Stream in Style: How To Create Your Own Stream Overlay
Stream overlay is one of the best ways to be unique while live streaming. Instead of just displaying an image/video capture, stream overlay helps to create a theme to your live stream. Aside from that, it helps your branding and makes your profile looks professional from the very beginning.
If you are a great content creator who does not specifically to gaming, having an overlay helps to customize your stream to cater to which content you are focusing on.
First of all, what is a stream overlay anyways? An overlay is the design that you see that borders the screen when you watch a live stream. It’s like adding a mask to your video that makes your viewer’s experience a little more interesting.
Aside from that, it allows you to brand your stream at all times. It decorates your video to be more personal for you and you only. Hence you don’t need to worry about getting your content stolen. In order to enable a stream overlay, you would require an encoder such as OBS, XSplit, or Vmix, to name a few.
There are a few ways where you can design your own stream overlay. For those who are willing to spend a few dollars, you can even hire a designer to make your overlay for you. However, this is not usually the case. If you are literate with Adobe software such as Photoshop or Illustrator, you can easily design your own overlay yourself. Not familiar with any designing software? Don’t sweat it; here are a few sites that can let you choose or customize your stream overlay for you.
Streamlabs OBS
Streamlabs OBS has a multitude of themes that you can choose from for your stream overlay. Of course, they’re not 100% personalized for your own use, but it’s a great place to start if you are planning to enable a stream overlay. Here is how to do it.
Launch OBS Streamlabs.
Then, Select Themes from the top left side menu.
Choose a theme that appeals to you. This would usually comes with a few other scenes such as starting, live, be right back and ending scene. Depends on which theme you choose.
Do take note that some overlays are created for a specific platform. Hence you might need to edit how the notification/alert box works.
Other 3rd party design solutions
If you want to create something more personalized, there are a few websites out there that offer templates and designs for you to choose from. Aside from creating logo, there are also sites that includes user’s banners as well. Most sites will offer full customization on the templates provided. However, do take note that some might need you to access their premium features to do so. Here are some of the recommended sites.
Adobe Photoshop/illustrator
For those who are skillful enough with adobe design suites, you can even design your own logo and overlay. Since everything will be designed by the ground up by the user itself, customization options are limitless and also open to each user’s creativity and ideas.
Setting Up Overlays in OBS
Once you have created your stream overlay, it is recommended to save all your stream tools under one folder for easy access. Setup and implement your overlay to OBS can be done in a few simple steps:
Create a new scene under the scenes tab
Then, Add sources for overlays; it’s a standard to be added as an image capture.
Click on the image and add it as a new source.
Then, Browse and look for the files where you saved your overlay
Click on open.
In order to make the overlay appears on top of other source capture, simply arrange the sources layers.
By following these simple steps and letting your creativity run wild, you now have the tools and knowledge to create your own stream overlay.
Remember, your stream overlay is a reflection of your unique personality and style, so don’t be afraid to experiment and make it truly yours. Get ready to captivate your viewers, elevate your streaming experience, and stream in style like never before.
Happy streaming.