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Glossary

Lower third

The graphic that tells viewers who is speaking, usually a name and a role, placed in the lower part of the frame.

Updated

A lower third is the on-screen graphic that identifies who is speaking, usually a name and a role or title, placed in the lower part of the frame. The name comes from television, where it sat in the lower third of a 16:9 picture. It appears for a few seconds when someone starts talking, then leaves so it does not compete with them.

Typical lower thirds have two lines: the name, set big, and the role or a short description, set smaller. Many add an accent bar, a logo or an initials badge.

Placement

  • Landscape 16:9 (1920 x 1080): inside 96 px margins, with the bottom edge of the graphic at about y 960 at most, so it clears subtitles and player controls.
  • Vertical 9:16 (1080 x 1920): the bottom 480 px are covered by the app's caption and buttons, so a lower third has to sit higher, inside the safe box (x 60 to 940, y 250 to 1440), usually just under the speaker's face. See safe zone.

Timing

  • In within about the first two seconds of the person speaking.
  • Out before about six seconds; long enough to read the name twice.
  • The exit is faster than the entrance, as with most motion graphics: 0.25 to 0.6 s in, 0.15 to 0.3 s out.
  • Show it once per speaker, not every time they talk.

Transparent lower thirds

A lower third is usually made separately and laid over footage, so it is rendered with an alpha channel: a WebM or a ProRes 4444 MOV whose background is see-through. Premiere, DaVinci Resolve and Final Cut accept those directly; CapCut and most phone editors need a version on a green background that they key out.

In Motion Cheat Code, the t31 Lower Third template is a transparent 16:9 lower third: an accent bar grows, a name card with an initials badge wipes in, a title band slides in under it, and it leaves faster than it came. It suits interviews, podcasts and tutorials.

Lower thirds share the frame with captions, so both need the safe zone. For podcast video, see Reels for podcasts.

The t31 Lower Third comes with the full pack; the free starter kit lets you try the prompt workflow on one template first.

Questions

How long should a lower third stay on screen?

Long enough to read the name twice. A common rule is to bring it in within the first two seconds of the person speaking and take it away before about six seconds.

Can I use a lower third in CapCut?

Yes. Render it as an overlay. CapCut ignores transparency in imported video, so use a version on a green background and remove the green with its chroma key.

Where does a lower third go on a vertical video?

Higher than on TV. The bottom 480 px of a 1080 x 1920 frame are covered by the app, so place it inside the safe box, above y 1440, usually below the speaker's face.