Adding a Text or Media Overlay to a Media Asset

Overview

The overlay feature enables you to add either text or a media asset (such as an image or video) on top of another media asset. This feature can be used in various ways, including:

• Adding text to convey information, provide context, or highlight key elements in a scene
• Creating unique compositions by combining multiple media assets

Once added, the overlay becomes an integral part of the parent media asset. If the parent asset is removed, the overlay is removed as well.

Note that overlays can only be added to media assets that are already placed within a media placeholder. You cannot add an overlay to an empty media placeholder.

Key Points

Here are the key points to know about adding overlays to a media asset:

Adding an Overlay to a Media Asset

1.	Open the relevant video in the Studio.
2.	From the scene line-up, select the relevant scene.
3.	Select the media asset to which you want to add an overlay. ▶ In the example below, the solid pink background is the selected media asset.
4.	On the toolbar, click the Add a Text or Media Overlay icon. ▶ If this option is disabled, this indicates that the current scene does not support adding an overlay. See Note #5 below.
5.	Select the overlay type that you want to add.
6.	If you selected Text Overlay If you selected Media Overlay   A text overlay placeholder is added to the media asset. ▶ The default position and size of the placeholder is based on design considerations but can be changed according to your needs.   a. Click the Edit Text Overlay icon and then enter the text that you want to display.   b. Format the text using the options available on the toolbar.   The text overlay placeholder is updated with the text you entered, styled according to the formatting options you applied.     A media overlay placeholder, with a diagonal background, is added to the media asset. ▶ The default position and size of the placeholder is based on design considerations but can be changed according to your needs.   a. Select Media in the sidebar to access the Media Library and then add a media asset to the placeholder.     The media asset is added to the overlay placeholder.   b. (Optional) Edit the media asset according to your needs.
	Below is an example of a media asset with both a media overlay and a text overlay.

Resizing and Moving an Overlay

While the default position and size of an overlay placeholder are determined by the design, you can adjust both to suit your needs.

To resize the height and width simultaneously, drag one of the corner handles. To resize them independently, drag a side handle.

You can move the overlay anywhere within the media asset, even beyond the scene margins. These margins are marked by light blue lines. However, you cannot move the overlay outside the boundaries of the media asset itself.

Ordering Overlays

Once you've added multiple overlays to a media asset, you may need to reorder them to achieve the desired visual result. Ordering overlays is especially useful in scenarios such as:

• Creating a composite image by stacking multiple media overlays
• Placing a text overlay on top of a media overlay to add information or annotations

To adjust the order of the overlays, click the Order icon on the toolbar and then select one of the following options:

• Bring forward moves the selected overlay one layer up
• Bring to front positions the selected overlay above all other overlays
• Send backward moves the selected overlay one layer down
• Send to back positions the overlay behind all other overlays

Aligning Overlays

When overlays are neatly aligned, your scene looks more polished and organized. Whether you're using text or media overlays, alignment helps create a professional, visually balanced scene. To make this easier, there are two types of guides you can use: Center Guides, which help you line up overlays with the center of the scene and Alignment Guides, which help you snap overlays into line with each other.

Center Guides
To position an overlay exactly at the center of the scene, drag it until both the horizontal and vertical center guides appear and intersect. Once you release the mouse, the overlay will snap into position at the center.

Alignment Guides
To align overlays with each other, use the alignment guides that appear whenever you drag or resize an overlay relative to another. These horizontal and vertical guides help you line up overlays by showing when their edges or centers are aligned. Once you release the mouse, the overlay snaps into position.

Deleting an Overlay from a Media Asset

1.	Select the overlay that you want to delete. ▶ You will know that the overlay is selected when you see a blue dashed border.
2.	On the toolbar, click the Delete icon. ▶ You can also press Delete or Backspace.
	The overlay is deleted.

Notes

1.	As described in the Key Points, you can add more than one overlay to a single media asset. To add an additional overlay to the same media placeholder, reselect the parent media asset and then click the Add a Text or Media Overlay icon on the toolbar.
2.	When a parent media asset is removed, all overlays added to it are removed as well. If a parent media asset is added back to the placeholder, the previously added media and text overlays are automatically restored.
3.	If a media placeholder is hidden, any overlays added to it will be hidden as well.
4.	When using video footage in a media overlay: ▶ If the parent media asset is set to loop, the looping will continue until the video footage in the media overlay finishes playing. ▶ Among other factors, the length of a scene is determined by the duration of the longest-playing video asset (when Play full duration is set for the video). This can be the video footage in either the parent media asset or any of the media overlays. To learn how the duration of a scene is set, see Setting a Minimum Duration for a Scene and Setting the Duration of a Video Asset Inside a Scene.
5.	Some scene templates include a media placeholder that serves as the background for one or more standard text placeholders. In these layouts, it's not possible to add a text overlay directly to the media asset. This is because the existing text placeholders already occupy the media placeholder area, and adding an overlay on top could make the scene feel cluttered and harder to work with.
6.	If your current scene includes overlays and you want to switch to a different scene layout, you'll see an indication on those layouts that don't support overlays. If you select one of them, you'll no longer be able to add overlays to the media asset.