A team from Adobe Research and University of Hong Kong Science and Technology (HKUST) has created an artificial intelligence system that can change how visual effects are created for films, games and interactive media.

The technology, which is called TransPixaradds an important feature to AI-generated videos: the ability to create visual elements such as smoke, reflections, and ethereal effects that naturally blend into scenes. Today’s AI video tools often only produce solid images, making TransPixar a significant technical breakthrough.

“Alpha channels are essential for visual effects, allowing transparent elements such as smoke and reflections to blend seamlessly into scenes,” said Yijun Li, project leader at Adobe Research and one of the THE papers authors. “However, creating RGBA video, which includes alpha channels for transparency, remains a challenge due to limited datasets and the difficulty of adapting existing models.”

The breakdown comes at a critical time as demand for visual effects continues to surge in the entertainment, advertising and gaming industries. Traditional VFX work often requires painstaking manual effort by artists to create convincing transparent effects.

TransPixar: Bringing transparency to AI visual effects

What makes TransPixar so unique is its ability to maintain high quality while working with limited training data. The researchers did this by developing a new method that extends existing AI video models rather than creating one from scratch.

“We introduced new tokens for alpha channel generation, reinitializing their positional embeddings, and adding a zero-initialized domain embedding to distinguish them from RGB tokens,” explained Luozhou Wang, lead author and researcher at HKUST. “Using a LoRA-based enhancement scheme, we project alpha tokens into qkv space while preserving RGB quality.”

In demonstrations, the system showed impressive results producing a variety of effects from a simple text prompt — from swirling storm clouds and magical portals to broken glass and billowing smoke. . The technology can also animate images with transparency effects, opening up new creative possibilities for artists and designers.

The research team created their code available to the public on GitHub and deployed a the demo is Hugging the Facewhich allows developers and researchers to experiment with the technology.

Reinventing VFX workflows for creators big and small

Early testing shows that TransPixar can make visual effects faster and simpler, especially for smaller studios that can’t afford expensive effects. While the system still requires significant computing power to process longer videos, its potential impact on the creative industry is clear.

Technology is more important than technical advances. As streaming services demand more content and virtual production grows, the transparent effects created by AI could change how studios operate. Small teams can create effects that once required large studios, while larger productions can complete projects faster.

TransPixar can be especially valuable for real-time use. Video games, AR applications and live production can create transparent effects instantly — something that now takes hours or days of work.

This development comes at an important moment for Adobe as companies like it Strength AI and Runway compete in the development of professional tools effect. Major studios are already looking to AI to cut costs, making TransPixar’s timing ideal.

The entertainment industry faces three major challenges: Audiences want more content, budgets are tightand there not enough effects artist. TransPixar offers a solution by making effects faster to produce, less expensive, and more consistent in quality.

The real question isn’t whether AI will revolutionize visual effects — whether traditional VFX workflows will still exist in five years.