---
title: Overlays and lower thirds
description: "Prompt named lower-third and social-post overlay blocks with timing, copy, and brand tone."
---

Level 1's founder-clip.mp4 got named lower-thirds and card overlays through `/talking-head-recut`, which designs bespoke cards synced to that specific transcript. This chapter is the reverse case: ready-made lower-third and social-overlay blocks you drop into a composition you're building from scratch, no existing footage required — the same vocabulary, pointed at a scene instead of a shot.

## What overlays do and when they trigger

Overlays are timed blocks that sit on top of your footage or scene — a lower third that names a speaker, a broadcast ticker, or a replica social-media card. Because each is a timed clip, prompts trigger this layer when you ask to *add* something *at* a moment: "add a lower third at 0:03 with the name and title," "show an animated tweet during the intro," "put a Spotify now-playing card in the corner." Give the timestamp, the copy, and the tone; the agent places the block on a track above the footage.

Two groups:

- **[Lower thirds](/catalog/blocks/lt-clean-bar)** — name/title identifiers for speakers, interviews, podcasts, and news.
- **[Social overlays](/catalog/blocks/x-post)** — animated replicas of platform UI (posts, cards, notifications, follow prompts).

## Brand tone → lower third

Lower thirds split into **cards** (a filled shape behind the text) and **cardless** (text with a rule or sweep, designed to overlay live footage without boxing it in).

| Tone | Blocks |
| ---- | ------ |
| **Minimal / clean / corporate** | [`lt-clean-bar`](/catalog/blocks/lt-clean-bar), [`lt-soft-pill`](/catalog/blocks/lt-soft-pill) |
| **High-energy / podcast / bold** | [`lt-bold-block`](/catalog/blocks/lt-bold-block), [`lt-color-block`](/catalog/blocks/lt-color-block) |
| **Cardless over footage** (interview, talking head) | [`lt-accent-underline`](/catalog/blocks/lt-accent-underline), [`lt-kicker-name`](/catalog/blocks/lt-kicker-name), [`lt-mask-reveal`](/catalog/blocks/lt-mask-reveal), [`lt-side-rule`](/catalog/blocks/lt-side-rule) |
| **Card over bright footage** | [`lt-dark-card`](/catalog/blocks/lt-dark-card) |
| **Broadcast / news** | [`lower-third-bild`](/catalog/blocks/lower-third-bild), [`news-ticker`](/catalog/blocks/news-ticker) |
| **Two-part wipe (name + role)** | [`lt-stack-bars`](/catalog/blocks/lt-stack-bars) |

<Tip>
  Over live footage, prefer a **cardless** lower third — they're text-shadowed for legibility without a box that fights the shot. Use a **card** ([`lt-dark-card`](/catalog/blocks/lt-dark-card) charcoal for bright scenes) when the background is too busy for cardless text to read.
</Tip>

## Use → social overlay

Each social overlay is a self-contained animated card with editable placeholder content.

| You want | Block |
| -------- | ----- |
| An animated tweet / X post with engagement metrics | [`x-post`](/catalog/blocks/x-post) |
| A Reddit post card with upvotes and comments | [`reddit-post`](/catalog/blocks/reddit-post) |
| A Spotify now-playing card with album art and progress | [`spotify-card`](/catalog/blocks/spotify-card) |
| A macOS notification banner | [`macos-notification`](/catalog/blocks/macos-notification) |
| An Instagram follow prompt | [`instagram-follow`](/catalog/blocks/instagram-follow) |
| A TikTok follow prompt | [`tiktok-follow`](/catalog/blocks/tiktok-follow) |
| A YouTube subscribe lower third | [`yt-lower-third`](/catalog/blocks/yt-lower-third) |

## Example prompts

Quote the exact copy — unquoted names and titles get paraphrased (see [anatomy](/prompting/anatomy)).

> Add a lower third at 0:03 for 5 seconds, on a track above the footage, with [`lt-clean-bar`](/catalog/blocks/lt-clean-bar). Name: "Dana Ríos". Title: "Head of Design".

<video controls muted loop playsinline preload="metadata" src="https://static.heygen.ai/hyperframes-oss/docs/images/prompting/validate-lower-third.mp4#t=0.1" style={{ borderRadius: "0.5rem", marginTop: "0.75rem" }}></video>
*Rendered from the prompt above over stand-in footage, unedited.*


<Note>
  Give a lower third at least the block's own timeline length (most run ~5 seconds including their designed exit) — a shorter window hard-cuts the block before its settle-out animation plays.
</Note>

> Podcast clip. Bring in [`lt-bold-block`](/catalog/blocks/lt-bold-block) when the guest starts talking, holding 5 seconds — name "MARCUS LEE", tag "GUEST" — brand accent #FF5A1F.

