What is an Overlay?
Overlay is the method in which you can add an image over another image. It is the method in which you can combine two images into one. If you like the property of one image, you can add another image to the first image.
Finding the best After Effects Overlays for your animation can be a struggle. This is the reason that made us come up with a list of After Effects Overlays required for your animation.
If you are tired of finding the best overlay effects on the Internet, then look no further than the list of the best templates right here.
Advantages of Using Overlays on After Effects
The following is the list of advantages that are available when you are using an overlay.
Capture Information: Overlays are the best way to identify and capture information. These overlays help you to capture the attention of the users. Overlays can be in animations, logos, text frames, images, etc.
Content: The overlay’s content can be anything from text, phrases, logos, etc. You can easily define the information you want to promote.
Types of Overlays: Overlays are screen elements that add information to your animation. These overlays can be in the form of text, images, shapes, and dynamic text.
Customization: The overlays that you can use on your animation are customizable to your needs. They can be increased or decreased depending on the hardware platform you use them on, whether on a desktop or a mobile.
Time Limit: You can set time frames on the number of times an overlay is shown to the user. You can also set the number of seconds the overlays need to reappear in a particular frame.
25+ Best After Effects Overlays
- Overlay Title Transition
- Quiz Overlays Pack
- Stream Overlays Elements Bundle
- Text Messenger
- News Overlays
- Winter Frost and Fog Pack
- Fire and Smoke
- Abstract Background and Overlay
- Design and Development of Animation
- Transitions
- Twitch Overlay Stream
- Spark Effects
- Gunshot Effects
- Animated Snow Overlays
- Glitch Kit
- Rain On Window Pack
- Brush Transitions
- Sunplay Light and Shadow Overlays
- Energy Elements
- Christmas Motion Titles
- Advanced Film Overlays
- Speech Bubble Pack
- Animated Shadow Overlay
- Stylish Instagram Stories
- Leaves and Flowers Overlays
If you are interested, you can go through our articles on After Effects Title Templates, the best After Effects templates and the best lower-thirds After Effects templates.
BEST AFTER EFFECTS OVERLAYS – UNLIMITED DOWNLOADS: 50 Million+ Fonts & Design Assets
Download all the After Effects Overlays you need and many other design elements, available for a monthly subscription by subscribing to Envato Elements. The subscription costs $16.50 per month and gives you unlimited access to a massive and growing library of over 50 million items that can be downloaded as often as you need (stock effect & element packs too)!
25+ Best After Effects Overlays
1. Overlay Title Transition
Overlay Title Transition is a set of attractive After Effects overlays that can help you add effects to your text to your transitions.
It is quite simple to use this overlay, as all you must do is drop the text into your video. Just place your text over your video, and you are good to go.
We are certain that with the Overlay Title Transition flexibility is at your fingertips. This is because you can easily customize both the text and the video to suit your vision.
This template comes with a clean, modern, and premium design. This template is for the minimalist and well-organized design. The frames of the design are modular and structured with beautiful title transitioning. The transition between the animation is simple and clean in design.
Overall, with this overlay, you are not just enhancing transitions, but you are adding a touch of elegance and professionalism to your videos.
2. Quiz Overlays Pack
If you are looking for a complete toolkit for crafting engaging and dynamic quizzes in After Effects, then the Quiz Overlays pack is a choice.
This set contains a text quiz, an image quiz, and an Instagram story quiz which you can make use of to create quizzes that captivate your audience’s attention.
This set of After Effects Overlays can control the duration of the quiz and which answers are correct or wrong. We would say the best part of this overlay is that it provides clear and detailed video tutorials that guide you through the process of quiz creation.
The various methods by which you can depict this quiz are given in the animation so you may use them. The timing for each question is also displayed. There are various templates depicted for each type of quiz.
This template is a customized one. The elements within the template can be changed according to your needs. What’s more? You don’t have to worry about compatibility as this template works seamlessly with After Effects CS5.5, CS6, and the Creative Cloud versions.
There are no extra plugins required for this template. There is a help file provided in PDF format. There are lifetime free updates available for this template. This works great with all language versions of After Effects.
With Quiz Overlays you can take a step ahead in interactive learning and engagement.
3. Stream Overlays Element Bundle
Stream Overlays Elements Bundle for After Effects offers a collection of pre-defined animated templates.
This set of After Effects Overlays has more than 60 scenes and elements that can work on a readymade basis. You will be in a position to preview all the assets you upload.
And the best part is that you can customize the text and color according to your requirements.
With Stream Overlays Elements Bundle you can ensure that your content stands out in the online streaming world.
4. Text Messager After Effects
The Text Messager is a set of After Effects overlays in a handy controller that helps you add pop-up text boxes to your images or animation.
With a user-friendly controller, adding dynamic text elements becomes easy, isn’t it? Just imagine how cool will it be to resize them exactly the way you need, adjust colors, and opacity, and even scale the text boxes without compromising their clarity and impact.
The Text Messager makes all this possible in addition to adding impact to your visuals with an extra layer of interactivity.
If you are looking for an overlay to create animations with eye-catching text boxes, then Text Messager is a great choice.
