Marketing professionals, the lower thirds could be your best friend They provide additional details in frames at the right moment, to introduce speakers and experts, and weave your branding effortlessly into every shot. Once you start seeing lower thirds, you'll see they're all over. (You're welcome. )

Therefore, we've created a comprehensive overview, from design and structures to best practices, and the best ways to make high-quality, professional lower thirds. Let's get into it.

What you'll be learning

1.    How do you utilize the lower third?
2.    Lower thirds examples
3.    What are the design elements of a lower third?
4.    Lower third structure
5.    The best practices to create an lower third of the stream you live
6.    How do I create lower thirds in Livestream Studio
7.    How can you make lower thirds using
8.    How to create lower thirds in After Effects
9.    Final note

What exactly is a lower-third?

Lower Thirds (aka L3s) are broadcast graphics which provide additional context to the primary image displayed usually within the (you probably guessed you guessed it) lower third of the frame. But, they don't have to appear in the bottom third of the frame! As with all things video, it's a good idea to be creative.

You'll see lower thirds all over the place, such as on:

• Live streams
• Documentaries and film
• Webinars and virtual events
• Broadcast television
• Social media (for instance, for example, to encourage viewers to follow and like)

What is the best time to use a lower third?

Lower thirds are used to give an additional piece of information, which is useful for shooting, but isn't necessarily necessary. It has to strike the right balance. First, identify primary information that may need its own graphics.

Some people are tempted to put too much info in the lower third, and it's crucial to determine what additional data should be included to go in your lower third. Less is generally more, so you could save longer info for a standalone image or frame.

The balance between primary and secondary data is a continuous work in progress!

Be aware that even though lower thirds are important, they're always going to appear as secondary data in relation to the film, live stream, or webcast feed. Consider them labels to strategically display secondary details such as:

• Names
• Locations
• Pull quotes
• Extra context
• Social handles of media
• Secondary graphics
• Action calls

A tip: is the information best served on its own graphic to highlight an important aspect? Perhaps, it is more appropriate as a separate item, providing essential context to the feed or image? This is the case for an L3.

Illustrations of the lower third

Faith channels can use L3s in order to show a quote from a specific Scripture or reading. When a speaker is instructing a crowd on a reading in the lower third, it will display the text for several minutes to allow viewers a chance to flip to the correct text or page.

After the passage has been completed, the instructor will give each paragraph a separate slide, to emphasize the importance of the messaging.

Another good use of lower thirds is streaming sports on live television. Lower thirds are often on the screens throughout the broadcast, hinting at what's coming following. Sports broadcasters can also share thrilling score updates at intervals without obscuring the performance.

For more intricate subjects -- like a lineup or post-event commentary -- are best expressed with a graphic of its own, and not on a third.

What are the design elements that make up a lower-third?

There are six key considerations when designing a great L3:

1. Typography
2. The colors and contrast
3. Simple animations
4. Closed captions
5. Branding
6. Timing

Let's dive deeper into each.

Typography

Typography for your lower thirds should be helpful and not overbearing. Legibility is key when considering the fonts you use. If you are unsure concerning legibility, you should choose an easier font like San Serif that has very little flourishes.

Colors and contrast

L3s are not the most bright, vibrant, or largest colors in your brand book. The colors that are placed over each should be easy to read. To make sure the color scheme and contrast are easily easy to read, use the a11y contrast checker.

In the case of live streaming videos in which you don't have control over the composition of the content, make sure to use high contrast colors. Save lower contrast colors to use for videos on-demand.

Animations

If you're animations for your bottom thirds, keep it easy. Save your flashiest animations for locations where they can make an impact.

The golden rule for animations for lower thirds? It is important to ensure that the animation has pauses long enough to allow viewers to peruse the text twice. Repeat the content of the lower third twice -- like a long name or location in your mind and then count that time. This is the length the image should appear on the screen, as if it were a pause before it dissolves.

To make your site accessible, adhere to the three-to-one principle with colors and animations. In other words, don't utilize more than three different colors or three flashes in one second. Remember that too many flashes may cause problems for people with sensitivities to light, epilepsy, etc.

Captioning and size

Take into consideration the size and location of your typography, as well as the captions you use to close when your lower third is flashing in the screen. A second consideration is the place of captions that are closed in your virtual or live event, webinar or movie What happens if the captions be cut off from your lower third and distract from the message?

When it comes to virtual events or panel discussions, consider what are the differences between the length or location of live speakers as opposed to other details or introductory information prior to the live event?

