refine Edges

Runs a second matting network over the edges of the matte for finer detail such as hair.

  • None no refinement; fastest (default).
  • Full Image refines the whole frame in one pass. Slower, and heavy on very large frames.
  • Patches refines only tiles along the edges, at full resolution. Best for detailed edges on large frames.
Resolution

Size the frame is analysed at to find the subject: 256, 512, 768 or 1024. Higher catches smaller details but is slower, especially on Mac. Default is 512 on Mac and 1024 on Windows.

256 at Non-Full Res

After Effects only. When the comp is previewed at less than Full resolution, uses 256 for faster previews; full-resolution renders still use Resolution. Off by default. Not shown in Premiere Pro, Resolve or Nuke.

Despill Strength

Removes green spill from the subject's colours, from 0 (off, default) to 1 (full). Cutout only.

Adjust

Threshold

Shifts the soft parts of the matte, from 0 to 1. Above 0.5 makes them more solid, below 0.5 more transparent. 0.5 (default) leaves the matte as is.

Feather

Softens the matte edge with a blur, from 0 (default) to 50.

Invert Matte

Swaps subject and background, so the background is kept instead.