If you're a professional or keen video producer, chances are you’re going to need a lower third at some point in your career.
A lower third is a graphic overlay placed in the lower area of the screen in a video or film production. Though it can be used to help reinforce a brand, it is most often used to display a limited amount of contextual information, like someone’s name, title, location, the name of a song, and so forth.
Lower thirds are usually composed of one to three lines or tiers, and some have animated backgrounds and text while others do not.
They're most often created using a video’s alpha channel to make some parts transparent so that the video they’re placed on top of can show through.
Of course, it is possible to create your own lower thirds, but there's no need to reinvent the wheel when there are so many great pre-made selections available to choose from.
Here are 20 fantastic choices from VideoHive, which I’ve arranged in three popular categories to get you started.
Corporate
Corporate doesn’t have to mean boring and stodgy, and the seven lower thirds in this section are a perfect example of how to blend level-headed design with a certain elegance and creativity that will inspire interest instead of an afternoon nap.
They're ideal for large or small businesses as well as traditional or Internet broadcasts.
1. Air Lined Lower Third
Comprised of four differently coloured animated lower thirds, Air Lined Lower Third is an elegant solution for any corporate project that needs a lower third. Conveniently, the colours can be changed using Hue/Saturation settings.
2. Clean Lower Third
Clean Lower Third gives you a choice of lower thirds of two lengths, short and long, to accommodate different text lengths. You also have a choice of five different colours that will match a variety of tastes and colour schemes.
3. Elegant Lower Third
Elegant Lower Third is quite a simple lower third, but what it lacks in complexity, it certainly makes up for in style. This two-tier lower third is available in three colours and would suit projects where you need to add contextual text using a style with a light touch.
4. Silver Lower Thirds
With its beautiful silver tones and gorgeous animation, Silver Lower Thirds is the Rolls Royce of lower thirds in this section, and will definitely add a bit of style to your project.
5. Light Lower Third
Light Lower Third starts off as a burst of light at the lower centre of the frame and spreads out to create a semi-transparent lower third’s banner with subtle light flares in the background. It is very well suited to a variety of corporate projects but would also fit in well with motivational or science videos.
6. Glass Lower Third
Shards of transparent glass animate to form the two-tier text banners in Glass Lower Third. Users have a choice of four different colours, and the banners sits in the lower middle of the screen and can accommodate quite long text.
7. Classy Lower Third
Classy Lower Third features two-tier text banners with a glassy top tier in your choice of eight colours and an off-white bottom tier that folds down from the top one. Would work equally well in a business presentation or a traditional TV or online news broadcast.
Creative
If you’re looking to add a bit of fun to your videos, then these Lower Thirds are ideal for you.
They may be a bit too funky and light-hearted for a business presentation but will definitely fit in well with videos dealing with fashion, music, lifestyle and certain kinds of product or commercial videos.
8. Fashion Lower Third 8
With alternate layers of circles in solid colours and animated shapes, Fashion Lower Third 8 will bring a playfulness to your video. Available in colour or black and white, this lower third is best for users who don’t have much text to display but want to do so in a fun way.
9. Paper Lower Third Pack
Paper Lower Third Pack offers six choices of paper textures and colours that roll out in the lower third of your screen to display one or two lines of text before rolling away again.
10. Sunset Lower Third
Sunset Lower Third has a great summertime vibe that will add a feeling of brightness and warmth to your videos.
This lower third would work best as a one-time title intro as it is quite distinctive and eye-catching but may get a bit dull and repetitive if used repeatedly in a production.
11. High Tech Lower Third V.1
The advice above also applies to High Tech Lower Third V.1. This animated sci-fi styled lower third is so distinctive that it is best used as a one-time title intro for maximum effect.
12. Splatter Brush Lower Third & Background Card COMBO
Splatter brush lower third & background card combo is perfect for any production actually especially if it is artsy and not serious in nature. It brings a lot of color and fun to the project. It is always nice to have a bonus background card too.
13. Vector Lower Thirds
Vector Lower Thirds is a stylish animated lower third collection, containing three different banner designs.
Like most of the lower thirds featured in this section, it is ideal for one-off use to present titles in music videos, TV shows and more.
14. Colors Lower Third
Colors Lower Third may be the simplest, the most abstract and the most stylish of the lower thirds in this section.
It opens on the lower left of the screen by fanning out in a kaleidoscope of colour before settling into a beautiful purple asymmetrical banner on which you can write your text. After nine seconds, the banner folds away in the same manner it opened up.
Modern
The lower thirds in this collection all have a clean, contemporary, yet stylish aesthetic that will appeal to a wide variety of users, especially those creating lifestyle, instructional or educational videos.
15. Flat Dynamic Lower Thirds 3
If you’re looking for a simple, yet chic selection of lower thirds, Flat Dynamic Lower Thirds is an excellent choice.
It has eight different animated styles that allow you to place your text in various areas of the frame according to your needs.
16. Social Media Lower Thirds
Social Media Lower Thirds is specifically designed for promoting your social media accounts. The four most popular social media icons are included—Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Instagram—and there is a blank icon, that you can use for your own, or any other logo and text combination.
17. Flat Simple Lower Thirds 5
Flat Simple Lower Thirds 5 is a collection of 12 lower thirds available in three colours. They appear in two-tier and three-tier zigzag form with a lovely bubble flourish at the end.
18. Smart Phone Flat Lower Third Pack
The Smart Phone Flat Lower Third Pack uses the contemporary and ubiquitous smart phone as its icon. In this lower third, a hand pops up holding a mobile phone and spits out a blank banner for your text. There are three versions available: casual, vacation, and business.
19. Versatile Lower Third
Versatile Lower Third is a classic lower third with animated style and comes in nine different colours so you can match it to your colour scheme.
20. Modern Lower Third
This Modern Lower Third graphic is simple and eye-catching. It features two versions: a coloured triangle with radiating colours, and a more graphic black and white version of the same style.
Conclusion
These 20 amazing lower thirds are just a small selection of the hundreds of awesome lower thirds we have available at VideoHive, so if none of them quite fit your needs, there are plenty of other great options to choose from.
And if you want to improve your skills building motion graphics yourself, then check out some of the ever-so-useful 3D and motion graphics tutorials we have on offer.