If the treatment options are distinct the treatments will need to be distinguished visually. Consider secondary and primary fonts or using specific graphics and elements specifically for speakers.

You'll also want to apply this principle to news or sports broadcasts, film segments, documentary films, as well as webinars.

Branding

If a tree falls in the woods and nobody is around to listen, does it make sounds? Marketing professionals, this old cliché is now when viewers leave your virtual conference, webinar or panel with your brand at the forefront of their minds, how are you able to quantify the impact?

Including your brand kit and the logo are crucial. It will give a consistent design and appearance of your software as well as, at a practical level makes it simpler to create a template to the future.

Again, simplicity of design will make all the distinction. Your brand's logo shouldn't detract or overwhelm the useful messaging of your L3.

Timing

The general rule of thumb is to show your lower third in a way that gives time to allow viewers to go through it twice. There are some viewers who are slower than others, so bear that in mind as you're planning your run of show.

Lower third structure

The form of your lower third all depends on its primary storytelling purpose within your material. Three levels to note:

1. One-tier lower thirds Usually used to identify the story being played, or to show names of presenters.
2. Two-tier L3s: Used most often to identify a person on the screen. The person's name will appear on the first line with their location of residence or a description beneath it. Lower thirds of two-tiered can serve to serve as "locators" to identify the location of a story's taking place
3. Three-tier lower thirds: Add even more information!

Best practices for creating the lower third for your live stream

Live streaming is performed on the fly. That means that the arrangement of the room, the speaker's movement and gestures, the video inputs as well as additional images can change and maintain a fluidity. Here are a few tips on how to utilize lower thirds during your next stream or event:

• Err to the right of higher opacity to maintain legibility across the entire stream
• If auto-closed captioning turned on, be sure to test you stream to ensure that the captioning doesn't end the L3 connection.
• Triple check speaker names, titles, and organizations! The chance of a typo is high, and it is important to spot the mistakes before you have hundreds of viewers look at your work

How to make lower thirds using Livestream Studio

For Enterprise customers, it is possible to add a lower-third directly into the stream you are using.

1. It is important to include the date, name as well as the time and location of the occasion. You will have the opportunity to change these parts as you need to. Click Next to continue configuring your event.
   

1. This page allows you are able to customize and configure your stream as well as obtain the event's URL and embed code. There are three tabsavailable: Events Tab and Appearance Tab, Embed Tab as well as the Destinations Tab which allows you to set every aspect of your event's configuration.
2. Then, if you're using an external encoder you can select Stream using RTMP. This will open the live preview page which will allow you to get the URL of your stream and also the key for your encoder and monitor the stream .
3. It is also possible to manage live features like chat, auto polls, CC graphic, Q&A and graphics such as lower thirds, before and during your stream.

If you are Livestream Studio users, visit Graphic Overlays in the Livestream Studio Help Center for more information.

How can you make lower thirds using

You can easily create lower thirds to your webinars and live events within our browser-based production tool. Here's how:

1. In the beginning, make a recurring virtual event or webinar and choose to stream it with, you'll be brought into our streaming page for broadcasters that run on a browser.
2. On the broadcast page, click the Brand icon located on the left.
3. Below the logo setting You can see the lower third.
   

1. Click on Primary color to display the color panel.
2. You can either use drag-and-drop to move the color picker, or enter your company's specific colors (we provide the HEX code in default, select HEX for a change to RGB and HSL codes, in case you'd like).
3. Click out of the color picker and repeat these steps to select your secondary color
4. Save. Click to save.
5. To show a lower third in your event or webinar then you'll have to attach the lower third to your scene.

For more information, check out 's help center regarding the addition of lower third graphic overlays.

How do you make lower thirds using After Effects

Adobe After Effects is a popular choice for designers looking to produce stunning animated lower thirds, graphics and lower thirds for online or live-streamed content.

1. To begin the process of creating a lower third graphic create a rectangle using an additional shape layer. Select Fill the swatch and choose the shade. This is the base for your L3.
2. Next, animate the shape by selecting the layer of the shape in the timeline and press "U" twice on the keyboard for its properties.
3. Export and save your image to be used in your live or on-demand media.

Final Notes

Lower thirds add a simple useful touch to your videos, virtual event programming, and live streams. They give viewers and participants additional information on the subjects that they are interested in.

If you follow the correct strategy and these top practices that you've incorporated into your toolkit, you'll avoid common pitfalls or mistakes with content and create L3s that feel intentional, real, and authentic to your company's brand.