How big should the text be?

Bigger than looks right on a desktop. Set it, then look at the preview at phone size — if the role line is hard to read there, it is unreadable for most of the people who will see it.

How long should it stay up?

Four to six seconds. Long enough to be read twice, short enough that it does not become part of the furniture. The templates here hold for that by default and the hold is a keyframe you can drag.

Can I reuse it for every episode?

Yes, and that is the cheap way to do it. Save it once as a project, reopen it, retype the name and export again — the export is unlocked for that project for good, so a second name does not cost a second payment.

What format do I export?

ProRes 4444 if your editor reads it, which keeps true transparency. A PNG sequence works everywhere and also carries alpha. Both are made in your browser rather than uploaded anywhere.

YouTube Lower Third Maker — Name Tags and Titles

A lower third is a text graphic pretending to be a design. Almost everything that makes one good or bad is legibility, and legibility on YouTube is decided by a strip of screen you do not control.

The player takes the bottom of the picture back whenever somebody touches the screen or moves the mouse. A lower third pinned flush to the edge is the one that gets covered exactly when a viewer looks down at it. Building one is therefore partly a question of where it sits — enough margin that the controls pass under it rather than through it — and the editor shows you those bounds while you place it.

The second constraint is the phone. Most of a YouTube audience is watching on a screen where a name set at what looks like a comfortable size on a laptop is four millimetres tall. The names that survive are short, set heavier than feels necessary, and given room. The templates here are built at 1920×1080 and scale without softening, so you can check at the size it will actually be watched.

After that it is a name, a role, a bar and an entrance. The bar can wipe, the text can slide in behind a mask, the whole plate can lift — those are three keyframes each, and the difference between them is taste rather than difficulty. What matters more is how long it holds: four to six seconds is read comfortably and leaves before it becomes furniture.

If you present a series, build one and keep it. A lower third is the graphic you will use most often, and having it as a project you reopen and retype means the twentieth one takes a minute.

What you can change

Name and role: Two text layers, independently sized and coloured. The plate grows to fit rather than clipping a long name.
The bar: Fill, height, corner radius, an accent stripe, and whether it wipes on or fades. Frosted glass and solid are both materials rather than images.
Where it sits: Position anywhere in the frame, with the area YouTube's controls cover shown while you drag.
Entrance and exit: Slide, wipe, mask reveal or fade, and how long it holds between them.
Size: 1920×1080, 4K, or a vertical frame for Shorts. Everything is drawn, so nothing softens when it scales.

Or start from one that already moves

All 15 lower third templates

Before you start

How big should the text be?: Bigger than looks right on a desktop. Set it, then look at the preview at phone size — if the role line is hard to read there, it is unreadable for most of the people who will see it.
How long should it stay up?: Four to six seconds. Long enough to be read twice, short enough that it does not become part of the furniture. The templates here hold for that by default and the hold is a keyframe you can drag.
Can I reuse it for every episode?: Yes, and that is the cheap way to do it. Save it once as a project, reopen it, retype the name and export again — the export is unlocked for that project for good, so a second name does not cost a second payment.
What format do I export?: ProRes 4444 if your editor reads it, which keeps true transparency. A PNG sequence works everywhere and also carries alpha. Both are made in your browser rather than uploaded anywhere.

Other things to make

Browse the whole library · Which export format your editor reads