> During the intro, show an [`x-post`](/catalog/blocks/x-post) card with the quote "we shipped it in a weekend" and 12.4K likes, then slide it out before the demo.

<video controls muted loop playsinline preload="metadata" src="https://static.heygen.ai/hyperframes-oss/docs/images/prompting/overlay-xpost.mp4#t=0.1" style={{ borderRadius: "0.5rem", marginTop: "0.75rem" }}></video>
*Rendered from the prompt above over stand-in scenes, unedited — the card's built-in like-tap ticks 12.4K → 12.5K.*


> /motion-graphics Transparent overlay only — a [`spotify-card`](/catalog/blocks/spotify-card) now-playing widget animating in, bottom-left. Export as transparent WebM so I can drop it over footage in my editor.

<video controls muted loop playsinline preload="metadata" src="https://static.heygen.ai/hyperframes-oss/docs/images/prompting/overlay-spotify-preview.mp4#t=0.1" style={{ borderRadius: "0.5rem", marginTop: "0.75rem" }}></video>
*MP4 preview of the transparent WebM over a checkerboard — the delivered file carries real VP9 alpha (verified via ALPHA_MODE + alphaextract).*


## Knobs

- **Timing.** "at 0:03," "for 4 seconds," "slide it out before the demo" set the block's start and duration — an overlay is a timed clip, so it needs both.
- **Copy.** Quote every editable field: name, title, handle, headline, metrics, ticker text. The blocks ship with placeholder content you replace.
- **Track placement.** Overlays go on a track *above* the footage so they composite on top; say "over the footage" if you're layering onto an existing clip.
- **Brand accent.** Give a hex or brand color — most lower thirds carry an accent bar, tab, or block that takes it.
- **Card vs cardless.** State it when it matters, or let the tone table decide.
- **Transparent output.** For use in an external NLE, render the overlay on its own as a transparent WebM — see [rendering and output](/prompting/rendering-and-output).

## Failure modes

**Don't leave the copy unquoted.** Unquoted names and titles get paraphrased; quoted text renders verbatim.
- ❌ `add a lower third with the speaker's name and role`
- ✅ `lt-clean-bar — name: "Dana Ríos", title: "Head of Design"`

**Don't omit the timestamp.** An overlay is a timed clip; without a start (and ideally a duration) the agent has to guess when it appears and how long it holds.
- ❌ `put a lower third somewhere in the intro`
- ✅ `lower third at 0:03, holding 4 seconds`

**Don't let the overlay render behind the footage.** It has to sit on a track above the clip, or the video covers it.
- ❌ `add the tweet card to the video` (ambiguous layering)
- ✅ `x-post card on a track above the footage, top-right`

**Don't over-spec real account data.** These are stylized replicas with editable placeholders — provide the copy you want shown, not a live URL to scrape.
- ❌ `pull my actual Spotify page`
- ✅ `spotify-card: track "Midnight City", artist "M83"`

**Don't invent overlay names.** Only the blocks in the [Social Overlays](/catalog/blocks/x-post) and [Lower Thirds](/catalog/blocks/lt-clean-bar) groups exist.
- ❌ `add a linkedin-post overlay`
- ✅ pick a real block, or describe the card and let the agent build a custom one in a freeform composition

<Note>
**Capstone thread** — the [Level 7 film](/prompting/capstone)'s Material region docks a designed lower-third chip that renders *behind* the matted-out subject (cut from the film, below).
</Note>

This is the clause in the [full capstone prompt](/prompting/capstone#the-full-prompt-verbatim) that buys the piece — prompt language you can lift for your own video:

> […] as the camera arrives and BEFORE the person speaks, the framework mattes the footage — **the background peels away via background removal**, sliding off along the travel direction and leaving the cutout standing alone on the brand ground. […] A designed lower-third chip renders behind the subject.

<video controls muted loop playsinline preload="metadata" src="https://static.heygen.ai/hyperframes-oss/docs/images/prompting/capstone-region-material.mp4#t=0.1" style={{ borderRadius: "0.5rem", marginTop: "0.75rem" }}></video>
*That clause, rendered — the region cut from the finished film.*

*Next: [Caption styles](/prompting/captions-catalog) — the same timed-block pattern, tuned to on-screen text instead of name cards and social replicas.*
