Video Eraser API

About Video Eraser

Erase a fixed region across your clip.

Call it with the model name popnow/video-eraser-v1/video-edit on POST /jobs/createTask, from $0.024.

Introduction

Video Eraser removes content inside a static image mask across an entire video clip. Send video_url and mask_url, with an optional short prompt describing the removal. It is suited to a fixed subtitle band or another unwanted element that stays in the same screen region. The resulting background is an inferred fill, not a recovery of hidden original pixels.

Key features

A fixed region for the whole clip

The mask is a still image: white marks the area to erase, and black marks the area to retain. The same screen region applies throughout the supplied video. There is no start-time field, end-time field or moving-object tracking control. A subtitle that moves outside the white region will not be covered by that mask. Content passing through the selected region may also be altered by the fill.

An optional description alongside the mask

A brief description can clarify what should be removed and what surrounds it. Accepted source clips are 1 to 600 seconds long.

Request parameters

Pricing

Prices are in USD. The API uses a separate USD balance. Website credits cannot be used or transferred to it, and API funds cannot be transferred to website credits. When a task is accepted, we reserve the maximum quoted amount from your API balance. On completion, we charge for actual usage, never more than the hold, and release the remainder. If the task fails, the hold is released.

Input duration is rounded up to whole seconds, with a 3-second minimum.

Send the same request body to POST /jobs/quote to see the estimated and maximum USD charge before running. A quote does not run the task or charge your balance.

Use cases

Remove a fixed subtitle band

For captions already burned into your own footage, mark the subtitle band and inspect every section where text appears. A static background is a useful starting point for checking the result. If captions are still editable text layers in the project, remove those layers directly before choosing pixel reconstruction.

Clean a stationary overlay

Use a tight mask for an unwanted corner overlay in footage you are editing. Check frames where a person, product or moving camera passes behind the selected area. Those moments require the fill to infer changing content and can expose flicker or distorted edges that are not obvious in a single preview frame.

Prompt guide & pro tips

Make an unambiguous mask

Prepare a PNG mask aligned to the source frame: white inside the removal region, black outside it. Check placement against the first, middle and last frames before submitting. Avoid unnecessarily large white regions, especially when they overlap a face or an important product detail. The mask is static and affects the full clip; it cannot follow moving subtitles or limit the edit to a selected time interval.

Describe the local edit and compare the result

An optional instruction such as “Remove the fixed subtitle band and fill it with the surrounding background” describes the intended change without inventing a new scene. Compare the output with the original at normal playback speed and frame by frame around difficult motion. Check unmasked areas, clip length, frame rate and sound as well as the erased region. Original audio preservation and pixel-exact preservation outside the mask have not been verified, so keep the source file.

API quick start

Call the Video Eraser API in three steps

1. Create an API key. Sign in to PopNow and create a key in the API console. Keys start with sk-popnow-. API calls use your separate USD balance.
2. Send the request. POST /jobs/createTask with model popnow/video-eraser-v1/video-edit and an input object that follows the parameter table. The response returns a task ID straight away.
3. Get the result. Poll GET /jobs/recordInfo with the task ID, or pass a callBackUrl and we post the result to it. Download the output links when the task succeeds.

# 1. Create the task. Keep the Idempotency-Key if you retry after a network error.
export IDEMPOTENCY_KEY="$(uuidgen)"
curl -X POST https://api.popnow.ai/api/v1/jobs/createTask \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $POPNOW_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $IDEMPOTENCY_KEY" \
  -d '{
  "model": "popnow/video-eraser-v1/video-edit",
  "input": {
    "prompt": "Remove the subtitles inside the white mask. Preserve the rest of the video.",
    "video_url": "https://media.popnow.ai/api-examples/video-eraser/subtitles-e1128ca9.mp4",
    "mask_url": "https://media.popnow.ai/api-examples/video-eraser/subtitles-mask-b701fc56.png"
  }
}'

# 2. Copy data.taskId from the response, then poll until state is succeeded, failed, canceled or expired.
TASK_ID="TASK_ID_FROM_RESPONSE"
curl "https://api.popnow.ai/api/v1/jobs/recordInfo?taskId=$TASK_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $POPNOW_API_KEY"

Replace the prompt and any links with your own. The API tab has the response, polling and callback reference.

Video Eraser API questions

Other video APIs

• MiniMax H3 APIExpressive clips with audio, up to 2KFrom $0.185 for a 5-second clip

More about Video Eraser

Try it

Try in PlaygroundCanvas · Erase subtitle area

Docs

Video Eraser model ID and input schema in the API docsPopNow API quickstart: your first request in five minutesWebhooks: get Video Eraser results without polling