Stream Overlay Guide — What They Are and How to Use Them

Stream overlays are the graphics that appear on top of your gameplay during a live stream. They give your stream a professional, branded look and help viewers understand what’s happening — who you are, what you’re playing, and what’s going on in your channel. This guide explains every type of stream overlay, what each one does, what file formats to expect, and how to add them to OBS Studio or Streamlabs.

What Are Stream Overlays?

Stream overlays are graphic files — animated or static — that sit on top of your stream layout in OBS Studio or Streamlabs. They include webcam frames, scene backgrounds, alert animations, countdown timers, stinger transitions, and channel panels. Overlays are instant digital downloads: you buy them, download a ZIP file, and import the files into your streaming software. See What Are Overlays? for a full beginner breakdown.

Types of Stream Overlays

Webcam Overlays

A webcam overlay is a frame or border that surrounds your webcam feed, giving it a clean, branded appearance. Stream Designz webcam overlays come in animated WebM format (with motion effects) and static PNG format. Most packages include a Bottom Overlay Bar, a Border With Overlay Bar, and a Border Without Overlay Bar in 1920x1080 resolution.

Overlay Scenes (BRB, Starting Soon, Just Chatting, Ending Soon)

Scene overlays are full-screen graphics that replace your gameplay when you’re not actively playing — a Starting Soon screen to build anticipation, a BRB screen when you step away, a Just Chatting screen for conversation segments, and an Ending Soon screen to close out the stream. Animated scene overlays come in MP4 format; static versions come in PNG.

Stream Alerts

Stream alerts are on-screen animations that fire automatically when viewers follow, subscribe, donate, send bits, or raid your channel. They appear briefly over your gameplay, then disappear. Animated alerts come in WebM format and are triggered through your alert service (StreamElements or Streamlabs). Browse our Animated Stream Alerts collection.

Stinger Transitions

A stinger transition is a short animated clip that plays when you switch between scenes in OBS or Streamlabs, masking the cut with a smooth graphic animation. Stinger transitions come in WebM format. Browse our Stinger Transitions collection.

Countdown Timers

A countdown timer overlay sits on your Starting Soon scene and counts down to zero, signaling viewers when you’re about to go live. Countdown timers come in MP4 format and loop in OBS as a Media Source. Browse our Countdown Timer Overlays collection.

Count Up Timers

A count up timer counts upward from 0:00 and is used on BRB scenes to show viewers how long you’ve been away. Count up timers come in MP4 format. Browse our Count Up Timer Overlays collection.

Stream Panels

Panels are static PNG graphics that display in the About section of your Twitch or Kick channel page, below the stream. They give viewers quick access to your schedule, Discord, donation links, rules, and social media. Panels are not added to OBS — they’re uploaded directly to Twitch or Kick. Browse our Twitch Panels collection.

Sub Emotes

Sub emotes are custom icons subscribers use in Twitch, YouTube, Kick, and Discord chat. They come in animated GIF format and static PNG format in all required upload sizes (28x28, 56x56, 112x112). Browse our Sub Emotes collection.

Sub Badges

Sub badges are small icons that appear next to a subscriber’s username in chat, indicating their loyalty tier. They come in PNG format in 18x18, 36x36, and 72x72 sizes. Browse our Sub Badges collection.

Vertical Overlays (TikTok / YouTube Shorts)

Vertical overlays are designed for 1080x1920 (portrait) streams on TikTok Live and YouTube Shorts. They include a webcam frame, animated scene screens, a stinger transition, and a countdown timer. Browse our TikTok Vertical Overlays collection.

Animated vs Static Overlays — What’s the Difference?

Animated overlays have moving elements — looping motion effects, glowing borders, particle animations. They come in WebM and MP4 format. Static overlays are fixed PNG images with no movement. Animated overlays give your stream more visual energy; static overlays are cleaner and lighter on system resources. Stream Designz offers both. Browse Animated Overlay Packages and Non-Animated Overlay Packages.

What File Formats Do Stream Overlays Use?

• WebM — animated overlays and alerts (webcam frames, stinger transitions, stream alerts)
• MP4 — animated scene screens and countdown/count up timers
• PNG — static overlays, panels, sub badges, and static emotes
• GIF — animated sub emotes

How to Add Overlays to OBS Studio

In OBS Studio, right-click inside your scene’s Sources panel and select Add Source. For WebM and MP4 files, choose Media Source. For PNG files, choose Image Source. Position and resize each element on the canvas. For a full walkthrough, see our OBS Studio Setup Guide.

How to Add Overlays to Streamlabs

In Streamlabs, click the + button in your Sources panel to add sources the same way as OBS. WebM and MP4 files go in as Media Sources; PNG files as Image Sources. For a full walkthrough, see our Streamlabs Setup Guide.

Do I Need an Overlay Package or a Stream Bundle?

An overlay package includes your webcam frames, scene screens, alerts, and panels — everything for your stream layout, but no timer, stinger, or emotes. A stream bundle includes everything in an overlay package PLUS a countdown timer, count up timer, stinger transition, and either animated emotes or sub badges — a complete stream setup in one download at a lower combined price. If you’re starting from scratch, go with a bundle. If you already have some assets, browse individual collections. See our Ultimate Stream Bundles and Animated Overlay Packages.