Create a Lower-Third
Build an animated name tag or lower-third as a green-screen overlay, then chroma-key it over your talking-head footage.
Goal: produce an animated lower-third name tag you can drop over talking-head footage. Expected result: a short MP4 on a solid green background, ready to chroma-key. Required plan: Every plan can browse, edit and play back the whole library. Free exports the starter set; paid plans export every template and lift the export, resolution and watermark limits. Required assets: none — just the name and title text. Estimated time: about 3 minutes.
#Overview
A lower-third is the name-and-title tag that appears in the lower corner of the screen when someone is speaking. HeyMotion makes these as green-screen overlays: the graphic animates on a solid green #00FF00 field so your video editor can key the green out, leaving only the tag over your footage.
Two templates cover this:
- Lower-third tag (overlay) — in the Core category, a compact animated bar for a name and role.
- Name lower-third (overlay) — in the Overlays category, a name-forward variant.
Both render green so you can composite them.
#When to Use It
Add a lower-third the first time each person appears on camera, or to label a location, product, or segment. Keep it on screen just long enough to read — usually a few seconds.
#Before You Begin
You'll export an MP4, so use a Chromium browser — Google Chrome (desktop) is recommended. Your editor needs a chroma-key (green screen) effect; every major editor has one. No account is required.
These templates use a green #00FF00 background on purpose. That green is not part of your design — it's the key color your editor removes. Do not treat it as a mistake.
#Step-by-Step Instructions
- Open the studio at https://heymotion.io/app.
- In the left sidebar, choose Lower-third tag (Core) or Name lower-third (Overlays). The preview loads on a green background.
- In the right-hand edit panel, type the name and the title/role fields.
- Set Clip length (seconds) to roughly how long you want the tag visible — 3 to 5 seconds is typical.
- Confirm your brand looks right; the tag's colors and fonts come from your brand kit.
- Press ↺ Replay to review the animation.
- Click ⬇ Export MP4 to render the green-screen clip to your Downloads. See Export an MP4.
#Keying Out the Green
In your editor, place the exported clip on a track above your footage, then apply a chroma-key (green screen) effect and select the green. The tag now floats over your video. For step-by-step keying in CapCut, see Use in CapCut.
#Options and Settings
| Control | Where | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Name / title fields | Right edit panel | The text shown in the tag |
| Clip length | Bottom of edit panel | How long the tag animates (1–20s) |
| Brand workspace | Brand settings button | Colors and fonts for the tag |
| Export MP4 | Below the preview | Renders the green-screen clip |
#Example
A creator intro: choose Name lower-third, type "Brian Robison" and "Founder, System Prompt AI," set the clip to 4 seconds, export, and key it over the opening shot so the name slides in as they start talking.
#Best Practices
Keep the title short so it fits the bar. Position the tag in your editor to sit clear of the speaker's face and any on-screen captions. Reuse the same lower-third style for every guest so the video feels consistent.
#Common Mistakes
The biggest one is exporting in a non-Chromium browser — the export will fail. The second is forgetting to apply the chroma-key, which leaves the green visible in the final video.
#Related Articles
Pair it with a Subscribe animation, review the render step in Export an MP4, and key it cleanly with Use in CapCut.