How to Remove Objects From a Video in PowerDirector

Q: How big should the brush be?

Wider than the object, not the exact shape of it. Brush Size runs on a slider with the current size printed beside it, so you can go broad for something tall like a chimney or a lamp post and pull it back down for something small in a busy corner of the frame. Painting a little of the surrounding background in along with the object is not a mistake, it gives the fill somewhere to blend.

Brush over the thing you wish had not been in shot, click Remove, and let PowerDirector fill the gap back in.

Updated Aug. 17, 2026 · 5 min read

In a hurry? Use the Object Removal quick guide instead.

PowerDirector's AI Video Object Removal deals with the thing you only notice after the shoot: a chimney on the skyline, a bin at the edge of frame, someone wandering through the back of the shot. Brush over it once and click Remove, and PowerDirector fills the gap with what should have been behind it, following the object through the clip.

Before

The original clip, a wide shot of the coastline with a person walking along the path in the middle of the frame. — The clip as it was shot.

After

⚡ Quick Answer: How to Remove Objects From a Video in 2 Steps

Open AI Video Object Removal on your clip in PowerDirector, set Brush Size, and drag the handles under the preview to the stretch you want cleaned up.
Paint over the object, tidy the mask with the eraser or the undo arrow, then click Remove and play the clip back.

Steps to Use AI Video Object Removal

Step 1: Size the Brush and Pick the Stretch to Clean Up

Open AI Video Object Removal from the GenAI menu, or from Tools on the Video tab of the Edit panel.

The GenAI menu open in PowerDirector, with AI Video Object Removal highlighted in the Video section. — GenAI, then Video, then AI Video Object Removal.

It is all one window: the clip on the right, the controls on the left under Brush the area you want to remove. The brush is already selected.

Set Brush Size first. Make the stroke a little wider than the thing you want gone. A brush you have to trace with is slower and no more accurate.

Under the preview, the bar with a handle at each end sets how much of the clip gets treated. Narrow it to the part with the problem in it. The line along the bottom prints the length you selected and what it charges per second.

AI Video Object Removal window with the brush controls, the bar under the preview, and the selected length readout each highlighted — One brush, one size slider, and a bar under the preview deciding how much of the clip gets worked on.

Step 2: Paint Over the Object, Then Click Remove

Now paint. Drag across the object and a red mask follows the brush, so you can see what you have covered.

Go a little past the edges rather than hugging them, as the mask here spills onto the cloud and the rooftops. The fill has an easier job when it is given somewhere to blend into.

Overshot? The eraser and the undo arrow come alive as soon as there is a stroke on screen, and none of this touches the clip yet.

Remove sits grayed out until something is painted, then turns blue and shows what the run will cost. Click it and PowerDirector works through the stretch you selected.

AI Video Object Removal window with a red brush mask covering the chimney, the brush and eraser row highlighted, and the Remove button highlighted — The mask is deliberately wider than the chimney, and Remove only lights up once there is something to remove.

The Result

Here is the clip after one pass. The chimney is gone from the skyline and cloud closes over most of the gap it left.

Look at where it stood, though. For the second or two the camera holds on that part of the sky, a soft vertical trace of it is still there. One pass got the object out; it did not quite finish the sky behind it.

That is why you play it through before building anything around it. The camera drifts as the dancer moves, so the fill has more background to invent every second, and the frames where it guessed too much are easier to spot now than after you have cut to them. Paint the leftover and run it again on that stretch.

Haven't got PowerDirector yet? Object removal is the kind of thing you only want on the day you need it. Better to have it before then.

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FAQ About AI Video Object Removal

1. Does the object stay gone when the camera moves?

That is the part you do not have to do frame by frame. You paint the object once in the preview and PowerDirector carries the removal through the stretch you selected, which is why the chimney is missing from every frame of our clip even though the camera drifts across the rooftops. The more the camera moves, the more background the fill has to invent, so leave a bit of room around the object when you paint and watch the finished clip through before you cut into it.

2. How big should the brush be?

Wider than the object, not the exact shape of it. Brush Size runs on a slider with the current size printed beside it, so you can go broad for something tall like a chimney or a lamp post and pull it back down for something small in a busy corner of the frame. Painting a little of the surrounding background in along with the object is not a mistake, it gives the fill somewhere to blend.

3. What if I paint over the wrong thing?

Take it straight back off. The eraser next to the brush lifts part of a stroke, and the undo arrow beside it steps back through what you have painted. Both stay grayed out until there is a stroke on screen, so if they look inactive when you open the window, that is expected rather than broken. Nothing is applied to the clip until you click Remove, so the mask can be redone as many times as you like first.

4. Can I run it on part of a clip instead of all of it?

Yes, and it is usually the right call. The bar under the preview has a handle at each end, and what sits between them is the stretch that gets processed. The line at the bottom of the window shows that selected length next to the rate it charges per second, and the cost is printed on the Remove button itself, so keeping the selection to the seconds that actually have the problem in them is cheaper than running the whole take.