Overlay

You can apply up to five overlay items to each source. These items can be static text, dynamic text (such as timecodes, date and time, source name, computer username, and computer name), as well as images and video.

You can add, edit, or remove an overlay in the source settings. To do this, click the corresponding button:

Clicking this button opens a window where you can add, edit, and remove overlay items. Let’s take a closer look at the overlay settings window and its features:

1 — Overlay Item Selection Panel Clicking a tab sets focus on the overlay item with the corresponding index. This allows you to edit the selected item (if it already exists) or create a new one.

An overlay layer with a higher index will appear on top of overlay layers with a lower index when their content overlaps.

2 — Enable/Disable Checkbox for the Selected Overlay Item This checkbox toggles the selected overlay item on or off. When unchecked, the selected layer is excluded from overlay processing on the source.

3 — Overlay Type Dropdown This dropdown defines the type of overlay (text, image, or video). Changing the overlay type will reset all settings of the previously configured overlay item.

4 — File Path Field and Browse Button This field and button allow you to specify the path to a file. They are available only for image and video overlay items. Clicking the button opens a file selection dialog on your computer, or you can enter the file path manually in the text field.

5 — Text Input Field This field is available only for text overlay items. It allows you to define the text displayed on the source.

The field supports basic HTML formatting tags (<b> for bold, <i> for italics, <u> for underline, <s> for strikethrough), as well as extended HTML-style markup.

Example:

<text color=red>M</text>Overlay<text size=0.9 face='Courier New'><b>items</b></text> support: 
<tab>- Different <text color=yellow>colors</text>
<tab>- Different <text size=1.0 face='Courier New'>fonts</text>
<tab>- Different styles: <b>bold</b> <i>italic</i> <u>underline</u> <s>strikeout</s>
<tab>- Different <text size=2.0>text</text> <text size=0.5>size</text>
<tab>- Add even pictures: <img size=3.0 src="C:\Users\Administrator\Pictures\logo.png"></img>

The following placeholders are also supported:

• {sourcename}

• {username}

• {machinename}

• {timestamp}

• {systemtime:dd-MM-yyyy HH:mm:ss.fff} (custom formatting is supported)

6 — Overlay Preview Panel This panel displays all active overlay items added to the source. You can select, move, and resize overlay items using the mouse.

A selected overlay item is highlighted with interactive borders.

• Left-click and drag on a border to move or resize the selected overlay item.

• Right-click anywhere on the item to deselect it.

A small tooltip displaying the overlay item’s size and position allows you to precisely position and scale the selected item.

While the cursor is over the preview, the following keyboard shortcuts are available:

• Arrow keys – move the selected overlay item by 1 pixel in the direction of the arrow.

• Arrow keys + CTRL – move the selected overlay item by 10 pixels.

• Arrow keys + SHIFT – resize the selected overlay item by 1 pixel in the direction of the arrow.

• Arrow keys + CTRL + SHIFT – resize the selected overlay item by 10 pixels.

• ESC – deselect the currently selected overlay item.

Note: The minimum size of an overlay item is 16 × 16 pixels (width × height). The maximum size is twice the source resolution.

7 — Font Dropdown for Text Overlay This dropdown allows you to select the font for the text entered in the text input field (item 5). The list of available fonts is sourced from your system.

8 and 9 — Text Formatting Checkboxes These checkboxes apply bold and italic formatting to the text, depending on which box is selected.

10 — Font Size This setting defines the font size for a text overlay.

• If relative sizes (checkbox 21) are enabled, each unit of font size corresponds to 1/24 of the source frame height.

• If absolute sizes are used, the font size is specified in pixels (glyph height).

11 and 14 — Text Input Fields for setting the text color and background color. These fields apply to text overlays only. The following value formats are supported:

• HEX code (e.g., 0x00F0FF, 0x80FFFFFF)

• HEX code without prefix (e.g., FFFFFF, 80FFFFFF)

• Named colors (e.g., red, green, blue, etc.)

Transparency can be specified using values in parentheses (from 0 to 255), for example: red(50), FFFFFF(80) ,0xFFFFFF(80).

Note: Transparency for text overlay items can only be configured using fields 11 and 14. Trackbar 18 is not active for text overlay items.

12 and 15 — Dropdowns for text alignment These fields control the horizontal (12) and vertical (15) alignment of text.

13 — Line spacing field This sets the vertical spacing between lines of text using relative values. For example, a value of 1.15 means the line spacing will be 115% of the font size.

16 and 19 — Overlay item position fields These fields set the size of the overlay item. Depending on the size type (relative or absolute), the size is specified either as a fraction of the source frame size or in pixels.

• Relative values: For example, 0.5 means the overlay item will always be 50% of the source frame resolution.

• Absolute values: The overlay item size remains fixed, regardless of the source resolution.

Note: The minimum overlay item size is 16×16 pixels, and the maximum is 2 × the source resolution.

17 and 20 — Overlay item size fields These fields set the position of the overlay item. Depending on the position type (relative or absolute), the position is specified either as a fraction of the source frame size or in pixels. Values can be negative.

• Relative values: For example, 0.5 means the overlay item will be positioned at 50% of the source frame resolution along the corresponding axis.

• Absolute values: The overlay item position remains fixed, regardless of the source resolution.

Note: The maximum position value is 2× the source resolution.

18 — Transparency trackbar This sets the transparency for overlay items of image and video types. The value is specified as a percentage from 0 to 100.

Note: This trackbar is inactive for text overlay items, whose transparency is controlled exclusively by fields 11 and 14.

21 — Relative / Absolute values checkbox This checkbox determines whether the values for size, position, and font are interpreted as relative or absolute.

• Relative values:

  • For font size, each unit corresponds to 1/24 of the source frame height.

  • For overlay item size and position, values are specified as a fraction of the source frame dimensions.

• Absolute values:

  • For font size, the value is in pixels (glyph height).

  • For overlay item size and position, the values are fixed in pixels, independent of the source resolution.

This checkbox provides a consistent way to switch between resolution-independent scaling and fixed pixel values.

Important: To display the video source and overlay items in the overlay settings preview window, the source must be added to one of the Destinations. Otherwise, the source preview will not be displayed.

Important: If none of the overlay items overlap, they are processed asynchronously for maximum performance. If any overlay item overlaps with another, all overlay items are processed sequentially.

In cases involving resource-intensive items (such as high-resolution video or dynamic text on a high-resolution source), this may lead to reduced performance.

If all overlay items are static (images or static text), overlay processing is optimized and runs at maximum speed regardless of resolution, number of items, or whether they overlap.