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I've imported a .mp4 video as a plane in object mode so that I can point the camera at it and animate some 3D objects in front of the video. The image of the video won't show up though (it remains a black rectangle, and trying to play the animation doesn't change this.).

I've tried tutorials but they all seem to be for older versions of blender and don't seem to track to today. Anything I can apply like adding a light source doesn't seem to do the trick.

I'm trying to figure out how to change the viewing mode and material of the plane but I'm not sure I'm doing it right. Some of the lighting does seem to change the the black rectangle remains as such. Changing the engine from eevee to cycles doesn't seem to make any difference either.

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    $\begingroup$ Why not set the background of your camera to be the video and use the compositor to add the video to the background when rendering? $\endgroup$
    – Nascent Space
    Commented Feb 21, 2021 at 12:28
  • $\begingroup$ @brockmann this answer is good for today. I recommend it 😊 $\endgroup$
    – TheLabCat
    Commented Feb 21, 2021 at 17:26
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    $\begingroup$ If you want to have the image as background for the camera see this link: Adding picture to moving 3D Viewport environment $\endgroup$
    – susu
    Commented Feb 21, 2021 at 17:29
  • $\begingroup$ (Sorry for the slow response) From what I've seen, you should be able to drag and drop a video into blender and have it work instantly. I've dragged in a video from a WMV format and found that works so I'm just going to change the format of my video. Thank you for your comment though to be honest I'm not even sure how to do the things you said yet. It sounds more complicated (but learnable. I'm on my way!) $\endgroup$
    – Cragnogoo
    Commented Feb 22, 2021 at 18:56
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks susu that's useful to me, much appreciated. $\endgroup$
    – Cragnogoo
    Commented Feb 22, 2021 at 18:57

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I really won't recommend the method you are going with it is seriously troublesome and tiring. I would say use blender's built-in Video editor. You can create the effects as separate projects. In the project, go to render settings and go to film and click transparent or transparency (depending on the version you are using). Something like this:

enter image description here

After rendering this in OpenEXR format. The thing is most video codecs don't support alpha channels and the ones that do, aren't available in blender. So you can take the image files, plop them into the video editor built-in blender or use some 3rd party-software like kdenlive or Davinci Resolve. You can take the video file and the effects file and it will work.

Alternatively, if you still insist on using it as a background image/video. DO this. Click on the camera and go to the camera settings. Enable background images and click on the dropdown. There, click add image and click on the open button. The file explorer should pop-up and then locate and select the video file. It will come as the background video and you can happily throw in whatever effects you want. Here's the video edition of the method (WARNING: This is not the total tutorial about what you want but shows a few steps on this method and you may find this helpful):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfGXRsaBf5U

I would personally go with the 1st method but you can go with the one you prefer. Hope it helps.

P.S I also found another QnA that is related to your problem. Check it out. Link's below:

Movie Clip On Plane

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    $\begingroup$ AFAIK, there is still no way encoding to prores 444 or dnxhd10 bit in order to get an alpha channel. The preferred way is to render an image sequence and encode afterwards, ideally using OpenEXR since png is no option for many reasons: blender.stackexchange.com/questions/106670/… $\endgroup$
    – brockmann
    Commented Feb 21, 2021 at 15:08
  • $\begingroup$ Well, I learned something new today. The thing is I am still learning blender bit-by-bit and if I do know something, I share the answer. My answer format is correct this time though, right ? $\endgroup$
    – Tsar Asterov XVII
    Commented Feb 21, 2021 at 15:30
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    $\begingroup$ Yeah, it is. However, not really a solution to the issue. Consider that most of such basics already have an answer here, if you're interested: blender.stackexchange.com/questions/39876/movie-clip-on-plane $\endgroup$
    – brockmann
    Commented Feb 21, 2021 at 15:32
  • $\begingroup$ I do agree, but normally that is not the most preferred way while doing this sort of stuff because it is just a lot of work for nothing. Even If it is about adding deformations to the video, chances are, most video editing software can do that for you. I will still update my answer though. Thanks for the info. $\endgroup$
    – Tsar Asterov XVII
    Commented Feb 21, 2021 at 15:36
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    $\begingroup$ You have found that? Adding the link to the other Q&A is nice though. $\endgroup$
    – brockmann
    Commented Feb 21, 2021 at 15:42

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