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Captions With a Transparent Background in DaVinci Resolve

Sometimes you need only the captions: to reuse them in another project, to send them to a client, or to put them over footage in another app. That means a video file with a transparent background, also called an alpha channel. Here's how to make one in DaVinci Resolve.

Updated October 1, 2026 · by The Bigger Studio

Export captions with alpha

1. Put only the captions on the timeline. Turn off the video tracks under them (click the track's eye or disable the clips) so nothing but the text is rendered.
2. Go to the Deliver page and choose a custom export.
3. Pick QuickTime and Apple ProRes 4444. ProRes 4444 can store transparency; H.264 and most MP4 files can't.
4. Turn on Export Alpha in the video settings.
5. Render. The file plays as text over black or a checkerboard, but in any editor it sits over your footage with the background see-through.

Where transparent captions help

• Reusing one caption pass for several cuts of the same video.
• Sending captions to another editor who works in a different app.
• Keeping captions separate so the footage can still be graded or reframed underneath.

Already transparent: Bigger Subs

Bigger Subs delivers its captions as a ProRes 4444 clip with transparency, placed on its own track in your DaVinci Resolve timeline. Move it, trim it and grade it like any other clip, or take the file to another project.

It works with DaVinci Resolve Free and Studio, on Mac and Windows. It's a one-time $59 purchase, and you can try the full app free for 2 days.

FAQ

Why does my exported file show a black background?

Most players don't show transparency. Drop the file on a timeline above some footage: if you see the footage through it, the alpha is there.

Can I use MP4 with transparency?

Not reliably. Use ProRes 4444 in a QuickTime (.mov) file.

More guides: How to add subtitles in DaVinci Resolve · Animated subtitles · Highlight key words