5. News Overlays
Meet News Overlays, a set of predefined After Effects overlays available that are designed to add impact to your news announcements and messages.
Whether you are running a news channel or need to convey information briefly, these overlays offer a versatile solution for grabbing your audience’s attention.
Apart from news announcements, these templates can work for short message overlays on top of an animatic background.
There are around nine overlay templates in this set. The animation clearly depicts all nine templates. You will see each and every frame in these templates appearing in sync. You can also set the timings in these frames. The text boxes in these templates are customizable based on your requirements.
Whether you are a news broadcaster, content creator, or someone who simply wants to enhance your message, News Overlays is a great companion for you to make a bold statement without sacrificing style.
6. Winter Frost and Fog Pack
Have you seen the fog smoke that appears during Winter? Would you like to make this smoke appear in your animated backgrounds? With this After Effects overlays pack, you can make the snow particles that appear as smoke on your designs.
Winter Frost and Fog packs are at the full set of color controls that can make the fog smoke appear in any color. They are apt for title designs. You can make the smoke of the snow appear the way you want in your designs. You can make them appear as a simple ball of smoke or appear as a curtain raiser as well.
This overlay is best used in between the various frames of a single animation. This set of overlays will make your animation look attractive.
7. Fire and Smoke After Effects
Have you ever seen fire and smoke appear in cartoons? They are effects that can be added to these cartoon pictures. These After Effects overlays can be easily added using the Fire And Smoke After Effects pack. These can be in the form of smoke, fireball, or lightning.
The Fire and Smoke effect is customizable. They can also work with color change. This pack has all of them. These effects can work for any animation such as the wheels of a bike, depicting the face of a vampire or a skeleton, etc. There are 1,000 such elements in this pack.
8. Abstract Background and Overlays for After Effects
Abstract Background is animatic effects that can give an attractive look to your designs. This Abstract Background and Overlays have everything from a static to an animatic background that provides attraction to your videos. These AfterEffects overlays provide attraction to your designs.
9. Design and Development of Animation for After Effects
This Design and Development of Animation is from Graphiga Studio. This Design and Development template comes with color controls. You can edit the text and it supports multiple languages. You can make individual scenes and edit text with your own information. The composition can help you to make your own scene and edit it with your own text.
This is a multipurpose After Effects template that can work as a video explainer, presentation, animation, and Facebook and Instagram posts. This template can serve for real-time use with clean, and modern designs.
10. Transitions
Transitions is a video template that can work with Adobe After Effects. This video template looks attractive in design. The animated scene easily shifts from one frame to another at consecutive and equal timings. This is a customizable template and is easy to use. There are a total of 16 transitions in this template. There is no need to use any plugins in this animation.
11. Twitch Overlay Stream
Twitch Overlay Stream is a set of six AfterEffects overlays that serves multiple purposes. It can work for gaming, esports, gaming walkthrough, video explainer, infographics, web animations, landing pages, Facebook, and all social media posts. This is clean, minimalist, contemporary, and unique in design. This template focuses on attention to minute details.
There are six in-built overlays that come with this design. The text is completely editable. There are color controls that are customizable as well.
12. Sparks Effects
Spark Effects is an attractive set of animations. Spark Effects is from the makers of MXMonster. This animatic effect comes with many transitions between them. This animatic effect has a large number of sparks.
This AfterEffect overlay can work for cartoon-animated films, online games, etc. It can also be used in various animated series. There are two different color controls and three different glow controls that come with this set.
13. Gunshot Effects
Gunshot Effects is from FXMonster. There are two different color controls. There is a glow control. The pixelation and motion effects can also be controlled. This animated effect is ideal to be used for online games, cartoon films, shows, etc.
14. Animated Snow Overlays
Animated Snow Overlays is a set of magical realistic snow overlays for your project. This After Effects Overlay is ideal in softwares where layer blending mode is available. It can work with a PC and a Mac machine.
There are ten overlays in the size of 2000×2000 pixels. This overlay is perfect for both photos and video. You can display the animation in various intensities.
You can just place the snow overlay on top of your photo or video.
15. Glitch Kit for After Effects
Glitch Kit is a pack of high-quality image effects for your production needs. There are plug-in controls provided in this pack. There are more than 100+ transitions and 70+ effects included in this pack. All you need to do is activate the motion control extensions in After Effects.
You can view instant previews of the glitch effect that you place in a particular frame. You can place the presets in one clip. This is an attractive Effect Overlay that can work as a transition effect for various frames of your animation. The animation that is been given in the pack clearly depicts how these glitch effects can be applied.
16. Rain On Window Pack
Rain On Window is a pack from Kira Mishura that is a 12-in-1 pack. It has a resolution of 1920 x 1080. There are 12 different sets of overlays in this design. All the motion clips have different kinds of animation in them. There are no plugins required. There is a separate video tutorial provided in this set that helps you as to how to use this animated pack.
This animated pack is ideal for designs that depict rainfall designs. This animation can be used in movies or other projects.
17. Brush Transitions
Brush Transitions is a template that has plenty of brush transitions. It is easy to use. The transitions between the various shot of your animated picture can be easily and swiftly done with these After Effects overlays. You can play with these effects and create awesome animations.
