Open Stage → Stage Background to choose a color or image for the scene, and use opacity to make the stage transparent or translucent.
Background
The Background Mode dropdown lets you switch between two rendering modes. Transitions apply immediately without reloading assets:
- Color: Uses an integrated color picker to define the background color, suitable as a clean chroma-key backdrop or simple flat background. The picker includes an opacity slider: at zero opacity the canvas renders nothing behind the scene, leaving the desktop transparent so OBS window capture gets a clean alpha channel without chroma keying; anything in between gives a translucent backdrop.
- Image: Scales an image to cover the stage, selected from the Images tab in the Inventory. Switching to this mode when no image has been chosen opens the picker immediately. The button below the dropdown displays the current image name; click it to select a different asset. Cancelling the picker preserves the previous mode.
New scenes start on a Color background at zero opacity, a fully transparent stage. A fresh install's first scene starts half transparent instead, so the stage window is easy to spot.
The background color picker offers three built-in presets ahead of your saved colors: the default background color opaque, half transparent (50%), and fully transparent, for switching the stage's transparency in one click. Built-in presets can't be removed.
Mode selections, chosen colors, and selected image paths are stored independently, allowing quick switching between modes without reconfiguring assets. Background settings belong to the active scene, so each scene can maintain its own background configuration.
The Transparent mode from earlier versions is now part of Color: after upgrading, scenes that used it become a Color background at zero opacity and look exactly the same.
In 3D scenes, you can also render an Environment Map behind the scene, providing both panoramic background visuals and ambient lighting for 3D avatars.
Last updated on October 21, 2026