Animated backgrounds have the power to boost your video’s production value in seconds. Simply placing these dynamic, moving backdrops behind your footage will give your content an eye-catching makeover, helping to grab your audience’s attention. To help you get started, we’ve rounded up the most popular styles creators are using right now.
The type of animated background you use ultimately depends on the kind of content you create. Thankfully you have plenty of options, whether you’re after a sleek backdrop for your gaming content or want to dial up the energy with bold cartoon graphics. We’re here to help you find the perfect fit with a list of the animated backgrounds creators search for the most, including where you can download them!
- Nature backgrounds
- Cartoon backgrounds
- Holiday backgrounds
- Fire backgrounds
- Gradient backgrounds
- Streaming backgrounds
- City backgrounds
- Space backgrounds
- Textured backgrounds
Elevating your edits with an animated background is straightforward. If you’re not sure where to start, check out our blog on how to get animated backgrounds for your videos for all the info you need.
1. Nature backgrounds to captivate your audience with stunning visuals
Nature backgrounds are wildly popular with creators and a great way to create an immersive experience for your audience. These backgrounds can give additional context to your content, or simply change the mood and tone of your edits – from rolling thunderclouds and snowflurries, to mountainous landscapes and peaceful forest settings.
Nature backgrounds are versatile too. Use them in your intros, as a backdrop to your footage, or even as a dynamic transition between scenes. YouTuber Zach King uses a sunset shot to visually represent time passing between two shots filmed on different days – the effect is a creative way to give viewers context, without having to state the obvious in a script!
2. Cartoon backgrounds for a playful touch of fun
Bold, bright, and full of personality, cartoon backgrounds are big among creators who want to add charm or humour to their videos. They can take many forms – think hand-drawn loops, animated landscapes, or stylized sets straight out of a comic book.
Cartoon elements are an easy way to inject a bit of fun alongside your footage. This makes them a great choice for family creators, craft channels or high-energy edits. Take gaming creator LDShadowLady who uses a cartoon background with illustrated cats and clouds as her intro – it instantly makes her channel feel fun and inviting!
3. Holiday backgrounds to bring festivity to your uploads
Set the scene, no matter the season! Holiday backgrounds incorporate elements of yearly celebrations, like snowfall and tinsel for Christmas, or fireworks for new year. Pairing your footage with a suitable animated background instantly shows viewers what your content’s about. They work especially well as intros or transition slides, or as a simple backdrop to your footage that adds a dash of festivity to your content.
4. Fire backgrounds for explosive blockbuster content
Make an impact without the million-dollar budget by adding fire to your edits. Fire backgrounds are popular with creators who want to grab attention, build hype, or inject a bit of drama into their content.
You have plenty of flaming options too - whether you're looking for a solid wall of flames or a vortex of fire to transition viewers into a new scene. Take the YouTube show Hot Ones which uses flames to amplify the dramatic build up of their intro, teasing their attempts at eating super hot chicken wings.
5. Gradient backgrounds for subtly sleek edits
Gradient backgrounds are simple but effective – they’re colored backgrounds where one shade seamlessly blends into the next. Effortlessly sleek and versatile, they provide a clean backdrop for other assets like text or images. This makes them a great choice if you want a subtle addition that keeps viewers focused on your main subject.
Tech channel GadgetByte uses gradient backgrounds to replace the green screen backdrop in their phone reviews. The background adds color and vibrancy, without taking attention from the most important part of the video – the products which are being reviewed.
6. Streaming and gaming backgrounds, no matter what your niche is
Want your streams to stand out? An animated background will give your content a signature style that catches the eye of potential viewers. And when you use a single background consistently across your streams, they’ll be instantly recognizable to your audience when they appear in their feed.
What’s important is that you choose something to match the type of content you create. A beauty streamer might opt for a bright background that compliments their creative aesthetic, for example. Whereas high-intensity gameplay would work better with something like a neon background to match the futuristic energy of the game itself.
7. City backgrounds to give edits a sleek, urban feel
Bring the energy of the city to your edits. There are no limits to how you get creative with urban landscapes – from neon signs and synthwaves that add a lively vibe to your videos, to backgrounds that mimic the skyline of the city for a more realistic look. A great example of this is how Generic Entertainment uses a city backdrop for his skit, instantly showing viewers where the action is meant to take place and adding to the story being told in the process.
8. Space backgrounds for futuristic, intergalactic edits
Want to bring an out-of-this-world quality to your content? Stars, galaxies, and dreamy space backgrounds are hugely popular with creators. They add depth and intrigue to your edits, without pulling focus from the subject of your video – it’s why they’re commonly used by creators of futuristic, science-related content.
The science channel Sciencephile the AI uses a combination of space-related backgrounds throughout their video on artificial intelligence. The eye-catching result is a futuristic look that fits the content of the video and helps to keep viewers engaged right the way through!
9. Textured backgrounds that highlight simple messages
Textured backgrounds are a crafty way to turn lifeless backdrops into something more engaging. The simple addition of recognisable materials like crumpled paper, to silky fabric or wool help to add character and personality without overwhelming your edit.
Animation YouTuber Siamystery uses a crumpled paper background in her transition slides to highlight the main points she makes about life as a creative professional. It immediately focuses the viewers attention and is an easy way to make an otherwise simple edit look more polished and engaging.
Level-up your videos with animated backgrounds
If you’re looking to add a professional sheen to your videos, animated backgrounds are a quick win. They boost your content’s production value without distracting your audience from the rest of the video. And what’s great is that you have tons of choice to find the right look for you – from smooth gradients for a subtle glow-up, through to fiery additions that bring heat to your edit.
Experiment with what works for your content and if you’re ready to start downloading, head over to Uppbeat to browse our library of free motion graphics. You’ll find tons of animated backgrounds, as well as overlays, LUTs and transitions that’ll help you put the finishing touches on your edits.