There is a help file that is included with this set that clearly shows how to work with the animations. This animated effect works fine with AfterEffects 2019 and above.
18. Sunplay Light and Shadow Overlay
Sunplay Light and Shadow Overlay is a set of After Effects overlays that are available. You may bring the correct mood to your product shots. You can bring an effective light and shadow effect to your animations with this pack.
You will bring the shadow effect of leaves and trees for your animations. These overlays can also work in various frames within the same animation. The moving leaves and trees’ shadow effects your frame and makes your frame look attractive. It also brings life to the frames.
This overlay looks perfect for any architectural setup displaying home designs. There are a total of 8 moving plants and 15 window shapes in this pack. There are two tools that come with this pack as well. One is for After Effects and one is for Photoshop.
19. Energy Elements
Energy Elements is a set of After Effect overlays that can set the energy vibes to your animations. These overlays are quite attractive and can work as an add-on to your animation to display a vibrating effect.
These energy elements combined with apt sound will make animations attractive. These energy elements are professionally designed ones that will create a lasting effect in your minds.
20. Christmas Motion Titles
Christmas Motion Titles is a motion graphic template that can be used as an After Effects overlay. This set of After Effects Overlays has got a set of five animated After Effects Overlays. The resolution of these animated titles are in the range of 1920 x 1080. There are no plugins required for this template.
These motion titles can be used for After Effect version 2019+. These templates are easy to use. They are easy to customize according to your needs.
21. Advanced Film Overlays
Advanced Film Overlays is a set of AfterEffects overlays that can be used to create a split-screen for two or three frames in an animation. You may customize the size of the frame, and the features of the frame. This set of overlays will give a nostalgic look to your designs.
The template comes with a .MOGRT template. You can add film frame overlays to your footage. You will be able to split screens in seconds.
This overlay pack is compatible with AfterEffects 2022.
22. Speech Bubble Pack
Speech Bubble Pack is a set of AfterEffects overlays that represent the character’s speech or thought in a frame. This pack has got a set of attractive 50 speech bubbles. You can set the duration of the speech bubble. You also have a lot of previews on the kind of speech bubble that you want to use.
The control parameters that come with this pack include the flip bubble, color control, stroke line spacing, stock line width, and wiggle control. You can also make use of multiple speech bubbles in a single frame.
23. Animated Shadow Overlay Scene
Animated Shadow Overlay is a set of AfterEffects overlays that can work in any animation. There are a set of 60 Assets included in this set to bring your scene to life. Out of these 60 Assets, there are 16 transparent video overlays, ten shadow images, 10 textured video clips, 25 background textures, and photoshop mockups.
You can add the Animated overlay over any background photo. The overlays can be used in different angles. You can reuse the same overlay in different angles within the same frame as well. There is also a set of background textures included that can be used. There is a Photoshop scene mockup with paper options that are included.
The overlays that are included can be in the form of leaves, flowers, and palm trees that are moving in a slow breeze. The maker of this set of overlays is OUI Create.
24. Stylish Instagram Stories
Stylish Instagram Stories is a set of five Instagram Stories. These Instagram stories are templates that can be used as After Effects overlays. There are color controllers provided in this set. It is in the size of 1080 x 1920 vertically supported high definition template.
This overlay is supported by Adobe AfterEffects version 2019 and above. There are no plugins required for this overlay. This is easy to use and customizable based on your requirements.
25. Leaves and Flower Overlays
Leaves and Flower is a set of animated After Effect overlays perfect for visual merchandising. This After Effects overlay is a set of animated tropical leaves and plants overlays. These designs work in animations to promote day spas and hotels.
This overlay can be used to introduce any sale offer. There are video overlays of leaves and flowers that are available. These video overlays can be used for the marketing campaign of new products. They can also be used for advertising campaigns for cosmetics and skincare products.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do you mean by Overlays?
An overlay is a process of adding one animation or a static piece of text over another animation. They can serve various purposes, such as conveying messages, highlighting key points, creating visual interest, or adding a specific style to the original content. They are commonly used in graphic design, video editing, animation, and other multimedia projects.
What are the various methods by which overlay can be done?
An overlay is in the form of text, video, animation effects, etc. You can also use various techniques to create a contrast between the content and the graphics in an animation.
What do you mean by an image overlay?
Image overlay is the process of adding an image over another animation. It can be used for various purposes such as adding textures and patterns, overlaying text and labels, highlighting specific areas in an image, and applying layering effects.
What do you mean by a background overlay?
Background overlay is the method that helps you to add an image or a video to the background of your website. This is commonly used in design, web development, and other multimedia projects to enhance the visual appeal of the background.
Best After Effects Overlays Summary
Overlays are a great way of displaying vibrant effects in your animations. The ready-made overlays that are available can be used to give an oomph effect to your animations. We have listed out the best After Effects Overlays that are available with various business assets sites available. You can make use of these overlays to bring the best animation effects and make your project shine.
If you are interested, you can go through our post on the best Adobe Creative Cloud Express Templates and Adobe Premiere Pro Motion Graphics Templates.